How To Make Nails Thicker

Beauty

How To Strengthen Nails: ix Expert-Approved Tricks For Shiny, Polish Tips

mbg Associate Beauty & Wellness Editor

By Jamie Schneider

mbg Associate Dazzler & Wellness Editor

Jamie Schneider is the Acquaintance Dazzler & Health Editor at mindbodygreen, covering beauty and wellness. She has a B.A. in Organizational Studies and English language from the Academy of Michigan, and her piece of work has appeared in Coveteur, The Chill Times, and Wyld Skincare.

Image by BONNINSTUDIO / Stocksy

Our editors have independently chosen the products listed on this page. If you purchase something mentioned in this commodity, we may earn a modest commission.

Last updated on March 22, 2022

Fifty-fifty if you take immaculate, smooth-to-the-affect nails—nary a fray in sight—keeping them potent is an entirely different story.

Sure, your nails might not feel dry, or brittle, but that doesn't mean you're completely off the hook. Y'all wouldn't shrug off your daily skin intendance routine just because you don't see any blemishes or areas of concern, would you? Same goes for nail care: The all-time offense, after all, is a practiced defense force.

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Experts would agree—they've weighed in on nine means to strengthen your nails, and so you can go on those tips in tiptop shape:

Employ cuticle oil daily.

Cuticle care is ever a practiced idea, problem nails or non. That's considering dehydrated, frayed cuticles tin lead to damaged nailbeds and infection if they're left untreated (not to mention, it'south pretty painful); rehydrating and moisturizing that surrounding skin is key for top-notch nail care.

Add a cuticle oil to your daily routine: Many options include fatty acids and vitamins that attend the nails and make full in any micro-cracks in the skin.

While using the dropper daily is plenty to keep nails good for you, principal educator of Paintbox Evelyn Lim says you tin can use a cuticle oil up to 3 times a day if your tips are feeling especially dehydrated (from, say, over-sanitizing). "Apply cuticle oil at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Why not?"

Take a collagen or biotin supplement.

"Pay attending to your diet," explains Amy Lin, the founder of sundays—a smash care brand focused on wellness. "Your nails are made of proteins and naturally need a lot of vitamins."

Specifically, your nails consist of keratin, so information technology'due south important to make sure y'all're getting your make full of keratin-building amino acids. 2 of the most popular (and widely studied) are biotin and collagen, as they tend to be the most effective in supporting smash health.*

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Push your cuticles dorsum.

Equally mentioned, cuticle intendance is crucial. But beyond oil, Lim mentions regularly pushing your cuticles back can continue them from overgrowing.

"When [the cuticle] becomes thick and overgrows onto the nail, information technology's tough to push back. You don't want to e'er get to that point," she says. "When that happens, your cuticles are decumbent to swell and infection."

You don't have to get likewise meticulous about it; a groovy tip is to gently push button them dorsum every couple of days after stepping out of the shower, as the nails will be softened from the spray.

Non to mention, pushing your cuticles back helps your smooth last longer—just in case you've decided to go for an at-home mani.

Commit to monthly maintenance.

Which brings u.s.a. to our next point: monthly maintenance. Whether yous opt for a DIY manicure or take a trip to the salon, a regular tuneup is key to keeping those tips strong.

Your nails can tell you a lot about your overall wellness, then employ that time to make regular check-ins likewise. "When you lot take your nail polish off, cheque your nail colour and the force of your nail plate before you get alee and apply polish or treat your nails," says Lin.

If a bare nail is more your thing, Lim still recommends proper smash hygiene—that is, keeping them clipped, cleaned, and filed. "Take your fingernail and raise the free edges to see if there are any snags, and y'all can polish them out. That's a neat manner to maintain your nails," she says.

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Invest in clean polish products.

Of course, make sure the polishes you use (that includes base of operations coats, colors, and acme coats) contain nourishing, conditioning ingredients rather than harmful chemicals like formaldehyde, camphor, and toluene.

Same goes for polish removers to swipe off your mani: "If you want to continue your nails strong, you lot don't want to use 100% acetone removers," Lim says.

Instead, endeavour to find options that contain moisturizing ingredients for the natural nail, similar a soy-based remover—these can effectively dissolve polish while simultaneously strengthening the nail, and they're typically pumped with other vitamins and hydrating ingredients.

Stick to a natural nail.

Gels, dips, and acrylics may offering a candy-shell lacquer you lot adore, but they can really be quite harsh on your nail plate.

"Not only are acrylic and dip powder nails total of potentially blast-harming ingredients, but the process and wear can be very dissentious to your nailbeds, and if done improperly tin can even lead to infection," organic manicurist Eunice Montes-Hamaguchi has told us.

To proceed your tips good for you and potent, you lot might want to forgo the false nails and stick to a bare-nailed expect or glaze of make clean polish.

And if you do have gels, dips, or acrylics, don't (nosotros repeat: don't) peel or choice them off, every bit this can only harm your nails more than—you lot can really rip off pieces of the nail plate forth with the polish. Instead, apply this stride-by-step guide to remove your faux nails.

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seven.

Choose a file with a high grit number.

Did you know every nail file has an accompanying grit number? It's typically a tiny number stamped either on the packaging or on the file itself, and information technology conveys how coarse the board volition be against your nails. The higher the grit number, the softer the file.

In terms of maintaining strong nails, you'll want to go with a file that has a college grit number (aka, a softer file). "Y'all want something that's only a picayune fleck more than fibroid than a regular buffer," says Lim.

No need to become scratching up the nail plate, here. If you can't discover a specific dust number on your file, Lim says y'all tin just take your finger and run information technology beyond the board: "Y'all shouldn't feel much friction."

Employ a nail strengthener.

While these tips zero in on how to strengthen your nails naturally, sometimes you need a little extra help. Understandable!

A nail strengthener on hand tin work wonders—just make sure y'all're choosing one that doesn't have formaldehyde (which is what traditional nail strengtheners are made of, every bit it makes polish dry potent).

Good news is, in that location are plenty of natural-leaning options on the market place (unremarkably advertised as boom serums or base coats) that include plant-based ingredients like vitamin E, olive oil, garlic, and tea tree.

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Protect your nails from chemical and UV exposure.

In case yous didn't know: Your nails tin experience sun harm, also, turning them yellow, brittle, or dimpled.

To protect your tips, experts recommend a UV filter polish that'south able to absorb the rays (y'all can also paint on an opaque shade to physically cake the sun).

On the chemical front, it's important to be mindful of any harsh ingredients seeping into your nails. You might take swapped your acetone smoothen remover, sure, but think nigh other ways your nails are exposed to chemicals on the daily.

For case, if you lot have traditional dish soap in your kitchen, perhaps habiliment gloves while cleaning to avert drying out the nails. (And even some natural-leaning dish soaps can have drying ingredients, similar vinegar or lemon.)

"Information technology might exist a pocket-size step, but over time you'll notice the difference in your health and the appearance of your nails," says Lin.

Shop these products:

sundays CS.02 Hydrating Cuticle Serum

$ 18

ella+mila Soy Nail Smooth Remover

$ eleven.50

Paintbox Similar Glass Nail Lacquer

$ 22

Emerge Beauty Tropical Smooth Cushion Nail File, Fine 400/600

$ one.49

Sally Beauty Tropical Shine Cushion Nail File, Fine 400/600

The takeaway.

Like most aspects of skin care (and life in general), prevention is central. While y'all tin can seek tips and tricks to restore blast health after noticing brittleness or frays, the best thing to exercise is combat those issues before they even make their advent.

*If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medications, consult with your doctor before starting a supplement routine. It is always optimal to consult with a wellness care provider when considering what supplements are right for y'all.