Taking care of your finger nails is not as hard as it sounds, but many people take it for granted. Cuticles are thin, small skin folds of the epidermis that are originally attached to the underside of your nail. But they tend to loosen up over time and detach from the nail causing ugly spaces between your nail and cuticles.
Cuticles are the skin that protects your nails. By nature, they are very thick and gelatinous to protect the underlying soft tissue. When they are not maintained properly, they become dry and can appear brittle or hardened. This prevents the nail from receiving vital nutrients and oxygen, which will affect its growth if gone unnoticed. Let’s find out more about these tiny structures, including why you should take care of them more.
Why are your cuticles important?
Cuticles can be an otherwise innocuous and overlooked part of your body. However, the importance of cuticles has been known for centuries. While simple, they serve an important purpose. Nails only appear to be a part of your hands — they’re actually an extension of them. Since the skin on our hands grows, we shed it at a faster rate on our fingers than our palms.
This causes dead skin cells to accumulate in the corners of your fingernails. And underneath these nails are tiny slits called cuticles which act as a way to protect the nail bed and underlying tissues.
If a cuticle is healthy, then the nail you see should be without blemishes and will grow easily without splitting or breaking more often. But if your cuticles are dry and infected, they can cause the surrounding skin to crack which can cause breakage at the nail bed where you’ll more than likely notice a discoloration.
The following are the ways to take care of nail cuticles:
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Soften your nails before trimming or pushing back your cuticles
Trimming and pushing back your cuticles is an important part of manicuring, but not everyone knows the proper way to do it. Keeping your nails in good condition is one of the easiest ways to make sure you always look presentable. Your nails are exposed on a daily basis, and as such can become damaged fairly easily. Always cut or push back your nails before trimming your cuticles. This reduces the risk of spreading an infection that’s present in your hands to the location where you’re trying to improve the appearance of your nails and nail beds.
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Moisturize your hands and cuticles
Moisturizing your hands and cuticles on a regular basis is not just important, it’s also extremely necessary. While our hands and cuticles are the outermost parts of the human body that touch our surroundings directly, they can often be the parts that feel the most neglected. While a lack of everyday moisturization won’t cause an infection, it can lead to cracked, bleeding calluses and painful hangnails.
Hands and cuticles can dry out easily, especially in winter, and this can lead to some ugly-looking skin or even a painful infection. Whether your hands are an average of you, the one that is always out in the environment looking for food, you need to make sure they’re always properly moisturized.
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Don’t bite your nails or pick at your cuticles
It is important to remember that brief manicures and pedicures can be performed at home. If you bite or pick at your cuticles, this could lead to infections with your nails if the cuticles are damaged. If the cuticles are repaired, they should be coated with petroleum jelly or other liquid barriers to prevent bacterial penetration. The best way to resolve nail biting is to treat it as a habit. If you bite your nails, it may help to create a record of how often you do so.
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Apply cuticle oil before bed
Cuticle oil should be applied prior to bed, with soft cotton gloves on top. The cuticles and nails need adequate time to absorb the nutrients in the oil, before they are exposed to the harshness of cleaning products you may use in the shower. Also, cotton gloves hold in more heat than your hands do with no gloves. Do not let the oil soak through your gloves; if it does, either try using a thicker glove or use mavala cuticle oil of hand protector
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Massage cuticles with a rich cream during your manicure
Manicures look great when you leave the salon but after a few days, your cuticles may look dry and dull. You may need to massage them with a rich cream several times a day. Try to use an oil-free cream or lotion that does not clog your nail cuticles, or you will not be able to push them back.
It is also important that you don’t use any type of tool on your cuticles. They will make your nails healthier if you give them enough time to grow before messing with them. Using a mavala cuticle cream on your hands as you do, your manicure will appear to last longer. This tip can help you get the most out of your manicure.
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Eliminate nail polish stains with a quick scrub
The most effective way to deal with nail polish stains on the carpet may seem very simple – to use an old toothbrush and scrub the stain. Nail polish remover easily dissolves the lacquer, thus making it easy to wipe out any excess using a towel.
Everyone wants to have beautiful nails but some of us make poor decisions when it comes to wearing nail polish. This results in our nail beds becoming stained. It looks unsightly and can be embarrassing. The good news is that it’s easy to fix the problem with a quick scrub.
Even the most disciplined adults can be guilty of getting a little sloppy with the nail polish. When you have hard water in your home, these smudges and splashes take on a whole new meaning.
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Massage cuticles with a rich cream during your manicure
Massaging cuticles with a cream is called ‘cremesaging’. Many massage therapists do this every time they do a manicure. But it’s not just for people who want to look after their cuticles; it’s an excellent treatment for your hands and nails. Manual massage helps stimulate the flow of blood under the skin and will help the nail plate expand naturally. There are two kinds of hand massages: relaxive and therapeutic. The relaxive massage stimulates circulation, while the therapeutic massage is preventive.
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Look for signs of dry, brittle cuticles
Signs of dry brittle cuticles include poor flexibility, weakness and lack of elasticity affecting the skin tissue, pain to the touch and in some instances, thickening. Cuticle problems can be difficult to recognize by just looking at them. The symptoms often resemble other nail conditions.
Cuticles are the little skin pieces right at your nail beds, which are important when it comes to nail health. When you look for signs of cuticle dryness you’re looking at how healthy your nails are. The best way to evaluate this is by looking for cracked skin, broken nails and signs of dead tissue growth from the underside of the cuticles.
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Slather on a thick hand cream and let your hands relax for a few minutes
Hand cream is a must-have beauty product. It soothes, moisturizes and protects your hands from harsh elements such as cold weather and water. But how do you know which hand cream is the best for you? Are all hand creams the same? We explore that question here and share a guide to buying the best hand cream for you.
Your hands are incredibly important. It’s more than just about typing, shaking a hand, or even opening a soda can. Keeping your hands moisturized is one of the best things you can do for them as well as your entire body.
