How to Strengthen Your Nails with Garlic and Lemon
Today, there’s a wide variety of cosmetic products that promise to strengthen your nails and prevent them from weakening and breaking. However, you can also prepare and use your own natural products. For example, a garlic and lemon mixture.
Although you try to avoid it, the nails are constantly exposed to the elements and if you don’t take proper care of them, they can deteriorate.
Manicures and other treatments will help you care for them, but sometimes additional measures are required to provide them with the nutrients they need.
Next, we’ll discuss the recipe for the lemon garlic mixture which is a 100% natural solution with properties that promote the hardening of your nails. In addition, it’ll keep them strong and healthy.
When applied properly, it significantly improves the appearance of weak nails, so be sure to give it a try!
Garlic and lemon to strengthen your nails
This natural hardener made with garlic and lemon is an organic treatment that will improve the condition of nails that tend to split when they start to grow.
It combines essential nutrients that strengthen the superficial layers of the nails, stopping them from deteriorating, and repairs the damaged structure, while providing strength and shine.
- The garlic provides important sulfur compounds (allicin, allyl/diallyl sulfides) that prevent the growth of pathogens such as fungi. Therefore, garlic and lemon are ideal for both preventing and treating nail infections.
- Lemon is a fruit rich in vitamin C, a substance that contributes greatly to the health of skin and nails. It also acts as an antioxidant and protects against free radical damage. This vitamin also helps produce collagen, another substance necessary for skin health.
- Lemon and garlic also provide minerals such as calcium and zinc, which contribute to the strengthening of nails.
Read about the Eight symptoms of a vitamin C deficiency
Homemade treatment to strengthen your nails
To make this homemade treatment to strengthen your nails just follow the recipe below and gather both lemons and fresh garlic cloves.
Ingredients
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 bottle of clear nail polish
- 3 tbsp. of lemon juice
- Optional: 1 capsule of vitamin E
Preparation
- Crush the cloves of garlic and stir in the lemon juice and the gel from the capsule
- Let this stand for 15 to 20 minutes and mix it with the clear nail polish
- You can pour everything into a small jar for convenience
Mode of application
- Remove any nail polish from your nails, wash them with a neutral soap, and then apply a thin layer of this hardener
- Be sure to cover your nails completely and let the treatment work for at least an hour
- After this time, remove the product, let your nails rest for a day, and reapply
- Follow this treatment on a regular basis and you’ll have stronger and longer nails in just a few weeks
Visit this article: Seven solutions to strengthen weak nails
Other recommendations to strengthen your nails
This home treatment is an effective solution for fragile nails. It’s important to consider other aspects of care, however, to get the best results in no time.
Although many people ignore this, certain habits are essential for preventing nails from breaking down or becoming discolored. For that reason, be sure to complement the use of this product with the following:
- A healthy diet, which includes plenty of protein, antioxidants, and minerals
- You can be guided by the Mediterranean diet or the Harvard plate
- Daily consumption of water, at least three glasses a day
- Wearing protective gloves, especially when handling cleaning products made with chemicals
- Daily hydration, both on the surface of the nails and the cuticles
You should also be sure to avoid certain harmful habits, such as:
- Biting your nails
- Cutting your cuticles
- Leaving your nails dirty
- Using your fingernails as “tools”
- Using aggressive cosmetic products
Try this home remedy!
Are your nails growing slowly or do they tend to split when you least expect it? If you notice any sign of weakening, don’t hesitate to prepare your own treatment at home and nourish them to keep them strong and fungus-free.
If they continue to break in spite of your care, talk with your doctor to determine the cause. Although it is often overlooked, weak nails can be a sign of certain health conditions.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Gruhlke, M., Nicco, C., Batteux, F., & Slusarenko, A. (2016). The Effects of Allicin, a Reactive Sulfur Species from Garlic, on a Selection of Mammalian Cell Lines. Antioxidants. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox6010001
- Rizvi, S., Raza, S. T., Ahmed, F., Ahmad, A., Abbas, S., & Mahdi, F. (2014). The role of Vitamin E in human health and some diseases. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal.
- Traber, M. G., & Atkinson, J. (2007). Vitamin E, antioxidant and nothing more. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2007.03.024