Basics on Hand and Nail Care

Behind every successful individual is a pair of hands that nurture and provide a gentle or even forceful push that enables them to move forward. Quite literally and figuratively, your hands are the most industrious and flexible part of your body next to your stomach and lungs. Proper care and maintenance are essential to keep your hands including your nails to do what they are intended to do: fulfilling responsibilities while providing your tender loving care. Here are the simple ways on how to do it. 

- The chipping of nails may be caused by using a nail polish remover. Leave your nails unpainted for a few days to see if the condition improves. 

- Have your nails rest and breathe for at least a week before you paint them again to avoid discoloration, dryness, and chipping off. 

- Anything with citrus and vegetable juices contains acids that are hard on your fingernails. When preparing them, rinse your hands often under cool running water. 

- Bring a tube of cuticle cream with you to break the habit of cuticle chewing and nail-biting. Whenever you feel like doing them, apply the cream on your cuticles instead. You break yourself a bad habit and promote healthy nails. 

- In cold months, moisturize your hands with lotion or cream rich in lanolin before you go to bed. Once a week, moisturize your hands as usual and wear white cotton gloves to prevent them from drying out. 

- Soak your hands in a bath of warm baby oil mixed with sesame oil for emergency treatment for dry, chapped hands, 

- Soak hands in a solution of one cup water and a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid to soften the cuticles. 

- It is highly encouraged that you cut your nails and hangnails after taking a shower or bath while they are very soft. 

- Use a diamond-dust nail file or an emery board. File nails in one direction only to avoid chipping them off. 

- To give your hands an illusion of being longer and more dainty, use light-colored nail polish. 

- Plunge your hands into a bowl of ice water while the polish is still wet to dry nail polish instantly. 

- Store your nail polish in the refrigerator to prevent it from thickening. 

- Place the bottle of hardened or gooey nail polish into a pan of hot water for a few seconds to dissolve the polish and make it flowing smoothly again. 

- Rub a thin layer of petroleum jelly or baby oil on the inside of the cap and neck of the nail polish to prevent the lid from sticking.