Hands up

Your hands can say a lot about you.

Here are some easy tips that will help make sure you always have healthy looking hands and nails.

Use a hand cream daily, especially after washing dishes or working around the house. Rub into your palms, over your fingers and into your cuticles to keep them soft.

Remember to push back/remove cuticles. Soften cuticles in warm water or work on them just after a shower. Use a wooden manicure stick to gently push them back or else use cuticle creams and removers.

To keep your nails neat, make sure they are all cut at the same level. Use a nail clipper and emery board to shorten them. When using an emery board, start filing one side of nail and work toward the center. Then file the other side in the same direction. File only in one direction. This prevents splitting.

Always apply a basecoat before putting on a coloured nail varnish to protect your nails against colour staining.

Choose a good nail polish remover, preferebably one without acetone since acetone will strip your nails of essential moisture. Try to limit remover use to less than once a week. Peeling or picking off polish is not a good way to remove polish, either. It scrapes off the upper protective layer of the nails, making them more vulnerable to infection.

Use hand gloves as much as possible to avoid damaging/weakening your nails.

Get more nail care tips.