Growing long and strong nails is easier than you think. With the right routine and care, your natural nails can achieve beautiful and sturdy length. In this blog post, we’re sharing tips on how you can care for your nails, support their growth, and steps you can implement for growing long, strong, and beautiful natural nails.
Weak, breakage-prone nails are not always due to just genetics. They often result from improper care, lack of supportive protection, and stripped moisturization or nutrients.
The good thing is these conditions can be changed. With the right routine and nail care products, your natural nails can achieve beautiful and sturdy length. The key is in building a simple, consistent nail care routine that nourishes, protects, hydrates, and strengthens your nails.
Step 1: Reinforcement and Protection
Natural nails that are prone to break cannot grow. This is where reinforcement is helpful. Weak nails need a durable layer that protects against impact from everyday activities and external conditions that may affect the nail’s condition, impacting nail growth.
Nail Enhancements
Nail enhancements like builder gel, gel tip extensions, and even gel manicures actually protect the natural nails as reinforcement. Nail enhancements offer durability that can be worn for the recommended wear time, such as 2 to 3 weeks before requiring removal or maintenance. While wearing nail enhancements, your natural nails are less likely to break as the nail enhancement provides a durable layer that protects from normal wear and tear from daily activities, and with care, can grow up to nearly 4 millimeters long within 3 weeks. Nail growth rate will vary from person to person based on various factors such as age, medical conditions, etc.
It is often a misconception that nail enhancements or nail products ruin natural nails. In reality, damage associated with nail enhancements typically results from over-buffing or over-filing during nail preparation for product application or during removal. With high-quality gel products and a skilled nail tech (or carefulness when doing your own nails), it is possible to grow and maintain healthy natural nails while wearing nail enhancements without needing to take a break.
Frequent removal of nail enhancements is unnecessary unless there is product lifting, a need to change products (i.e. switching from gel tip extensions to builder gel), or a preference for bare nails. Frequent nail prep for product application and frequent removal are steps that can pose risk of thinning out the natural nails as layers of the nail plate are gradually removed. To minimize thinning, keeping nail enhancements on can help protect and support the growth of your natural nails. During both application and removal, extra care should always be taken during abrasive steps.
Nail Hardeners
For natural nails without enhancements, nail hardeners can offer protection that is easy to implement and support healthy nail growth. Nail hardeners are a type of nail strengthener typically applied like polish to reinforce the nail plate, help reduce bending, splitting, and breaking.
Nail hardeners work by forming a protective coating, applied in layers, to add strength to the natural nails. Many modern hardeners are formulated to address multiple nail concerns, incorporating additional ingredients that support moisture balance, add nourishment, and build resistance to splitting for improved nail condition as they grow. These formulas are multi-beneficial and can sometimes be marketed as “nail strengtheners,” which is a general term for products typically polished on the nail to add strength and other benefits.
When choosing a nail hardener, assess your nail needs to choose an option that targets your specific concerns, such as brittleness, peeling, or weakness. Always follow product manufacturer’s instructions for use. Over-using nail hardeners may cause nails to become overly brittle and rigid, increasing the risk of cracking. Nail hardeners should be used until the desired results are achieved, then discontinued until needed again.
Check out these multibenefit nail hardeners available at Sweetie Nail Supply, each offering a unique feature.
Four Options:
Glossy finish
Key Ingredients: biotin, vitamin A, hydrolyzed silk, hydrolyzed keratin,
Benefits: nourishment, moisturizing, recover nails, quick drying, antioxidizing, strengthening, clear and glossy finish
Hardener and nail polish for a pink hint of color
Key Ingredients: biotin, vitamin A, hydrolyzed silk, hydrolyzed keratin,
Benefits: nourishment, moisturizing, recover nails, quick drying, antioxidizing, strengthening, adds tinted pink color for natural color
Hardener and nail polish for a hint of sparkle or shimmer
Key Ingredients: rosemary leaf extract, lemon peel oil, hibiscus flower extract, borage flower extract, biotin, keratin, vitamin A
Benefits: nourishment, antioxidizing, moisturizing, strengthening, adds subtle sparkle with a tint of warm color
Key Ingredients: rosemary leaf extract, lemon peel oil, hibiscus flower extract, borage flower extract, biotin, keratin, vitamin A
Benefits: nourishment, antioxidizing, moisturizing, strengthening, adds shimmery effect
Made with spirulina, treasure of the sea packed with nutritional benefits
Key Ingredients: spirulina, phycocyanin, calcium, ceramide, hyaluronic acid, collagen, keratin
Benefits: antioxidizing, nutrition, rehydration, maintains moisturization, strengthening, supports regeneration of skin and nails, prevents cracking, dries in one minute
Matte finish for a natural look
(pink and beige)
Key Ingredients: jojoba seed oil, Vitamin E, Nitrocellulose, hydrated silica
Benefits: moisturizing, strengthening, smooths nail ridges, quick-drying, durable, adds a tint of color, natural matte finish
Tinted for hint of color
It’s Lit - Berry Berry Nail Pink Hardener
Key Ingredients: biotin, keratin, and calcium
Benefits: strengthening, nourishment, shine,
These strengtheners function as a hardener while combining the benefits of other ingredients to strengthen, nourish, and repair natural nails.
Key Ingredients: hydrolyzed keratin, Vitamin A, octocrylene
Benefits: Provides building blocks directly to the surface to strengthen nails, hydrating, revitalizing, UV protection
DGEL Potion Perfume Nail Strengtheners
Key Ingredients: Vitamin E, keratin, calcium
Benefits: Penetrates the layers of the nail to supply nutrients, hydrating, prevents dryness, reduce breakage, natural shine, soft fragrance, quick drying, helps repair damaged nails, leaves a subtle and lingering perfume scent after fully dried
Two Scent Options:
Scent: Cozy cotton musk
Notes: Fruity citrus green, floral, musk sweet woody
Scent: Soft white floral
Notes: Citrus fruity, floral watery, musk woody sweet amber
If you have naturally strong nails, nail enhancements and hardeners may not be necessary, but you’ll definitely want to incorporate the next step to optimize nail condition and support nail growth.
Step 2: Hydration and Nourishment
One of the most important steps in helping natural nails grow is keeping them well hydrated. Dry, brittle nails are rigid and more prone to breaking. Balanced hydration and retained moisturization help keep natural nails slightly flexible, helping them to better absorb impact from daily activities compared to stiff, brittle nails.
Nail Serums
You may be familiar with serums for the face and skin, but there are also specialized serums designed to support nail health. Serums are lightweight, concentrated liquid made to deliver specific ingredients quickly and deeply. They contain smaller molecules for faster absorption and higher concentrations of active ingredients to address specific goals conditioning the nails.
Specialized nail serums provide supplemental nourishment to support the nails as they grow and are especially helpful if you have recently had nail enhancements removed and need some revitalization. Incorporate a nail serum into your nail care routine by applying it to the base of the nails two to three times a day, or as needed.
A nail serum designed to help vertical ridges, uneven texture, peeling, and splitting while offering intense hydration and nourishment to promote healthy nails.
DIAMI EX’thera VICA Keratin Serum
A highly concentrated rich serum that soothes thin nails and the skin around them with Centella Extract and provides moisturization and nourishment to revitalize the nails.
Cuticle oil and rose serum in one, this serum contains vitamin-enriched pink capsules to deliver moisture and nutrients to the nails.
ARTiS di Voce Perfume Nail Serums
A nail serum specially formulated for those with dry, brittle, and easily cracked nails, infused with carefully selected, custom blended French fragrance.
BANDI Nailcure serums offer specially formulated formulas for targeted care for specific nail conditions, providing various benefits such as elasticity, intensive moisturization, and nourishment.
Nail Oil
Nail oil (also referred to as cuticle oil) supplies beneficial oils and other nourishment to keep your nails moisturized and retain moisture. While nail serums quickly penetrate the skin and nails, nail oil absorbs slower and offers deeper moisturization while locking it in. After applying nail serum, apply nail oil to the nails and surrounding skin 2-3 times a day or as needed.
Take them anywhere. Oil pens that are convenient to carry and apply.
AQUANICHE Multi-Natural Oil Pen
Apply generously. Brush-on nail oil.
ARTiS di Voce - Nourishing Nail Oil
Salon care or personal care. Nail oil dropper.
BANDI Flower Vita Two Drop Oil
ARTiS di Voce - Perfume Nail Oil Droppers
Spill-proof. Nail oil roller.
Kokoist Nail Thoughts Summer Forever Nail OilARTiS di Voce Perfume Nail Oil
Moisturization and nourishment through the application of nail serum and nail oil is one of the easiest steps you can implement to support nail growth. Use them daily on bare natural nails and the surrounding skin. Even if you wear nail enhancements, it is still beneficial to use nail serum and nail oil for their moisturizing benefits. If you are incorporating these with a nail hardener, apply hardener first and allow it to fully dry before applying nail serum, followed by nail oil.
Step 3: Care
The last, but equally important, step in growing out your nails is caring for them. We use our hands constantly throughout the day, often without realizing how certain tasks can impact the condition of our nails. Many daily activities can place stress on the nails, which weaken them or even cause breakage. Taking precautionary steps is essential to protect nail health.
Make it a habit to use designated tools rather than your nails for various tasks, and avoid using your nails to pry objects open. Wear protective gloves for activities such as washing dishes or cleaning to prevent overexposure to harsh soaps, detergents, or chemicals that can strip moisture from the skin and nails.
Overall, treating your nails with care and intention helps minimize stress and impact on the nails.
Further Steps
As we age, nails may naturally become weaker, thinner, and develop more visible ridges, similar to how skin ages and forms wrinkles. However, medical conditions and nutrient deficiency can also impact nail health. Nail products are not intended to treat or cure underlying nail conditions, but rather to support nail condition and growth externally. If you have concerns about your nail condition, consult a medical professional to address any underlying issues.
Growing long and strong nails is not a secret—it’s a routine. Through reinforcement, moisturization, mindful care, using the right products, you can achieve long and strong, beautiful nails.
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