8 Tips to Make Your Nails Grow Faster
Long, beautiful nails are nearly every woman’s dream. While turning to acrylic or gel nail extensions is always an option, it can be damaging to your nails. In order to make your nails grow faster, here are 8 tips to improve the health and length of your nails.
Growing out your natural nails isn’t impossible. We’re here to give you the inside scoop on how to grow nails quickly!
Table of Contents
Avoid gels and acrylics
While gels and acrylics look amazing, continuous wear can do not-so-amazing things to your nails. Frequent use of false nails ends up weakening the natural nails, causing them to become more brittle and prone to splitting. Additionally, unless you intentionally apply SPF hand cream before the session, you are also exposing your skin to more UV radition.
Related: Natural Nail Alternatives for Summer
Get your nails looking flawless with just a few taps. Book your next nail appointment effortlessly
File, file, file
One trick for how to grow longer nails is to keep them short. We know, it sounds counterintuitive. However, keeping them at a shorter length makes them less likely to split, crack, or chip.
Hello hydration
Staying hydrated by drinking enough water works wonders for the skin and hair, and it’s no different when it comes to the nails. Without supplying your body with enough water, the nails can easily become brittle which can inhibit their growth process.
Related: The 101 on Skin Hydration
Taste the rainbow
There’s no doubt that eating a healthy and balanced diet keeps the body in check as a whole. Being conscious of what you’re eating and making sure you’re getting the proper vitamin and mineral intake can greatly help with nail growth. How to make your nails stronger through food? Start with adding these nutrients into your diet:
– Vitamin A: fatty fish, cheese, carrots, squash, cantaloupe
– Vitamin C: citrus fruits, broccoli, brussels sprouts, potatoes, peppers
– Biotin: legumes, nuts & seeds, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, egg yolks
– Zinc: red meat, oysters, beans, peas, soy products
– Folate: asparagus, spinach, liver, sunflower seeds, avocado
– Cysteine: walnuts, chickpeas, lentils, onions, garlic
Choose clean options, naturally
It may seem tempting to do something, anything to your nails so as to not keep them bland-looking while they’re growing out. While we recommend completely giving your nails a break from all products and treatments if you’re feeling the itch to jazz them up, be mindful about the types of products you’re going for—reach for nontoxic nail varnishes and acetone-free remover. We love this curated list of non-toxic polishes.
Steer clear of soaking
Soaking the nails in water frequently can cause them to become weaker. And although it’s impossible to entirely avoid exposure to water, it’s good to limit excessive submerging whether you’re relaxing in the bath, taking a dip in the pool, or washing up dishes after dinner.
Stay moisturized
We’ve already mentioned keeping our nails nourished by being mindful of our water intake, but it’s also important to keep the nails moisturized externally. Applying hand cream regularly not only keeps our hands hydrated, but the nails too! It’s also a good idea to avoid products that will dry out the nails as much as we can, especially ones like hand sanitizer*.
*In a post-COVID society, using hand sanitizer on a daily basis is practically a ritual. We don’t recommend forgoing hand sanitizer, but we do suggest choosing to wash your hands over applying some sanitizer when given the option.
Use tools, not nails
Using your nails for tasks like popping open a soda can feel like second nature, but it’s best to unlearn this practice, especially for the long run. Consistently using your nails in the place of tools weakens them and can easily lead to chipping and breakage.
How quickly do nails grow?
Patience is a virtue here—nail growth isn’t a lightning-fast process, in fact on the contrary, it’s rather slow. On average, nails grow about a tenth of a millimeter a day, so by the end of one month, you can expect your nails to be almost 3.5 millimeters longer than they were before.
This may not seem like much, but with the right nail care regimen (and a little bit of patience), you’ll be able to grow your natural nails both longer and stronger than ever before!
