What’s Important in Cuticle Care?

HOW TO CARE FOR CUTICLES:

Cuticle care is the best step for rejuvenating your nails. Cuticles are the outer edge of skin surrounding your nail bed. Their purpose is keeping bacteria away from your blood stream to prevent infection. We use our hands for everything every day. Activities such as cleaning or even working out can cause the skin around your nail to become dry and crack. Cuticle care should be a step added to your everyday skin routine because it’s important to have healthy nails.

DON’T PICK OR BITE

I get it, cuticle biting is satisfying. However, it’s not the best step towards your cuticle care journey. Picking and biting cuticles can be a response to stress, anxiety or impatience and provides a sense of relief. This does however make cuticle biting an emotional stimulus and becomes a hard habit to crack. Try this instead:

If you’re a constant cuticle biter, look at your cuticles. Are they swollen, red, or sore? Those are signs that your cuticles are screaming for help! Think about it, you’re using your hands for everything and then biting your cuticles. This is spreading bacteria and causing infection. Try the alternatives above to stop picking and biting. Stay away from these hacks:

Despite these hacks being a smart way to stop cuticle picking or biting, it’s not the healthiest for your nails. It will soak out all the hydration and natural oils from your cuticles, making them crack more. Also, imagine if you rub your eyes. YIKES, that will probably burn!

CREATE A ROUTINE

Give your cuticles some pampering! You don’t need to go to the salon to have this professionally done when you can do this right at home. All you need is:

First, soak your nails in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes to soften up your cuticles. It’s best to have your cuticles soft, especially if they are overgrown, to prevent hurting your skin. Once your cuticle skin is softened, take a cuticle pusher, and gently angle the pusher to push off the excess skin on your nail plate. This next step is optional because most people choose to have their cuticles trimmed professionally. However, if you choose to trim them yourself, only cut off the dead skin. Next, you’ll cut your nails to your desired length and file the nail to smooth out the ridges from the cut. Make this apart of your self-care routine.

CUTICLE OIL

The most important product to have when caring for your cuticles is cuticle oil. Applying cuticle oil can be done twice a day (or even more, there is no limit). I recommend applying the oil to your nails before you go to sleep and when you wake up so your cuticles can be fully hydrated. You can also apply the oil after washing dishes or cleaning because of the harsh chemicals. When applying cuticle oil, simply massage the product into your cuticle, nail plate and surrounding skin. Cuticle oil can prevent dryness and be a hack to prevent biting or picking your cuticles.  Some will even skin the routine above and just apply oil to their cuticles everyday which is also a good self-care routine.

NAIL GROWTH SERUM

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Sources:

Chertoff, Jane. “Cuticle: What Is It, Care, Removal, Signs of Infection, and More.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 8 Mar. 2019, https://www.healthline.com/health/cuticle.

Schneider, Jamie. “You're Probably Cutting Your Cuticles Wrong - How to Nip the Skin like a Pro.” Mindbodygreen, 20 Sept. 2021, https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/cuticle.

 By Charlize Guerra