5 nail care essentials you need to know now

Who doesn't want beautiful, strong nails? Nails are an integral aspect of both our appearance and health, and there are several habits you can adopt to take good care of them.

While professional manicures and pedicures are nice for pampering, here are nail care essentials you can do at home to make sure your nails are looking their best.

In order to ensure that nail beds stay strong and healthy, it's crucial to moisturize them regularly.

Moisturizing prevents nails from growing brittle or breaking, and it also contributes to healthy cuticles. To keep nails and nail beds moisturized, apply moisturizer to your hands every night.

You can also purchase oil-based moisturizers designed specifically for your nails.

Long nails can look glamorous, but in reality, the healthier, more durable alternative is to keep them short.

Nails are there to help ensure that your fingers and toes don't get injured, and keeping them short prevents them from breaking or snagging.

Keep your nails long enough to cover the top of your finger, but resist the urge to grow them any longer.

A balanced nail length protects the tops of fingers and toes, should they ever get closed in a door or drawer, and it will prevent bruises, if, for example, your toenails jam into the toe of your shoe.

Because fingers are always in contact with the environment, it's easy for them to get infected.

• Make sure you clean them regularly, particularly if you have cuts or hangnails. If you have any small injuries or openings around the nails, soak the tops of your fingers in a warm saltwater bath.
• While the soak might burn at first, it can kill fungus and other germs, and prevent discolouration if any infections do occur.

Everybody wants to clean under their nails to remove dirt, but the metal tools nail salon professionals use can be too sharp or blunt, and may create cuts or bruises under the nail.

• For a gentle nail cleaning, use a nail brush. Nail brushes can remove dead skin around the cuticles and get rid of dirt under the nails, without the added risk of injury and under-nail infections.

Biotin is a variation of vitamin B, and taking it regularly can help ensure healthy, strong nails. Biotin helps increase your nails' thickness, which ultimately helps prevent your nails from splitting or breaking.