While not a ‘girly-girl’, I do have a few vices when it comes to beauty. My two biggest vanities are my hair, which is long enough I sit on it, full, thick, and properly wavy – not to mention a nice auburn red. The second vanity I currently have is my fingernails. They are long, manicured, and very pretty.

I don’t say this actually to be vain, because the truth is, I work very hard at keeping them healthy and presentable. I do tend to go through spells where I don’t do much to my nails, and a few years back, I used to go every week for a manicure and polish change, but here recently, I’ve just been too busy and preoccupied to do that.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands, so to speak, and see what I could learn about caring for my own nails, without expensive manicures and treatments.

This article will fill you in on the tips I’ve found that work for me and provided me with the fabulous fingernails I now have.

Plop-plop, Fizz-Fizz

Did you know that Alka-seltzer is wonderful for your cuticles and nails? I didn’t either until I actually saw a friend of mine, at a nail salon, popping two of the Alka-seltzer tablets in a dish and soaking her nails in them.

Apparently, the fizz and baking soda helps soften and smooth jagged cuticles, making them easier to push back and shape. Be sure to use warm water and soak for at least two minutes, then brush or buff the nail and cuticle lightly with a soft bristled toothbrush or nail brush, then shape your cuticles like you would normally.

Push – Don’t Cut

Be sure when shaping your cuticles that you push the cuticle back instead of cutting it. The only time you will need to cut a cuticle is if you have a hangnailed cuticle, that is, a cuticle where a piece of the cuticle has broken off and is sticking up or out from the nail bed.

When this happens, cut only as far back as necessary to remove the hanging part of the cuticle, but do not cut the cuticle itself. This can lead to serious infection, pain, bleeding, and also slow down nail growth.

Protein – Good or Bad?

If you have slow growing nails, using protein nail coats or polish can help speed up nail growth for some people. However, if your cuticles grow quickly, a protein coat or polish can actually cause your cuticles to grow even faster too. Experiment with protein coats or polishes to see if they benefit you or not.

Toothpaste – It’s Not Just for Teeth Anymore

If you have yellow or discolored nails, using a polishing and whitening toothpaste and brushing your fingernails with this, unpolished and uncoated, regularly ever day, can help reduce or even eliminate the yellow tint in your nails.

This works with toenails too! Just be sure not to get your toothbrush for your teeth and your toothbrush for your feet and nails mixed up – yuck!

There’s Always Room for Jello

Gelatin, that is. Unflavored gelatin capsules can help a lot with nail growth, and believe it or not, soaking your nails in a gelatin mixture or massaging gelatin into your nails themselves can actually strengthen them and stimulate growth and hardness. Just be sure if you’re soaking them in gelatin that you use an unflavored and uncolored gelatin, because colored gelatin can stain.

Brittle, Dry, Peeling Nails

If your fingernails are brittle, dry or peeling, you can actually soak them or massage them with the same face moisturizer you use on your face and help soften them and keep them from drying.

Fake Nails – Avoid at All Costs

Artificial nails may be beautiful when first applied, but they damage the natural nail and can stunt growth from the nail bed, making it where you have to go in regularly to have your nails redone to keep them beautiful.

While growing your own nails may take time, once they are grown, caring for them is easy and much less expensive than artificial nails and fillers. Additionally, many women are allergic to the adhesive products used to apply artificial nails, and fungus and fungal type infections are more common with artificial nails than on bare nails.

Plus, artificial nails make it difficult to perform some tasks such as typing, playing a musical instrument, applying makeup and the like, but real nails are more flexible and they grow with you, so you become accustomed to them as they grow, making those tasks easier to perform with longer nails.

Natural Nails

Polish and shiny top coats look good on nails, but nails also need to breathe, so it’s important if you wear polishes that you occasionally go polish free for a few days to let your nails be exposed to sunlight and fresh air. Plus, your nails can also warn of some medical conditions, so it’s important to let your nails be natural and unpolished once in awhile so you can check for changes in the nail, ridges, unusual cuticle growth, or whitening of the nail bed.

If you experience unusual changes in your nails or the nail bed, you might want to consult your health care professional to see if those are symptoms of another medical condition. For example, spoon shaped nails that are indented in the center can sometimes signal an iron deficiency.

Filing

It’s important not to file too frequently, because filing shortens the nail and is counter productive to having long fingernails. However, should a nail become cracked, damaged, or broken, filing is necessary, and as the nail grows, you’ll want to file the nail to keep its shape.

Cutting and Clipping

If a nail becomes very jagged or broken, it may be necessary to cut the nail back to the point that the nail is not broken. Be careful not to cut too far back into the nail bed because this can be quite painful, and also be sure when cutting back fingernails to file and shape the sides so that they do not grow into the finger itself, which can become inflamed and be quite painful as well.

Nail Hardeners

There are many brands of polish and coating nail hardeners on the market that are inexpensive. These will help coat the nail and protect it while also filling in fine crack and other imperfections that may cause the nail to become brittle or peel. Again, it’s important to let the nail breathe occasionally with nothing covering it, but using nail hardeners can help protect the nail while it grows.

Vitamins

Taking vitamins regularly, particularly pre-natal vitamins, even if you are not pregnant, can really make a difference in the growth and strength of your nails. Be sure to check with your health care professional before taking vitamins and supplements to ensure you are taking the right ones for you. Also, eating a healthy, well-balanced diet can make a lot of difference to your nails.

These are just a few simple and inexpensive tips for better nail care to help your nails look their best and grow properly. With proper nail care, your fingernails can be fabulous and long and beautiful in less than a month to three months for most people.