Natural homemade recipes for strong and beautiful nails

Strong, healthy and beautiful nails are super attractive and catch our attention directly. Often we injure our nail plates with gel or acrylic, and as a result we get unpleasant yellowish coloring, broken or weak nails. This is a huge obstacle for our beautiful manicure and gives us significant headaches in thinking how to fix things.

The key structural component of the nails is keratin. Our nails’ average growth is about 3 mm (0.12 in) per month. The slow nail growth can be affected by several factors, including hormonal changes in the body, aging, medications and nutritional deficiencies, seasons, exercise level, hereditary factors etc.

Nails can dry out, just like skin. They can also peel, break, and be infected. That’s why we should take regular care for our nails, so they stay always strong and look beautiful.

Which nutrients are responsible for making your nails beautiful and strong?

Vitamins, responsible for strong and beautiful nails are vitamine A, vitamine D, vitamine B12 and vitamine C. Calcium, proteins, folic and linoleic acids play also an important role in your nail health. A lack of vitamin A, vitamin D, or calcium can cause dryness and brittleness. Insufficient vitamin B12 can lead to excessive dryness, darkened nails, and rounded or curved nail ends. Insufficient intake of both vitamin A and B results in fragile nails with horizontal and vertical ridges.

Protein is a building material of nails, therefore low dietary protein intake may cause lighter shades of pink, resulting in white nail beds when the hemoglobin is very low. A lack of protein combined with deficiencies in folic acid and vitamin C produce hangnails.
Essential fatty acids play an important role for healthy skin as well as nails. Splitting and flaking of nails may be due to a lack of linoleic acid.

A healthy diet will help your nails grow strong, but you can also promote nail growth with some easy natural remedies, using simple ingredients. Here are few homemade cosmetic recipes, that will help you strengthen your nails and make them look beautiful for a long time. The ingredients are very simple and can be found in any household.

1. Lemon juice and sea salt

Mix 1 tablespoon of sea salt, 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and half a liter warm water. Soak your nails well in this mixture for about 15 minutes. Then rinse well and apply moisturizing cream or nourishing oil. If you do this procedure every other day in a period of two weeks, your nails will become much healthier and look fantastic.

2. Olive oil, honey and egg

Mix 4 tablespoons of slightly warm olive oil with 2 tablespoons of honey and one egg. Mix all the ingredients well and soak your nails in for 10-15 minutes. Then wash them with just warm water, without using soap. If you apply this procedure to your nails, at least twice a week for a period of 2-3 weeks, you will see the amazing results and their durability.

3. Lemon juice and olive oil

Lemon juice and olive oil are a great treatment for your nails. Mix 3 tablespoons of olive oil with a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. As with other recipes, soak nails for 10-15 minutes and then rinse well with water. Do this procedure once or twice a week.

4. Avocado, milk and honey

This is another effective recipe, that helps to cleanse the nails and makes them shiny for a longer period. If you have dry and brittle nails, then avocado is the best solution to deal with this problem. Smash half avocado, add 1/2 cup of warm milk and 2-3 tablespoons of honey. Soak your nails for about 10-15 minutes in this mixture and then rinse your hands with warm water.

5. Tomato and olive oil

Tomatoes are rich in biotin, which promotes nail growth and makes your nails thick and shiny. In addition, tomatoes contain vitamins A and C, which are essential for healthy nails and skin. Mix in a bowl 1/2 cup of tomato juice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Soak your nails in this solution for 10 – 15 minutes. Do this procedure daily, until you achieve the desired results.

6. Olive oil

If you’re in the mood for experiments, but don’t have any other ingredients than olive oil – don’t worry. This natural product is extremely nourishing and moisturizing and easily absorbed into the skin and nails. Soak your nails in a bowl of olive oil for at least 15-20 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly with water and dry your hands.

Useful Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangnail