Interesting Facts 

Some tips on how to care for your cuticles at home. Cuticle care at home

Many people think that the cuticle is an annoying and unnecessary fold of skin around the nail. But this is not true at all! The cuticle is the natural protection of new keratin cells, which make up the nails. It covers the soft layer of the “young” nail, which is not yet strong. If you cut this protection incorrectly, you can not only ruin your nails, but even lose them altogether!

The cuticle can be living or non-living. The first one fits tightly to the surface of the nail at its base and serves to protect it. She needs constant care and additional support and nutrition from outside. The second is the “spent” cuticle. This is what needs to be removed regularly.

For home care for a nail protector, every lady should have in her “arsenal”:

· oil in a pencil tube,

· mild antiseptic,

· tongs and spatula for removing dead skin,

· nailfile.

How to remove cuticles correctly

There are several ways to remove cuticles. Each of them is good in its own way, but you cannot blindly use the method that suited your mother, sister or friend. You need to choose your only method of cuticle removal using a trial method and in accordance with your skin type and nail characteristics.

Hardware method

During this procedure, the dead layer of keratinized cuticle cells is polished with a special machine. Removal of old cells occurs gently, the living cuticle is not damaged and damage to the nail plate is minimized. But if the procedure is carried out by an amateur, then there is a high risk of damage to both the protective layer of the skin and the base of the nail. You can only trust your hands to a qualified specialist.

Trim method

This method is the oldest and most proven, but also the most dangerous. During the procedure, both the skin and the nail plate can be easily damaged or infected. Circumcision is an aggressive action and the new skin that grows at the site of the cut is usually denser and rougher, it often cracks and grows much faster. To prevent such consequences, before the procedure it is necessary to steam the cuticle well and treat it with special products - moisturizing creams or oils, and after circumcision - with an antiseptic and nourishing cuticle cream.

Unedged method

In order to use this method of removing cuticles, you need to regularly care for it, massage it using softening oils and creams. During the procedure, the cuticle, steamed and softened with a special remover, is carefully moved with an orange stick to the base of the nail. This can only be done when the skin on your hands is completely dry. After manipulation, a moisturizing nourishing agent corresponding to the type of hand skin must be applied to the cuticle.

It is very important to take care of the cuticle, but very often we forget about it! No beautiful manicure will look well-groomed and excellent if you don’t take care of the cuticle.

The cuticle is a protective layer for the root base of the nail. It protects against all kinds of bacteria and infections.

It is forbidden to trim the cuticle with nail scissors. Since you can cause great harm to her and numerous cuts.

If during care you damage the cuticle, use a bandage to prevent dirt from getting into the wound.

If your cuticle peels off or cracks at work or school, do not chew it off under any circumstances; in your situation, it is best to cover it with a band-aid, and when you come home, treat it with an antiseptic and trim it with special tweezers.

You can also take care of your cuticles in beauty salons; salon specialists will be happy to select the appropriate type of care for you. Currently, many new products have appeared in salons, for example, solar manicure, which is beneficial for the cuticle in a special way. This manicure is done using a preparation based on Dead Sea salts and oils. You can also make it at home. This procedure is very useful for nails; it nourishes, moisturizes and evens out the skin of the hands.

Also used in salons. This manicure method nourishes the skin of the hands with vitamins E, ceramides and many other beneficial substances; first of all, it nourishes and protects the skin of the hands.

Remember, a well-groomed cuticle is the key to a beautiful manicure!

Take care of your cuticles and then your nails and hands will be healthy and your manicure beautiful!!!

For a beautiful manicure, it is not enough just to maintain the shape of your nails and cover them with varnish. It is necessary to take care of the thin strip of skin around the nail - the cuticle. And although it is removed during a manicure, it performs an important function - it protects against penetration and dirt.

How to care for your cuticle

For quality cuticle care, it is important to choose a good product. The modern beauty industry produces a huge variety of products for, and in particular for, the cuticle. On the shelves of cosmetic stores you can find preparations for softening the cuticle, oils, creams, elixirs and many other useful products. All of them are designed for doing a neat manicure yourself.

In addition to quality cuticle products, you need to adhere to some important rules for caring for this part of the nail:

  • Avoid doing trimmed manicures yourself. This requires a professional approach so as not to damage the skin around the nail.
  • If you have hangnails, do not pick or bite them - inflammation may begin. It is better to trim the skin carefully with nail scissors.
  • Use only high-quality cosmetics and varnishes.
  • When doing housework, wear gloves to protect your hands from the harmful effects of household chemicals.
  • After lubricating your hands with cream, massage the area near the base of the nail for several minutes.
  • Exfoliate your hands occasionally.

How to soften cuticles

In any type of manicure, be it a classic cut or a European one, you need to soften the cuticle. For this purpose, various special means are used. If you don’t have a professional cuticle softener at hand, then the usual one will come to the rescue. By the way, this is what is included in almost all softeners.

Castor oil perfectly softens dry skin around the nail plate and is perfectly absorbed without leaving a greasy residue. Castor oil should be applied a drop at a time to each nail and rubbed into the base of the nail for several minutes, using massaging movements.

In addition to castor oil, baths can be used to soften the cuticle. For example, a bath with sea salt added to it will quickly soften the cuticle and have a healing effect on nails and skin.

How to remove cuticle

After the cuticle has softened, it must be removed. When performing a classic manicure, the cuticle is cut with a special tool. These can be nail scissors, tweezers or a fork.

The softened cuticle must be moved to the base of the nail. This is done with a special stick that does not damage the nail. Do not use metal plates to move the cuticle - they damage the nail, making it brittle.

Now cut the cuticle with scissors or tweezers. First, cut off the dead skin from the sides of the nail, and then from the bottom in an arc. Proceed carefully so as not to injure the skin. After finishing cutting the cuticle, apply a special cream to it and massage it.

In European manicure, the cuticle is not cut off, but removed using a special product. It is applied to the cuticle area for a few minutes, and then the softened cuticle is removed with an orange stick. Finally, a special cream is applied to the nails and a light massage is performed.

The cuticle is an integral part of maintaining healthy looking nails as it provides a protective covering of tissue which in turn forms the nail. Proper care will not only ensure strong and healthy nails, but will also prevent infections. Therefore, during a manicure, it is the cuticle that should be given special attention. Because mishandling it can cause a lot of pain and these tiny pieces of skin can go from healthy to painful and infected. You can take care of your cuticles at home with a few simple steps.

What is the cuticle for and its functions?

This is a layer of transparent skin located along the bottom edge of the finger, at the base of the nail. The function of the cuticle is to protect the nails from bacteria as they grow. The area around it is thin, so it can become dry, damaged and infected. It is important to take care of the entire nail area and keep them clean to keep them healthy.

How do you take care of your cuticles?

It is important that your cuticles are well-groomed and not overdried. The easiest way to care for it is to steam your hands or feet in soapy warm water for about 10 minutes. This procedure should be repeated 2-3 times a week. Such activities help soften and moisturize the skin. You can also apply cuticle oil and massage cream (use cuticle oil regularly to prevent dryness and cracking).

How can you safely remove or trim it?

If you still want to trim your cuticles, it's important to soften them first. You can do this by steaming your nails in warm water (taking a bath or shower can also help soften it). Then apply a cuticle remover, if it is dry, apply a moisturizer. Using a special cuticle pusher, gently push the cuticle along the nail layer, trim the excess skin and curls, but never cut it off completely, the idea is to remove only the excess skin.

Cuticle care at home

You will need: nail polish remover, care oil, bowl of warm water, towel, soft cloth. You need to do the following:

  1. Remove old shine. Use a nail polish remover (preferably with acetone), which dries out your nails and skin. Remove any remaining old varnish.
  2. Moisturize your nails. Lubricate your cuticle with special oil, this will make it more elastic.
  3. Place your hands in a bowl of warm water. Let them sit there for a few minutes to soften the cuticles.
  4. Remove the cuticle. To do this, remove your hand from the water, dry it, then use a soft cloth to wipe the cuticles. Then cut it off carefully to avoid infection. It is recommended to have an antibacterial agent with you.

Cuticle care

The cuticle is a part of your skin. It is located at the base of the nail. Therefore, it is worth following a few tips for caring for it.

Don't cut the cuticle. Dermatologists say there is no reason to cut it off. Damaging it can open the door to infection or irritation. Damage to it can also lead to nail problems such as edges, white spots or white lines. If you get a bacterial infection in the area, it can make it difficult for your nail to grow. In this case, you will have to see a doctor to treat the pathology.

Hydration. The cuticle is made up mostly of soft skin, but it is important to keep it moisturized. A good cuticle moisturizer is as important as it is for dry skin on your hands or feet. Any skin moisturizer will work great for this purpose. Rub it into the cuticle with light movements.

Most dermatologists recommend thick moisturizing products such as ointments or creams for best results. Dermatology also recommends Vaseline as an inexpensive way to care for cuticles. But some doctors say that using a thick product such as Vaseline throughout the day is not always practical, so there are alternative remedies for this. Some experts say that you can use them at night when you are not touching papers in your office, for example. Lotions can be used throughout the day because your hands don't get as oily, but lotions don't moisturize like creams and ointments.

A hot wax treatment at a nail salon is another good way to hydrate your cuticles. Special oil wax is heated until it melts. First, dip your hands in warm oil wax, then put on special gloves and mittens to keep your hands warm, and wear them for 10-15 minutes. Once you remove them, your hands, nails and cuticles will be softer. The more often you oil your hands, including your nails and cuticles, the better condition they will be.

Avoid rough manicures. Many people visit their dermatologist only when they develop red, painful spots around the nails or cuticles caused by a skin infection called paronychia.

Before starting a manicure, you need to tell the master your preferences (wishes) and insist that your cuticle be very gently pushed away with an orange stick, nothing more. If you experience pain and notice that he is pushing the cuticle too vigorously, ask him to stop immediately.

Many housewives neglect the health and beauty of their hands. Washing dishes without gloves, as well as frequent use of nail polish removers containing acetone, adversely affect the condition of the skin on your hands. Thus, experts recommend using gloves and not using products containing acetone.

Keep your hands out of your mouth. If you have a habit of biting your nails or chewing your cuticles, work on breaking the habit for better-looking, healthier hands.

Moisturizing agent

Coconut oil is a good moisturizer for dry cuticles and helps strengthen the tissue. To apply the coconut oil treatment:

  • heat the oil (room temperature);
  • wipe each cuticle with oil;
  • put on gloves;
  • let the oil cool for 5-10 minutes, and then remove your gloves and wash your hands.

Severe damage

Severe cuticle damage requires restorative treatment that heals the wounds. It is necessary to mix honey and olive oil in equal proportions. Add the same amount of aloe vera juice, it will help heal any cracks or splits in the skin. Mix the solution well and apply it to the cuticle. Start massaging for five minutes for better penetration of vitamins. Repeat the treatment up to three times a week until the skin looks healthy.

Cuticle care products

Let's look at the best gels and ointments for removing cuticles.

Careful selection of product

You may prefer to use a cuticle remover. Most contain potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, moisturizers allow you to gently remove dead skin attached to the nail plate while avoiding any potential mechanical trauma. It is applied for 5-10 minutes to soften it.

Why is nail cuticle care so important?

There are people for whom a manicure or cuticle removal is just an occasional indulgence; they do not trust this work to anyone but themselves. Therefore, they leave their nails to grow without proper care. It's tempting to simply trim your cuticles, but dermatologists warn that this is a bad idea because it can cause white lines or spots to appear on your nails.

The correct approach is to gently push them back once they have grown (using a removal product makes this task much easier).

What should you avoid?

Cuticle removal is something that should be avoided at all costs, as your nails need it to protect their root from bacteria and infection. Of course, occasional trimming is okay, but don't go deep under the cuticles and cut them. In addition, you should avoid using nail polish remover more than twice a month, as it can dry out the cuticles.

It is necessary to take care of the cuticle in a special way. It looks like a skin roll that covers the nail plate at the bottom of the nail, and protects against various microorganisms and bacteria entering the nail growth area. We’ll talk about the features of cuticle care today.

The need for cuticle care.
Often women, when caring for themselves, forget to pay attention to small, but no less important, areas of the skin. Meanwhile, the beauty of your hands depends not only on the condition of the skin; a perfect manicure and smooth and well-groomed cuticles are important. As the cells of its edges die, they dry out and begin to peel off, which results in rather painful hangnails. This unpleasant problem significantly reduces the visual attractiveness of the nail.

You should treat the cuticle with extreme caution, since careless handling can lead to unevenness and damage to the nail plate. For another five to eight years, manicurists used the trimming method, in which the cuticle was trimmed using scissors and tweezers specially designed for this purpose. But gradually this method became irrelevant, since experts have proven that when it is circumcised, the risk of infection increases. In addition, the newly growing skin becomes much rougher, quickly grows and cracks. That is why the so-called European unedged manicure has recently become popular.

To maintain a well-groomed and beautiful appearance of nails, in home care it is necessary to constantly use special oils and creams to soften it and give it elasticity, prevent it from drying out, and also ensure its tight fit to the nail plate. Moreover, when applied, all these products should be combined with massage.

Today on the cosmetics market there is a huge selection of professional and home cuticle care products, varying in composition and cost. In this case, when choosing a product, you can be guided by the advice of experts, or you can independently choose the product you like that will meet your requirements. You can prepare a cuticle care product that will also strengthen your nails and accelerate their growth yourself, but more on that later.

Cuticle care - basic rules.
So, before treating your nails and cuticles, you should make a bath for your hands and nails, and then apply a special product to the base of the nail and massage lightly for several minutes. As soon as it becomes soft, you should use a special orange wood stick or a manicure spatula to gently push back the cuticle, without sudden or traumatic movements. After this, you need to lightly trim areas of dry and dead skin, using a special sharpened tool (trimmer) shaped like a Latin letter V. Dry areas must be removed in such a way as not to damage the nail and matrix area.

Regularly performing this simple procedure will keep your cuticles in perfect condition, and your hands will look beautiful and well-groomed.

Cuticle care - what not to do.
When caring for the cuticle, it is not recommended to remove it using nail scissors, because this tool is not so thin for this procedure. Scissors can seriously injure her, which will require a lot of effort and time to treat in the future. Only in extreme situations can you use this tool, and then only to remove burrs, and you must act with extreme caution.

Do not push back the cuticle with sharp, rough movements, and also strongly influence the nail plate and matrix area. It is also not recommended to use sharp instruments for this purpose, as they can seriously harm your skin.

You should not start processing the cuticle if there are inflammations and hangnails on it. First you need to treat her. Orange or tea tree oil are ideal for this purpose. As soon as the inflammation disappears, you can begin processing.

If the cuticle is injured, it is necessary to treat it with an antiseptic (for example, iodine), and apply a special patch to the wound so that you can do household chores without fear.

You can't bite off the cuticle. In addition to the fact that this habit is not aesthetically pleasing, it also disrupts the structure of the nails, damaging living tissue. If cracks appear on it, you need to carefully trim these areas using special tweezers, treat with an antiseptic and cover the wound with a band-aid.

When using a trimmer, you must hold it at a minimum angle with the sharp teeth facing upward, trying to avoid inserting the trimmer under the cuticle. By the way, when carrying out regular care, the use of a trimmer will be required in rare cases (once every eight to ten days).

If your hands, and therefore your nails and cuticles, were in a neglected state, then when you resume care, you should not expect an instant transformation. Some dead and dry skin will still remain on your fingers. A significant improvement in the appearance of nails and cuticles can be seen after one to two months of regular caring procedures. Over time, the condition of the cuticle will become better and better. It should be remembered that after each treatment procedure, a small amount of nourishing cream should be rubbed into the nail plate and cuticles. Remove excess with a cotton pad.

Softening, moisturizing and treating cuticles.
When caring for delicate cuticles, it is recommended to use natural vegetable oils, which perfectly soften it and facilitate further procedures. Apricot, almond, lavender (in combination with base oil), grapefruit, as well as common olive and castor oil are effective for this purpose. Any oil should be slightly heated over a fire and rubbed into the cuticle while warm. Between manicure procedures, it is recommended to use oil solutions of vitamins. It is necessary to nourish the skin of your hands with oil every day, not forgetting the nail plate.

You can also use home recipes to care for your hands, including cuticles:
Combine half a teaspoon of apricot oil with two teaspoons of lanolin, place the mixture in a water bath and keep until the lanolin is completely dissolved. In this case, the mixture must be constantly stirred. After this, pour the finished mixture into a clean and dry resealable jar. As soon as the mass becomes warm, you can add rose or lavender oil for aroma and rub it into the cuticle. This product can be used to care for nails and hand skin.

For the treatment of inflamed areas of the cuticle, the following ointment is an effective remedy: place 10 g of Vaseline and half a glass of dry or fresh calendula flowers in a bowl and place in a water bath, keep until the Vaseline is completely dissolved. Remove the mixture from heat and be sure to cover with a lid. The next day, remove the moisture that has formed on the composition, and put the mixture back on the fire so that it melts. As soon as this happens, remove the mixture from the heat and strain through cheesecloth, and then pour into a jar with a lid. Store the ointment at room temperature. You can use sage instead of calendula in this recipe.

The following balm is an excellent helper in caring for your hands and cuticles: take 15 ml of rice germ or wheat germ oil and heat it in a water bath. Then combine the oil with two tablespoons of lecithin powder, mix well and add 6 g of crushed beeswax. As the wax melts, the mass should be removed from the heat and stirred constantly. As soon as the wax melts into the mass, add a teaspoon of lanolin and stir well again. When the mass has cooled to room temperature, add five drops of oil solutions of vitamins A and E into it, then add three drops of rosemary oil for aroma. Pour the resulting balm into a jar with a lid. For maximum effectiveness, the balm should be applied to previously cleansed hand skin and prepared cuticles; you can make a bath with sea salt. Daily use of the balm in combination with a five-minute massage of the nails and cuticles will make it soft and elastic, and also improve the structure of the nail plate and strengthen the nails.

Salon news.
Many new products have recently appeared in salons for hand care. In particular, the so-called solar manicure, which is especially beneficial for the cuticle. This procedure can be carried out at home if you have a preparation based on Dead Sea oils and salts. The salts act as a peeling agent, and the oil protects and nourishes the cuticle. Before the procedure, hands are disinfected, after which the drug is applied and a massage is performed at the same time. In this case, the massage is performed first with dry and then with wet hands. Moisture dissolves the salt, making the peeling softer. Peeling exfoliates dead cells, and by opening the pores, the oil penetrates deeply into the skin. After applying the oil, put plastic gloves on your hands for a few minutes. After the time has passed, the gloves are removed and the hands are massaged using a special oil-based cream. This procedure effectively softens and moisturizes the skin around the nails, making it elastic and smooth.

In addition, salons offer trimmed, untrimmed and SPA manicure procedures. The choice will depend on your taste and capabilities, because all these methods are effective. If the cuticle is healthy and well-groomed, you can give preference to the untrimmed method. It is used if the nail plate is thin and soft and can be easily injured. If there are problems with the cuticle, the classic trimming option is most effective, since the European method will be useless. SPA manicure includes comprehensive care in the form of moisturizing, nourishing and softening the skin, mild peeling, nourishing the skin with natural vitamin E, aloe vera and ceramides.

You will never have problems with your cuticles if you follow a simple rule: get your nails done at a professional salon once or twice a month, and do home care once a week.

Remember, hands will never become beautiful if you have unkempt cuticles. A well-groomed cuticle makes your manicure beautiful and your nails healthy and strong.