Fingernail Mistakes Quiz
by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger
29 Jan 2008 06:29 PM
Are you good to your nails? Ask yourself these four questions:
- Do you file your nails using a back and forth motion?
- Do you use an acetone based nail polish remover?
- Do you cut your cuticles?
- Do you use nail polish that you purchased before 2007?
If you answered YES to any of these questions, you're making a fingernail mistake. Read on to see what you can do to protect your nails:
- Filing your nails using a back and forth motion actually weakens nails and can cause them to split. Use a soft emery board and file in one direction only. Want to do more to prevent splits and breakage? Keep your nails short and square with slightly rounded edges.
- Acetone based nail polish removers can strip moisture and natural oils away from your nails, leaving them less flexible. An acetone-free nail polish remover is gentler on your nails. While you're making the switch, remember to use lotion on your nails, too -- not just your skin.
- Cutting your cuticles could leave your hands and body open to bacteria that cause infections. Your cuticles act as a barrier to help keep bacteria out. If you don't like the size of your cuticles, don't cut them. Soak them in warm water to soften cuticles, then push them back GENTLY with an orange stick. If you have hangnails, you can trim them carefully with a small pair of scissors or clippers.
- Most nail polish made before 2007 contain dibutyl phthalate. Dibutyl phthalate has been shown to cause birth defects in rodents; do you really want to put that on your body? Pick a phthalate free nail polish and toss your old colors.
Here's an amazing fact: it takes approximately eight months to grow your nails one inch. So even if you have made one or more fingernail mistakes in the past, you can have new, healthy nails to show off... in less than a year.
fingernails,
nails,
nail polish,
nail filing,
nail care
