Tips to Healthy, Shiny and Strong Nails

Healthy, strong and shiny nails can beautify your hands and give a statement about your personality. It can be quite difficult to maintain nails with a heavy work schedule. Especially if you are a housewife then detergents and household chemicals can leave your nails dry and brittle. Brittle and weak nails can be caused by lack of care, exposure to chemicals, nail biting, menopause, aging, lack of oxygen or estrogen reaching the nails, under active thyroid or nail diseases.


I believe in making life easy so that I get enough time for other activities rather than spending long hours in personal grooming. So here are a few tips for strong, clean, shiny and healthy nails which will work for everyone:

For stronger nails

Dip your nails in lemon juice everyday for 10 minutes. It removes any dirt accumulated in nails. Dirt splits nails and weakens them. Lemon juice is an excellent nail-strengthening agent.

Boil lemon grass in a cup of water and drink this water 2-3 times a day. This strengthens nails if you keep drinking it for a month.

Mix 4 drops of olive oil, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of powdered tealeaves. Rub this dry, paste like mixture onto nails for a few minutes and then clean it with tissue.

Apply Vaseline as frequently as you can everyday rubbing it into cuticles and nails. This strengthens nails as it blocks moisture from escaping the nails.

Another excellent nail strengthening natural treatment is to apply olive oil on each individual nail every night. Within a month you will notice your nails have become stronger and shiny.

For shiny nails

Avoid using acetone based nail polish removers as far as you can. They dry the nails depriving them of moisture causing them to lose their shine. Use nail polish removers that are acetone free.

After using nail polish remover, rinse your hands and moisturize your hands and nails with a heavy cream. This helps to retain the natural shine.

Rub a clove of garlic on your nails if you don’t have any immediate outdoor activities. Keep rubbing it until your nails feel sticky. Leave this on for half an hour and then wash it out with hand wash.

For clean nails

Take an old toothbrush and dip it in lemon juice. Rub the inner side of each nail and cuticle with this toothbrush. Dip it every time you do a new nail. This removes nail discoloration and any unwanted dirt from the most unreachable areas of nails. It also adds to nail shine and enhances their beauty making them appear clean and maintained.

Drink ample water all day long. Sufficient water intake re-hydrates your skin, hair and nails equally.

Eat vegetables and foods rich in vitamin B as this leads to strong, healthy and shiny nails.

Eating protein rich foods will give you strong and healthy nails. Proteins develop cells and construct tissues.

Have a teaspoon of fish oil every 3rd day in winters. This improves the health of hair, skin and nails.

Incase you have a chronicle nail disease then please see a doctor.