Beautiful Nails Tips

Nails are made of keratin an object in the body. Nails grow at an average rate of 0.01 centimeters a day. Caring for nails is equally important as taking care and pampering all the other body parts. Nails keep on growing so one need to regularly clean them and keep them in shape. Smoking damages nails very badly so one should avoid smoking or should cut off the intake to keep oneself healthy and to keep the nails healthy. Women do wear long artificial nails matching with their outfits to make their fingers look different and they do different art work on the nails to make them appear unique by using gels, colors, sequins on them.


Women who always keep color coated on the nails too spoil the health of their nails. Shaping and cutting nails perfectly needs a little practice and patience. Keeping your nails trimmed and shaped properly helps to create a glamorous look to your hands.

Nail polish can help your hands look younger, smoother and even thinner. If you want beautiful and health nail eating a healthy diet. It is important to include certain vitamins in your daily diet to ensure that your nails are healthy and look beautiful. Every day apply a little bit of lime juice on your nails and let it rest there for 5 to 10 minutes. To avoid this unhygienic condition, remove the dirt with carbon papers or thick clothes. Never use sharper objects to remove dirt from your nails as it would break the nails. Supplement your diet with spirulina and kelp to make your nails strong. The water can work as a beautifying agent as well as a destructive aid for nails. Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to dryness, very rounded and curved ends or darkening of nails. Red skin around cuticles indicates poor metabolism of essential fatty acids.

Beautiful and Healthy Nails Tips







1. Eat protein rich food for white bands across the nails.







2. Deficiency of hydrochloric acid causes nails to split.







3. Deficiency of vitamin B 12 can lead to dryness, rounded and curved ends and darkening of nails.







4. Eat food rich in zinc to prevent white spots on the nails.

5. Poor metabolism of essential fatty acids causes red skin around the cuticles.







6. Eat food rich in sulfur and silicon like broccoli, fish, and onions.







7. Eat food rich in biotin such as soy, brewer’s yeast and whole grains.







8. Drink plenty of water and fresh fruit juices.







9. Drink fresh carrot juice as often as possible as it is rich in calcium and phosphorus and good for strengthening the nails.







10. For dry and brittle nails eat food that is rich in vitamin A and calcium.







11. For hangnails eat food rich in protein, vitamin C and folic acid.







12. Supplement your diet with spirulina and kelp to make your nails strong.







13. Use Blue Tinged Translucent Polish
Read more »

Nail Polish Tips & Tricks Longer lasting chip free nail polish

Have you ever had a manicure at a professional salon? Notice that when you paint your nails at home, the nail polish never seems to last more than a day or two? Your polish stays when you have a professional manicure because the manicurist doesn't rush and just throw nail polish on unprepared nails, like we do at home.


You need to properly prepare your nail bed for the polish to adhere to it correctly. By following the 3 basic nail polish steps: base coat, polish and top coat, your nail polish should last for at least 4-7 days. Let's explain exactly what a base coat and top coat does for your manicure. Along with another step so many woman skip when polishing: priming.

Priming



Priming is a crucial step during any polish change. It is also the most forgotten. Priming takes all the oils off the nail bed before polishing, creating a perfect ,clean canvass for you to paint. By removing the oils in your nail bed, the polish adheres to the nails better, giving you longer lasting polish results with fewer chips. All you need to do is saturate a cotton ball with nail polish remover and wipe each clean nail to remove any oils.

Nail polish Base Coat



First off, stay away from products that claim to be 2 in 1 base coat/top coat. Both are formulated to do two different jobs and it makes no sense to use the same for both jobs. Look for a calcium gel bas coat. Calcium gel will strengthen and help nails to grow faster.



How can you tell the difference between a base coat and a top coat? Base coats should dry matte or dull with a tacky finish. they also dry fast. Top coats should dry Shiny and smooth and they dry much slower than a base coat.



What does a nail base coat do? Most good quality Base coats contain protein, aloe Vera, vitamin e, and/or calcium. These nutrients replenish brittle, dry nails with moisture, prevents breakage, splitting and peeling.



Base coats also prevent nail polish from staining the nails. They also create a sticky adhesive base for the nail polish to "hold" onto. To remove stains from nails, see our Natural Nail care Recipes section.







Nail polish Top Coat



Top coats act as a protective barrier. They prevent nail polish from fading and chipping and give you a long lasting shine. To make your nail polish last longer, apply a layer of top coat every day.

To steady your hand while polishing, anchor your pinkie on your work surface and grasp the brush with your thumb and other three fingers.



The quick-dry spray (which dries the top coat only) will dull the polish.

Base coats should dry matte, sticky, and fast.




Top coats should dry shiny and slow.



To fix chipping nails, place some nail polish remover on your finger tip and gentle rub over the nail polish chip to make smooth. Then reapply polish.



Run hands under cold water to help speed up the nail polish drying process.



Bubbles in your nail polish are caused by insufficient drying time between coats. You must allow each polish coat to dry sufficiently to avoid bubbles.



Reapplying your top coat daily and avoiding fast-drying nail polishes will increase your nail polish length.



To remove nail stains, soak nails in 1/2 cup of water and juice of one lemon for up to 15 minutes or soak in hydrogen peroxide or 5-10 minutes. This works great or all your hair colorists who hate to wear gloves when you color! See Natural homemade nail care recipes for more nail care at home.



The best way to dry your nail polish fast is to us a UV light dryer.



Apply the nail polish in several THIN coats instead of thick ones.



After applying a second coat of nail polish, skim the brush across the top of your nail tip to prevent chipping.



Try not to remove and reapply polish more than once or twice a week, as it will dry out your nails.
Read more »

Natural Nail Care Tips

Now that we understand the complete nail unit, we will be better able to properly care for our nails. There are several things we need to know or remember:




The skin and nails are constantly bathed by a tidal flow of oils and moisture.



Everything we see and touch except for light and electricity is a chemical.



Excessive hand washing or using household cleaning solutions without protection can rob our skin and nails of vital oil and moisture, resulting in split, peeling nails.



Water is a chemical, so are all nail related products.



Overexposure to any chemical can cause an allergic reaction.



The nail plate is comprised of many layers of cells that lose their inner material and become flat, hard and translucent.



Strength is a combination of hardness, and flexibility.



It is the clients responsibility to maintain her nails at home between salon visits.



It is the technicians responsibility to help the client maintain beautiful, healthy nails.



Nails that split and peel lack sufficient oil and moisture.



Nail diseases and disorders should be diagnosed by a physician and the prescribed medication taken or used as directed.

The nail technician is trained to recognize nail diseases and disorders, but not to treat them in the salon.

As nail technicians, our perfect dream would be to have a full book of clients that frequent our salon for all their nail needs. The reality is that there are a great many women (and men) that cannot afford, or have the time, to seek our services and must perform their own nail care at home. It is for these people that this page is written. I have always felt that educating the public on proper nail care is essential to our standing as an industry in the eyes of the consumer. Even though we feel that we spent a lot of money and time in school and in the salon perfecting our craft, and that we should be the only ones performing nail services, there are only so many clients we can see in a day, month or year. Even with a salon on every corner, there are a great many who have never frequented nail salons for professional nail care. The knowledge they have about nails has been gained from magazines, friends, neighbors and/or Infomercials. I would much rather see us take it upon ourselves to educate the public about the benefits of home nail care than to see them chance the possibility of nail damage because of not knowing the proper procedures of a manicure, pedicure, or the proper use of nail related tools and implements.

The following is a list of nail tools and implements required when performing a manicure or pedicure, and an explanation of the proper use:

Terry Towels: To protect the work surface from chemicals and water, and to dry our hands between procedures and before enamel application.

Orangewood Sticks: For gently pushing back the cuticle, for cleaning under the free edge or for removing excess enamel.

Cotton or Gauze Pads: For removing enamel and/or excess oil from the nail plate surface.

Polish Remover: For removing nail enamel or polish from the nail plate surface. Polish remover comes in acetone or non-acetone (ethyl acetate) formulas. The general consensus is that acetone based removers can be safely used on natural nails while some prefer to use non-acetone based removers on artificial surfaces.

Files or Abrasives: Files come in all sizes and in many grits. The higher the number the smaller the grit, and the lower the number, the coarser the grit. It is never recommended to use a grit smaller than 240 on the natural nail plate or for shaping the free edge. Many over the counter 'emery boards' have a grit of 80 which is too coarse for use on natural nails. Files made of metal are also too rough to safely use as the coarser the grit, the more easily the nail plate layers are shredded. Files that are called '3-way buffers' have a grit higher than 3600. They are used to smooth the surface of the nail plate without scratches, and to impart a high gloss shine. Use the black side first to refine, then the white side to semi-shine, then finish with the gray side to super shine. Padded abrasives are easier to hold, maintain their grit for longer periods, and many of them can be sanitized.

Cuticle Nippers: Cuticle nippers come with different sizes of cutting surfaces: 1/4 jaw, 1/2 jaw and full jaw. What this means is that the more cutting surface there is, the easier it is to cut the skin with a single 'nip'. It is better to use a nipper with a smaller cutting surface if one is not accustomed to using these implements. Remember, it is only the true cuticle that is removed during the manicuring process and not the live skin of the eponychium or lateral nail folds.

Nail or Toenail Nippers/Clippers/Scissors: Nail nippers are simply a larger size cuticle nipper which have been designed to remove excess nail length, and are usually used to cut the toenails. Nail scissors have a small, curved blade and are designed to remove length from the fingernails. Nail clippers come in small and large sizes with a curved cutting edge, and are designed to cut the fingernail and toenail. Always be sure you use the proper tool for the proper procedure.

Cuticle Pusher: A metal implement used to push the invisible, translucent true cuticle from the nail plate. When using this implement, never apply heavy, downward force to push back the cuticle as too much pressure applied in this area can damage the matrix.

Curette: An instrument designed to 'scrape' excess cuticle from the nail plate. Many technicians prefer using a curette as it is designed to remove the true cuticle from the nail plate vs. simply pushing it back. Proper use of this instrument to remove true cuticle negates the need for nippers.

Nail Brush: Used wet, and with warm soapy water for scrubbing the surface and underside of the nail plate to aid in complete removal of pathogenic organisms, dirt and debris.

Manicure/Finger Bowl: Usually a plastic container shaped to hold the fingers and hand in a comfortable position while soaking in a warm, soapy water bath.

Hot Oil Machine: A heating unit designed to warm lotion or oil in a paper or plastic 'tub'. A hot oil manicure is always recommended for persons with extremely dry skin and nails.

Paraffin Machine: A machine that warms paraffin wax that is used during some manicure/pedicure procedures. Warm wax will benefit tired, sore, stressed hands while serving to deep condition and moisturize the skin. Some paraffin waxes contain additives of eucalyptus and other essential oils.

Pedicure Tub: A foot tub that holds and heats water for soaking the feet. Some pedicure tubs will massage the feet while they are soaking. It is not recommended that the feet of the elderly be immersed in very hot water or massaged using these machines. Seek the advise of the elderly persons physician before performing a pedicure procedure -- especially one that may have a severe or debilitating health issue.
Read more »