Are strong, healthy nails at the top of your wish list? You’re not alone. Plenty of us seek out the magical cure for stronger nails, and the answers are a lot simpler than you may think.
Follow our top tips on how to strengthen nails by tweaking a few things already in your daily routine.
Use a good cuticle oil
Cuticle oil will always be our number one for strong, healthy nails. It helps to moisturise the cuticle area and skin around your nail, helping to protect the nail against damage and improve overall nail health. This can be used daily, as you only need to apply a few drops to each cuticle to get the moisture you need.
Use a nail strengthener like Hard Gel
Our go-to gel nail strengthener has and always will be Hard Gel! Slightly thicker than normal gel polish, its formulation allows it to add additional strength to the nail. This enables it to keep your nails strong and protects them against breaking or snagging, meaning your natural nails are able to grow stronger and longer too!
It’s a great product for not only using under gel polish for your normal manicure, but it can also be used without a colour coat for a super natural look too. It comes in a bottle and is applied with the brush, just like your gel polish.
Hard Gel comes in four different colours for you to choose from:
- Clear - perfect for any and every manicure
- Pink - great for using on its own too
- Soft Clear Pink - one of our most-popular Hard Gels
- White - also perfect for adding underneath neon and pastel shades to make them pop!
Stay hydrated
Keeping your nails hydrated is key, but hydration for the rest of your body is just as important. Drinking enough water is essential for your overall health and helps your body retain moisture from your head to your toes – and your nails too! Try aiming for 1-2 litres of water per day to keep fully hydrated, especially in the summer months when the weather is warmer.
Don’t over-file your nails
Over-filling your nails is one of the main causes of nail breakages. You may have lovely long nails to start with, but the more you file them the more you put them at risk of breaking and pealing. Always file your nails in one direction with your Bluesky Nail File; start on one side of your nail and use careful strokes, before doing the same number of strokes on the other side to keep them as even as possible.
Keep an eye on your natural nail length
When it comes to length, your nails are most prone to breaking the longer they are. Not only can they get caught on things, but your nail bed struggles to support your nail the longer it gets. Make sure you regularly cut your nails down especially if you have regular trouble with weak nails as this will help to build up the nail strength.
Wearing gel polish? Remove it properly
You can cause damage to your nails by picking or peeling your gel polish off. While it may be tempting to pull at a loose edge, make sure you always remove your gel polish properly. Use foils and cotton pads with an acetone remover and don’t keep it on for longer than 10-15 minutes. If you still struggle to get the gel off your nails, don’t be too aggressive in scrubbing at it! Simply apply fresh foils and repeat the process until the gel flakes away.
If you're a lover of acrylics or any kind of nail extension, ensure you remove these properly too. Plenty of people struggle with how to strengthen nails after acrylics, but the best starting point is ensuring that when you take them off you do it in the best way possible - if in doubt, go to a salon and they will remove any gel or extensions for you.
Don’t use your nails as tools
Keep your nails protected at all costs! If you have a can to open, use the pads of your fingers instead of the nail itself. Using your nails as tools is a very quick and easy way to cause chips and breakages in your nails but can be so easily avoided.
Keep your nails protected
Make rubber gloves your new best friend. Cleaning products have plenty of chemicals in them that can weaken the nail, so make sure you always wear gloves so that you don’t come into direct contact with the products. Soaking your nails in water for long periods of time can also weaken them due to over-moisturising. Make sure to wear rubber gloves when you wash up, and if you go for a bath try not to spend hours soaking in there!
Strengthening your nails comes down to protecting and caring for them. Just like you have a skincare routine, make sure your nail care routine doesn’t get forgotten about!
Related article: How To Strengthen Nails - Our Top Tips for Using Hard Gel