GROW NAILS FASTER

How to grow nails faster … We all want to find that magic product to help our nails grow faster.

Nicole asks me a question that I get quite often.

This article is a companion to my article: Nail Growth – Does Qtica Nail Growth Stimulator Work?

In this article I cover growth products, natural ways to grow nails faster, and the real solution for stronger nails.

Read on…

ASK ANA

What is the best basecoat that that helps your nails grow? I use Stuck on Blu! from Glisten and Glow to prevent staining but it does not help with growth.

Now I know some will say that no polish can help with growth, but I do use one that actually does help with growth and I stopped using it just to see if my nails would still grow. They don’t—and they are again weak and brittle. Just pressing on them bends them. But when I was using the treatment I have I could not bend them as easily as they do now.

And the treatment can be used as a basecoat BUT it does not prevent staining. Do you think I could use that, then the Stuck on Blu! then top coat, like layer them? Or would that be too much? Is there a product out there that anyone knows of that does prevent staining and helps with growth or strength. ~Nicole

ANSWER

Your Treatment Product

Author of Nail Structure and Product Chemistry, Doug Schoon just emailed me this yesterday…

Ok, I need to pause here….Eeeeeee! Doug Schoon emailed me! He’s read some of my articles on this site and thinks they’re really good. He’s really excited about the work I’m doing to bring you the truth about nails. Eeeeee! Ok, geeky girl party over 😀   ~Ana

I digress … So here’s what Doug Schoon emailed …

No cosmetic product can claim to “stimulate growth.” Not only is this a false claim, it is an illegal claim. Cosmetics can NOT claim to affect the structure or function of the body. Cosmetics can’t speed up nail growth and they can’t legally claim to do so. ~Doug Schoon

Nicole, when you stopped using the product you describe your nails as weak and brittle.

This is due to the fact that your product is a nail hardener. There is nothing in this, or any  product, that helps grow nails faster.

The ingredients in nail hardeners actually dry out your nails more. This makes them more weak and brittle when you remove the product.

Hardeners are also a big contributor to peeling nails. Nails peel when they are severely dried out. I explain how water helps push the layers apart in my article How to Strengthen Brittle Nails.

Stop Growing?

Nichole, you also said you stopped the product to see if your nails would still grow. The truth is that your nails have a consistent growth rate that doesn’t stop until you are dead. Sorry if that seems blunt but it’s true.

Nails don’t stop growing when removing a product. They also don’t start growing by applying a product. As long as you’re eating and breathing—your nails are growing.

Layering Hardener Before Base Coat

This could work but you may experience more polish chipping. The reason is that good base coats are made to bond to the nail surface, not another polish.

Base Coats Reduce Staining

Base coats definitely reduce staining from high pigmented polishes. They are formulated to bond to the bare nail plate so you’ll have longer polish wear. Colored nail polishes are formulated to bond to a base coat.

My favorite base coat has microparticles to smooth out the nail plate. I’ve also noticed that it’s great at covering up mild yellow staining.

Three Natural Ways to Grow Nails Faster

Other than a healthy diet and lifestyle, there are only 3 things that can help healthy nails GROW faster, longer or stronger.

1. Get Pregnant

This one is well known by every woman who has had a baby. Nail plate growth progressively increases 3.5% to 20% during pregnancy because of increased hormones. Nail growth slows down dramatically when nursing the baby after it’s born. Then nail growth will return to the normal rate when the child is weaned.

2. Damage or Bite Your Nails

Finger nail plates grow quicker when damaged. This is your body’s survival method. You need your fingernails. If you turn to biting though, you’re not going to see the increased nail growth. You’ll be biting it all away.

3. Move Somewhere Warm

Nail plates grow twenty percent (20%) faster during the summer—due to increased blood flow to the matrix. This also explains why massaging lotion or oil into your cuticle lines will help you grow nails faster. You’ll be bringing more blood to your matrix. This is where your nail cells are formed.

You can read more about these in my article: Ask Ana: Does Qtica Nail Growth Stimulator Work? 

Vitamins?

“Nothing you eat will make healthy nail plates become stronger than normal, but poor nutrition can certainly make them weaker…..To date, no conclusive scientific studies have linked vitamin supplements, gelatin drinks, or special foods to the faster growth of healthy nails.” ~Doug Schoon, Nail Structure and Product Chemistry

With that being said, I do believe that most Americans are vitamin deficient. If you’re not consuming 7 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, you could be deficient of many important vitamins and minerals.

Find a good multi-vitamin that has significantly more than the US RDA (recommended daily allowance). Basically those numbers are what is required to keep you from getting many vitamin induced diseases, like Scurvy. A healthy diet will help your grow nails faster.

Many gals swear by Biotin supplements for stronger nails. This is most likely because a lot of us aren’t getting enough biotin in our diet.

Strengthen with Oil

Think of a leaf.

During the Summer, it’s gorgeous, full of moisture and very flexible.

Then when it dies during the Fall, the moisture is sucked out. It shrivels up, get’s fragile and cracks.

Our nails are the same.

When they are hydrated with the perfect mix of about 18% water and 5% oil, nails are flexible and can endure the brutal forces of living life. This is true nail strength.

When they are dried out from way too much hand washing with harsh, antibacterial soaps, polish removers and nail hardening products, they get stiff and fragile. Your nails snap instantly with barely any pressure.

Strong nails are flexible nails

The very best way to improve the flexibility of your nails is with a high quality, jojoba wax ester based nail oil.

Try my 3 Day Initial Hydration Treatment (bottom of page in link). You will be shocked how much oil your nails will absorb. After the first 3 days, the oil will stay in your nails for many weeks if you keep them protected with lacquer.

The enemies of your skin and nails are soap, water and polish removers. These are the things that remove that precious 5% of oil.

Oil certainly won’t help you grow nails faster, but it will make them stronger and more flexible. They will break less. This makes it appear like our nails are growing faster.

Protect with Polish

Lacquer actually helps protect your nails. It has a tighter molecular structure. Water can penetrate lacquer, but very, very slowly.

Each layer of polish adds temporary strength and as long as the polish is freshly applied, it’s flexible too.

Consistent use of polish is another way of adding flexible strength to your nails. This helps reduce breaking—again—making it appear like your nails are growing faster.

NEW RULE: New Manicure Every 7 Days

Polish that’s been on for more than 7 days gets brittle and cracks. Raquel from Love4Nails reapplies a new manicure every 7 days. She says every time she doesn’t follow this rule, she breaks a nail. This is because after 7 days, the polish dries out too much and cracks.

Nicole, I hope that clears up some of your really important questions. I’m sure you’ve helped a lot of people who have the same questions as you. Take Care! ~Ana

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