How to Strengthen and Get Healthier Nails During Winter

Gentle buff your nails first before treating them to this soak.

Besides all the headaches associated with winter, there is another thing to have against this season.  Not only does it dry out the skin more and add static electricity to our hair, it also does a number on nails as far as brittleness is concerned.  Therefore, it’s important to pay extra attention to lubricating your hands and nails often with hand creams and lotions as well as trying this DIY Moisturizing Nail Soak every chance you get.

There are not many ingredients involved or time wasted to benefit from what this winter nail fix can do.  What’s great about this recipe is that it whitens nails somewhat as it returns ample lubrication to dry nails with its simple mix of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, vitamin E 400 I.U. capsule, and lavender essential oil. 

You don’t want to wear any nail polish before you do this.  Allow your nails to breathe every now and then because never giving them a break from nail enamels further contribute to this problem.   

I like to do this soak when I’m watching some television before bedtime.  Before I pop my nails in this aromatic lavender nail soak, I make it a point to gently exfoliate with my nail buffer to smooth any ridges.  You don’t have to use a file like this, but I found it helps the soak penetrate better.

By the time you wake up in the morning, your nails will appear healthier and a bit stronger than before.  

DIY Moisturizing Nail Soak

1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 vitamin E 400 I.U. capsule, pierced
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 drops of lavender essential oil

Mix all the ingredients in a small container that you can soak your nails in comfortably.

Keep your nails in this soak for at least 7-10 minutes.  You won’t be rinsing this mixture off.  Instead, you will be slipping your hands into a pair of cotton gloves for continuing the treatment while you sleep.

Try my recipe and your nails will be grateful!

The Answer to Your Problem of Weak, Splitting Nails!

Over the last few years, I noticed my fingernails kept getting weaker and weaker with deeper ridges.  If that wasn’t bad enough, two of my nails were starting to look flat across and curve inward, which is far from beautiful. The only thing I could do was keep the nails short and keep experimenting with every nail reinforcing product that I could find in my quest to get my once beautiful nails back.

The strength of them was so bad that I had to run for the nail file or scissors once or twice a day despite some of the products I had tried earlier.  Seriously, I didn’t understand why this awful change was happening.

Of course, I know that diet plays a role.  However, who can really say if we have enough of the right nutrients to handle our unique body’s chemistry, especially with the way our foods are processed, preservatives, or any medicines that must be taken?  

After I did some research, I found that biotin, (vitamin B 7), could be what I was lacking. This particular vitamin helps the body’s metabolism to become better functioning for how it treats energy and transports carbon dioxide from the body’s cells.

Biotin can be found naturally in foods such as cooked eggs, nuts, sardines, legumes, nut butters, whole grains, mushrooms, bananas, and cauliflower.  

Already the thought of what biotin could do to benefit my nails, stop hair loss and shedding that I lately was experiencing and, perhaps, even help with weight sounded promising.  The problem now was the dosage. 

I picked up a bottle of the maximum strength 5,000 mcg. Though there is no known evidence of biotin interfering with medications, you may want to ask your physician before starting with any new supplements.

Please be careful in your choice of vitamins.  Look for a brand with some sort of quality seal to safeguard your health in what is a very unregulated industry.  Trust me on this, read those labels carefully because bad ones are still sold nationally alongside good ones and in stores where you shop.

I took one softgel a day.  I didn’t see any difference the first week.  By the second week, I started noticing a bit more strength when touching the nail surface.  It wasn’t as bouncy and frail.  

Over the next two weeks, the condition of my nails improved more.  The deep ridges were giving way to finer ones while the two down curving nails were straightening themselves out with a rounder, normal curve.  I also wasn’t running for my nail file or scissors like before.

It has now been about six weeks and most of the old nail has grown out, leaving faint ridges, a normal curve to my nails again, and harder nails.  Furthermore, I haven’t been shedding as many hairs as before I started with biotin.

I honestly recommend anyone that is experiencing the same problems with their nails or even losing more hair than normal, should think of picking up a jar of biotin.  This really helped and is still helping me with my nails.  I only hope this helps you in the same way.

Summer 2014 Trind Caring Nail Colors and Keratin Treatment for Nails Kit Review

**Disclaimer:  This post has been compensated through a free product (s) or monetary payment.  Opinions are solely mine. All links are "no-follow" links.**

Trind Nail Polish Remover, three nail polishes, and Keratin Treatment for Nails

Some of us keep our nails always polished and looking like those hands modeled for a magazine.  Then again, there are people like yours truly that love the look of those fashionable, chic colors but suffer from weak or sensitive nails to complicate things.

When I was asked if I would be interested in trying Trind’s Keratin Treatment for Nails Kit along with some of this Dutch company’s other products, I was thrilled because of my own recurring problem with my nails splitting.  Through the years, I have tried to remedy this with various strengthening formulas, which didn’t do all that much for a long-term solution.

The Trind Keratin Treatment for Nails Kit ($45.95) is chemical free, using the protein Keratin to strengthen while moisturizing the nail. For those readers familiar with the company’s original Nail Repair, this strengthener is designed specifically for those with added sensitivity issues like damage from wearing artificial nails, or medicines, etc.  Thus, it also will take up to four weeks before you get the results that you’re after.

You get a bottle of Nail Restorer that you coat your nails with first before using the second bottle of Nail Protector, a shiny protective top coat.  I have used this kit for a couple of weeks and already noticed improvement with less nail breakage than usual! I will keep using this without question.

You can also follow up that Nail Protector, once completely dry, with nail polish like Trind’s Caring Color Nail Polishes ($13) that are formulated for optimum nail health.  I received Appletini (a fresh green), Surf’s Up (peacock blue), and Mint Julep (blue green bordering on aqua) from Trind’s Spring/Summer 2014 Collection.  

This is Trind Caring Color Nail Polish in Mint Julep.

The bright colors are perfect in keeping with the season. They are easy to apply with a nice consistency of formula and the right size brush to handle the task.  However, I must admit these nail polishes aren’t the longest lasting nail polishes.  Wear gloves if you intend to wash dishes or do work around the house because your manicure will suffer.

Then again, once you see those happy colors, you might want to keep rotating just for fun with such dazzling Trind Caring Colors available on their website.  Pop over and find your strength in beautiful nails!

I also got a bottle of their Nail Polish Remover.  This formula is acetone free, extra mild and rids any flaws in a flash.   

Restore Fragile Nails With These Wonderful Home Remedies

While in college, I had long, beautiful fingernails that were strong.  Unfortunately, time is not kind with the changes it can bring to your fingernails if you are noticing more ridges, which are the equivalents of facial wrinkles.  

Brittleness and splitting nails can be more of a problem as you age as well, just as lacking certain vitamins and minerals in your diet can cause those problems.  So if these changes are happening to you also, then I thought you would be interested to learn how to strengthen and smooth your ridges at home using ingredients from your kitchen.

Start off making a homemade protein-rich soak for your nails and keeping them immersed for at least one half hour before rinsing while watching television or talking on the phone will pay off. Honey, olive oil, and egg yolk are the highly beneficial natural moisturizing ingredients feeding those starved nails. 

Try one teaspoon each of honey and olive oil to one egg yolk for this protein-rich nail soak recipe.

Something that also will help improve the condition of dry nails is regularly soaking them in a little bit of olive oil that you warmed first in the microwave.  This is not protein-rich as the first recipe, but it does help nails recover more than you might expect.  It also is a wonderful treat for your cuticles.  Keeping your fingernails in that oil for about ten minutes daily will make a tremendous difference in their condition.

Though you can try buffing ridges out or filling them in with a product, I have another suggestion that you might want to try on those dry, brittle nails as well.  Believe it or not, ginger ale makes a great nail soak for those kinds of nail problems.  It can accomplish smoothing and strengthening due to mono-potassium phosphate, which even helps bleach nail stains.  

All you need to do is pour some ginger ale in a small container and stick your nails in for at least 10-15 minutes.

I hope you try these little suggestions because they can help keep you beautiful.