Next time you are standing in line at the supermarket, check out the fingernails on all the people ahead of you while they unload their carts. You may be quite surprised to see the large number of really bad looking fingernails on both men and women.



One of the reasons that nail care seems to be a non existent part of many lives is that it just appears to be too complex to tackle on your own. The tools involved are intimidating and how to even know if you need such tools?

Anyone get their own nail care under control with just a little bit of knowledge however. Keeping it simple and straightforward is a good idea, especially in the beginning and after the basics are mastered they can move on to trickier feats if they decide they want to.

The first thing about your fingernails is that they need trimming. Nails continue to grow throughout our lives and even the loveliest filed and painted nails will soon be out of shape without trimming.

So, if you have short nails a basic, sharp nail clipper will do the best job. Do not trim them right down to the quick. This can be very painful and it also makes it hard to use your fingernails to pick up coins for about a week! Once your nails are trimmed you may want to run a nail file over them to make sure the edges are all smooth.

If you have long natural nails, you can either use a nail clipper to take a little off all around and then file them smooth or you can simply opt to take a little length off with the file alone.

The next matter in your new nail regimen is to check out your cuticles. Many people have a lot of hangnails and ragged skin growth on the bottom and sides of their nails. If this is something that you deal with you will want to purchase a cuticle knife at the pharmacy.

This is a tool with a curved v shaped knife in the end of it. You carefully go over the ragged skin areas surrounding your nails and shave off the excess skin. This will give you an instant appearance boost. Be very careful not to dig because you may cut too deep and draw blood.

If you have dry skin and especially if you have the ragged cuticles, you may want to consider putting on a cuticle cream or a thick hand cream to try to soften the skin there. A moisturizing cream rubbed into your cuticles before bed is a good way to start changing how your cuticles look during the day.

Your diet and overall health is another part of your nail care. Make sure you get a healthy balanced diet and that you are getting enough calcium for your fingernails (as well as your bones and hair). A healthy diet plays a part in the health of all our body parts and your fingernails are no exception to that rule.

Having beautiful nails does not always mean regular trips to the salon for artificial ones although that can be a great treat. Your own fingernails can look a lot better with just some simple care and attention and maybe a new tool or two.

Who knows, once you get your fingernails looking better you may even feel confident enough to take those nails into the salon for the first time and pamper yourself with a professional manicure!