How to Use Garlic to Harden Your Nails
We all shake hands. That’s why keeping them looking healthy and beautiful is important for men and women alike.
Having brittle nails is a nightmare for many, but now it will be a thing of the past with these garlic-based remedies to help harden your nails.
Garlic is beneficial in many ways.
First of all, it’s a spice that makes any dish tasty. Plus, it’s great for your health. It has anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties, and scientific studies claim that it even serves to prevent some types of cancer.
It’s also a great ally in terms of beauty. In this article, we’ll take a look at how it can help your nails.
Garlic remedies for hardening your nails
Our nails are exposed to many substances that weaken them, so garlic is an excellent natural option to help harden them. Although its smell is very strong, it’s worth applying a little bit to your nails to keep them healthy and strong.
Here’s how:
1. Soak your nails in garlic water
What do you need?
- Water (the necessary amount)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Container
What should you do?
When you do your manicure session at home, start by nourishing your nails with a little garlic.
- Once you remove the skin of the garlic if it has it, peel and cut two cloves of garlic and add them to a bowl of water.
- Let them sit for 15 or 20 minutes. Take the garlic out of the water and dip your hands in it for 15 more minutes.
- Don’t throw whole garlic cloves into the water: you have to cut them in order to secrete the liquid that has all of the helpful properties. The idea of removing the garlic from the water is that your hands won’t end up smelling so bad.
- You can also wash your hands and continue with your manicure as you normally would, since the garlic will have done its job in those 15 minutes.
2. Garlic in nail polish
What do you need?
- 1 clove of garlic
- A mortar to crush the garlic
- Colorless nail polish
What should you do?
- Peel a clove of garlic and crush it with the mortar. Take the jar of polish and add the crushed garlic.
- Apply it directly onto your nails and leave it on as long as your manicure is intact. Don’t worry; the garlic won’t stain your nails or irritate your skin.
- Ideally, you want the garlic has direct contact with your nails. This is a very simple option that you should only repeat once the polish has come off.
3. Olive oil and garlic
What do you need?
- Olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- A mortar
- Nail polish remover or acetone
- An empty nail polish container
What should you do?
- Take the empty polish container and completely remove the leftover polish with the acetone.
- Peel the garlic and mash it with the mortar. In the clean container, add the crushed garlic and add olive oil on top.
- Apply it directly to your nails. Let it work for 15 minutes and remove it.
The two ingredients in the remedy each have a specific benefit: Garlic hardens your nails and olive oil moisturizes them. If you prefer, substitute this oil for almond oil because it has a stronger smell that will counteract that of the garlic.
4. Olive oil, garlic and lemon
What do you need?
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Olive oil
- The juice from 1 lemon
- A container
What should you do?
- Peel the cloves of garlic and mash them well to form a paste.
- In a bowl, squeeze the lemon juice, add the crushed garlic and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Dip your hands in the mixture for 10 minutes and then remove them. Wash them well and then apply a moisturizer to your cuticles.
This remedy will help your nails grow faster. We recommend repeating the procedure daily or several times a week to get better results. You don’t have to make the mixture every time you use it; you can just keep it in the fridge.
It’s so simple and cheap to harden your nails naturally. Forget about buying those expensive products that can sometimes be aggressive on your skin! Nature gives you many options to keep you beautiful, and using garlic to harden your nails is one of them. Take advantage of it!
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.
- Misbahuddin, M., Bashar, T., & Hossain, M. A. (2012). Effectiveness of garlic oil in the treatment of arsenical palmer keratosis. Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjp.v8i1.13121
- Zanni, P. C. M. D., Shinobu-Mesquita, C. S., Bonfim-Mendoncá, P. S., Guilhermetti, E., Maluf, M. L. F., Negri, M., … Svidizinski, T. I. E. (2013). Antifungal activity of ajoene on Fusarium spp onychomycosis isolates. Mycoses.
- Fawcett, R. S., Linford, S., & Stulberg, D. L. (2004). Nail Abnormalities: Clues to Systemic Disease. American Family Physician.
