8 Tricks to Nourish and Protect Your Nails

Besides painting them and getting manicures, you can do a lot of things for your nails to make sure they stay healthy and strong.

Reviewed and approved by psychologist Valeria Sabater.

Written by Valeria Sabater

Last update: 09 October, 2022

If you tend to break your nails often, then don’t miss out on this article. Fragile, brittle and even yellow nails are a common struggle for many women. Anything you do ends up causing a small break that can be so bothersome. Don’t worry, here we will give you some simple tricks to properly nourish and protect your nails. 

Simple Tricks to Nourish and Protect Your Nails

1. Olive and Castor Oil Bath

This is a very simple and effective trick to protect your nails. You can make the most simple and economic mask at home. Olive oil is great for nourishing fragile nails – a natural moisturizing and strengthening ingredient with plenty of vitamins.

Just pour some olive oil into a cup, wet a cotton ball in it, and soak your nails with it. Keep the oil on them for at least 20 minutes. Then wash your hands with neutral soap. If you repeat this 3 times a week, you’ll see a difference. If you’d like, you can use castor oil instead of olive oil. This is also very effective.

2. Vitamin E

You’ll only need one for this particular purpose. It’s very easy. Get a transparent nail polish and pour the content of one vitamin E capsule in it. Try to paint your nails frequently with this vitamin preparation and you’ll see, little by little, your nails’ health greatly improving.

3. The Garlic Trick

To do this, it’s great to cut a garlic clove in half and do a gentle massage on your nails at night, including your side cuticles. Then, just wash with gentle soap, like baby soap for example, which also has anti-microbial components. Don’t worry, if you wash your nails well, there will be no garlic smell.

4. Trick to make your nails grow strong

Here’s a super nutritious mask to make your nails grow strong and healthy. It ‘s very easy. Put a teaspoon of papaya, the yolk from an egg, a little bit of lemon, and five teaspoons of milk in a bowl. Blend the mixture well and put your fingers in it for at least 10 minutes.

If you repeat this twice a week, you’ll get great results.

5. Horsetail

This is great for strengthening, caring for, nourishing, and hardening your nails. It’s also very easy. Just boil four horsetail sprigs in a cup of water. Let it sit and when the infusion is cool, put your fingers in it for at least 15 minutes. Don’t forget to repeat this twice a week.

6. Lemon and Almond Oil

To make this nourishing and nail strengthening mask, just get the juice from half a lemon. Once this is done, add a tablespoon of sugar. Submerge your fingertips in this cup for ten minutes. After that, take a cotton ball and wet it with a little bit of almond oil and apply it to all of your nails. It’s very effective!

7. Nail Whitening Trick

Has this happened to you before? Sometimes, your nails look yellowish or dull, and you’d like to put an end to it. There’s a simple remedy to whiten your nails that consists of putting them in white vinegar for 5 minutes. 

Another trick is to put a cotton ball with a little bit of hydrogen peroxide on them. As a result, they’ll have a more natural color.

8. Tips to Make Your Nails Healthy

• Avoid biting your nails. If you do this, you are not only making them fragile and untidy, but you could also catch a disease.
• Don’t abuse nail polish. Your nails need to breathe, so it’s best if you let them rest from time to time.
• Don’t use your nails as tools. Don’t scratch things with them, don’t use them to open things, etc.
• Get used to wearing gloves when you have to wash something to protect your nails. Detergents, softeners, and soaps to wash plates and other objects tend to have chemicals that harm your nails. Remember this!