Dealing with Peeling Nails – Causes, Prevention & Treatment

 

Dealing with Peeling Nails

Peeling, brittle, or broken nails – whatever you call them, are unsightly, often painful and make the creation of awesome nail art an impossibility. Usually a sign of a poor diet, lack of a good nail care routine, or neglecting the time to allow your nails to recover in between manicures, unsightly nails can be easily rectified.

What you put into your body is reflected on the outside, and a healthy, nutritionally balanced diet can improve nail quality no end. It’s important to include plenty of dark green leafy vegetables as these are crammed full of essential vitamins and minerals, while oily fish, such as salmon or mackerel, ensure you are taking in the right amount of beneficial oils. Good quality lean meat is so good for you too. My favorite is lamb, not only does it taste great but it’s an excellent natural source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals that are essential for maintaining a healthy diet.  Eggs, nuts and pulses contain easily absorbed proteins, calcium and magnesium – all essential requirements for smooth, healthy nails. Not to mention that you can use a mixture of fresh egg yolks with a bit of honey as a DIY nail mask at home for nourishing and hydrating your nails. Don’t forget to keep yourself adequately hydrated throughout the day.

Alongside a healthy diet, having a good nail care routine is important, especially if you work with your hands, and using a decent moisturizer forms a major part of that routine. At least twice a day, moisturize your hands, nails and cuticles, massaging it in well. This will help your nails grow, and ensure nail beds and tips have just the right amount of flex, without breaking.
Regularly clean under your nails, but be careful not to damage the skin of the nail bed as infections can quickly gain a foothold (or should that be handhold?). At least once a week, trim and file your nails, removing any snags that can tear, and again, allow infections in.

Following these steps provide your nails with everything they need to produce healthy growth; however, a little extra help can be provided by these top selling products.

1) OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

What Makes it Great
This award winning formula contains concentrated calcium, protein, Vitamin E and Kukui Nut Oil, which, together, strengthen and improve peeling nails. Designed to build manicure ready nails, it can either be brushed on as a stand alone treatment, or used as a base for polishes. I’ve been using OPI Nail Strengthener for a while now, and my nails are growing faster and look better for it.

Where it Could be Improved
This appears to work best as a base coat when using OPI’s own polishes; however, being one of my go-to brands, that isn’t an issue.

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2) Hard As Hoof Nail Strengthening Cream

What Makes it Great
With a gorgeously fresh coconut scent, this rich luxurious cream has been used to strengthen nails for 25 years! Preventing cracks, splits and peeling nails, the formula contains vitamins, minerals, jojoba and coconut oils, calcium, beeswax and many more beneficial ingredients. I love how easily it’s absorbed, leaving no sticky residue like some moisturizers do. My nails, hands and cuticles seemed much improved for using this cream.

Where it Could be Improved
If you’re a perpetual nail chewer, this stuff tastes horrible, and remember not to poke your eye immediately after applying, like I did – it stings!

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3) CND SolarOil Nail & Cuticle Care

What Makes it Great
Although designed for cuticles, this is awesome for improving the quality of your nails generally. With a mess free application brush, and beneficial ingredients, such as jojoba oil, sweet almond oil and vitamin E, this softens and moisturizes cuticles whilst strengthening nails. It’s absorbed rapidly and within days my cuticles looked much smoother. I soon noticed my nail growth and condition had improved dramatically, too.

Where it Could be Improved
The bottle was a bit smaller than expected, but a little goes a very long way, and with daily applications, it lasted almost three months.