Now that you can’t enjoy regular professional manicures during this time of social distancing, it’s important to maintain the health and integrity of your nails at home on your own. Here are some insider tips from our top nail technicians.

Keeping your cuticles hydrated is the most important way to keep them soft, prevent overgrowth, and prevent hang nails. Applying oil at least once a day works wonders on preserving nail and cuticle health overall. Many of our nail technicians recommend putting on hand lotion topped off with cuticle oil every night before bed. Cuticle oil works really well, but you can definitely use other kinds of oils too! We recommend coconut oil or olive oil. Typically the thicker the oil the better. Hair conditioner can also work well in a pinch!

Lightly filing your nails once a week is a good way to preserve the shape and prevent breaking. The most manageable shape is short and rounded. When they’re short they’re less likely to break, and round is usually an easier shape to achieve. Try to keep the edges and sides of your nail smooth to further prevent breaking.

If you usually like to have your ridges smoothed out, lightly go over the entire nail with a buffer about once every other week. Using a buffer is the best option, but if you do not have a buffer, very gently go over the entire nail with the softest file you have. Don’t overdo it though! Keeping the nail and cuticle hydrated is very important to preventing splitting. Applying a clear coat or nail strengthener once a week is a great way to protect the nail and give it strength.

Since most people are home, right now is the perfect time to give your nails a break from polish. It’s important to let the nail breath and allow all the lotions and oils to fully absorb into the nail. If you are finding the polish remover you have at home is not removing your polish, you may need to use pure acetone (available at stores like CVS, which offers online shopping and drive-through windows for safer delivery or pickup).

We look forward to offering you our wide selection of professional manicures and pedicures again soon. Until then, take good care.

The post Haven@Home: <BR>Nail Care Part 1 appeared first on Haven Spa.