What causes split nails? How to deal with them?

Healthy nails are slightly pink and shiny, smooth and flexible and they don’t split. You can learn a lot of information about our health from the appearance of our nails.

Split nails cause discomfort to many people.

They are treated as aesthetic defects, which consists in separating a part of the nail plate from the bed. As a result of this process, the nails split and are often brittle. Split nails are a problem that has several possible origins. One of the most important is the lack of vitamins and minerals in our diet.  

How to avoid split nails

It’s always better to prevent than to heal. If you never had split nails, this article will be helpful to show you a scale of the problem. If you suffer with split nails, our tips can give you some directions on what can cause the problem.

What causes split nails

One of the most common reasons is a deficiency of vitamins and minerals in our diet. Specially: zinc, vitamins A, E, C, vitamins from the group B (biotin is particularly important in this context). Incorrect care of your nails is a frequent cause of split nails. Too intensive filing of the nails, using a metal file or improper cutting destroy our nails. Split nails are also affected by too little attention to hand protection, too frequent contact with chemicals and strong detergents. Mechanical injuries can also be a direct cause of splitting nails. Also biting nails makes them split and weak.

Vitamins for nails

The way to deal with the split nails depends on the cause of the problem. At the beginning you should focus on self – diagnosis. Pay attention to hand care, eliminate the unhealthy habits. Depending on the source of the problem, make specific changes.

If the source of split nails is a lack of vitamins A, E or C supplement your diet with:

•         Carrots, parsley, spinach, apricots – Vitamin A
•         Eggs, nuts, pumpkin, seeds – Vitamin E
•         Parsley, citrus, sauerkraut – Vitamin C

Deficiency of zinc can be replaced by milk, grain products, legumes in the diet. Biotin can be found in the liver but if you don’t like it you can swap it with nuts, sardines, spinach and tomatoes. If natural methods are not enough you can try to supplement your diet with tablets based on horsetail extract and vitamins A, E, C. Before reaching for tablets please consult your doctor.

Nail treatment

It’s worth treating split nails with an intensive night time moisturizing treatment. Apply a thick layer of hand cream, olive oil and wear warm cotton gloves – leave it for the whole night. Perfect natural conditioner for split nails is slightly heated olive oil enriched with a few drops of vitamin A and E.

How to take care of your nails

Nail conditioner is a basic care treatment for split nails. Nails should be a good business card of every woman, strong and well cared nails indicate good functioning of the whole body. Brittle and split nails are a signal that something bad may be happening in our body. Maybe it is worth looking closer at our diet? Filing nails in the right way is also a good habit, try to file your nails in one way. What else can we do, to take care of our nails? Using various types of cosmetics , which we will tell you more in a moment. Your hand bag should be always equipped with good hand cream, conditioner or manicure oil with vitamins and active ingredients. 

Semilac Nail and Cuticle Almond Oil SERUM in elegant pen

Semilac care

To make sure our nails and hands always look well we recommend to use regularly cosmetics such as:

•         hand cream – will work well on your skin, your hand will look fresh and soft.
•         manicure oil – oils are a perfect finish for every manicure, also soften skin around nails.
•         Nail conditioners – will secure your nails against split and will harden your nail plate.
•         Peeling – will remove dead skin.

Ridges on nails

A nail ridge is, at its simplest, a depression in the nail plate. This valley, often accompanied by white lines or spots, can feel uneven, bumpy, or raised to the touch and it can happen to both your finger and toenails. The good news is that nail ridges aren't painful and they're not usually a reason to worry but it can make it difficult to do perfect gel polish nails. But we have the solution for you. We designed gel polish base coats that works perfect with this kind on nail plate Semilac Smoother Base & Semilac Protect and Care Base

The most common nail ridges

Vertical nail ridges, which are the most common, extend from the cuticle to the tip of the nail. They often become more numerous or prominent with age, possibly due to variations in cell turnover within the nail plate. If your fingernails change color or you develop horizontal nail ridges across the nails, talk to your doctor. These changes could indicate an underlying health condition.

Gel Polish Base Coat dedicated to split nails

Sensitive Care Base - Very delicate gel polish base coat - Semilac Sensitive Care with panthenol and vitamin E is dedicated to people with a delicate and thin nail plate. It protects nails against mechanical damage. The thin consistency and high elasticity of the base will work best on short nails. The product allows easy painting of thin layers, making it easier and faster to remove gel nail polish by soak off