“One way to feel good about yourself is to love yourself … to take care of yourself”, said the veteran American actress Goldie Hawn. Every inch of your body deserves care and attention, but that can be much easier said than done with the commitments of work and family life.

It seems in our daily hustle and bustle we often forget to take care of our nails, I know for me it’s something I struggle to make time for. Here are a few tips that can help. Let’s look at the Do’s and Don’ts that you need to know about when it comes to taking care of nails – now we just need to find the time to do all of this!

The Do’s – Natural and homemade ways to take care of your nails

• Trim your nails – It is mandatory that you trim your nails when they get too long. Long nails not only look unsightly but might also chip or break off leading to unwanted trouble. Round the fingernails, but toenails should be trimmed This also helps to keep your nails clean and hygienic.
• Use gel nail polish – For women, using gel nail polish which lasts for two weeks or more, means that nails don’t have to be subjected to the process of removing and reapplying polish as often as with standard acrylic polish. Brands like Svensson offer do-it-yourself gel polish home kits with drying lamps that makes the process easy and economical.
• Maintain a proper diet – Deficiency of iron, Vitamin D, and calcium in your daily food can often result in fragile/brittle nails, which can easily chip off. It is important to maintain a proper diet with lots of green and leafy vegetables, other food products that are abundant in iron, and consume enough dairy products in your diet to make your nails hard and healthy.
• Clean your nails and remove stains – You must regularly and routinely, at least once a week, clean your nails (both fingers and toes) and remove any embedded dirt from under them. If any of your nails are showing signs of staining, there are a couple of natural ways in which you can easily remove those stains. The first way is to dip your fingernails and toenails in a solution of one tablespoonful of lemon juice and clean hot water. After soaking for a while you should be able to easily scrub off any stains. Apply moisturiser after you have done that. The second remedy is to dip your nails into lukewarm mustard oil for 8-10 minutes. This not only enables easy removal of the stains, but also helps to ensure normal blood circulation.
• Massage Regularly – Massaging your nails with lukewarm olive oil will help to keep them hard and healthy. After massaging, rub the nails with cotton soaked in fresh lemon juice to give them a fine polish and shine.
• Drink lots of water – Staying well hydrated is important to your overall health, and especially for the health of your nails. So try to consume as much water as you can every day along with maintaining a properly balanced diet.

The Don’ts – Things you must avoid as much as possible

• Don’t bite the nails – This is always the number one ‘don’t’ when talking about nail care. If you have the habit of biting your nails, then you really should be making the effort to stop that. They not only look unsightly but it’s bad for the health of the nails.
• Never cut the cuticles – One of the mistakes that is commonly made in nail care is to cut the cuticles. This can be painful and must be avoided otherwise infections can set in around the nail. You can soak your hand in warm water or lukewarm oil and then gently push the cuticle back with a cuticle stick if necessary.
• Use rubber gloves – Frequent exposure of your hands and feet to water can cause unwanted fungal infections and ruin the health of your nails. So whenever you are working in or around water, do not forget to wear plastic or rubber gloves and covered shoes. You need to protect both your hands and feet.
• Nail polish removers can cause harm to your nails if used too often or not used properly. After removing polish, is is advisable to keep your nails bare for a few days after using the remover so they have time to recover and benefit from a moisturising regime. There are many nail creams and oils on the market, which can be supplemented by massaging with lemon juice.
• Problems must not be ignored – If you are facing any problems regarding your nails such as fungi, discoloration or brittleness, do not ignore and expect it to take care of itself. Instead, consult a doctor or a dermatologist for an evaluation and advice on how the problem should be treated.

These are just some of the tips and techniques that will help you to take care of your nails – have you any tips to share?