Posts Tagged ‘Beauty’

How to Treat Brittle Nails

If you have brittle nails caring for them can be a lot easier than you may think. Everyday tasks can have an effect on the condition of your nails however by taking note of the following, you can have your nails back to top condition pretty quickly.

How to Prevent and Treat Brittle Nails

Nail Polish Remover – If you like to paint your nails, be very careful about what you use to remove the paint. Many products contain very harsh ingredients such as acetone which strips moisture out of your nail. Look for products that are acetone-free.

Water – Simply being dehydrated can have a big affect on your nails. You can deal with this by drinking more water and rubbing moisturiser or olive oil on your nails.

Biotin – Many years ago researchers found that Biotin (one of the B vitamins) improved the strength of horses’ hooves. It turns out it not only works on horses but humans too! If you have very brittle nails you’ll need to take it in supplement form in order to get enough. 2.5mg per day is the suggested amount.

Thyroid – One symptom of an under active thyroid is brittle nails. Check with your doctor for further advice and/or have a look at the other symptoms of hypothyroidism to see if you have any.

Protein – Protein is made up of amino acids which are said to be the “building blocks” of our body. They are absolutely essential to our health because they create our cells and repair tissues. Not only will they reward you with strong nails but a healthy body in general.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) – We all know that EFAs are vital to our diets the problem is that most of us don’t get enough and we’re taking the wrong types of fat instead. Evening Primrose Oil contains Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) which has been shown to offer a huge range of health benefits including helping with brittle nails, hair, arthritis and PMS. Fish Oil is also supposed to very beneficial.

Vitamin Deficiencies
– Other vitamins which you may be short of include zinc, iron, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin E and selenium. Brittle nails can be an indicator of poor diet and potentially other health problems. It’s always a good idea to improve your diet by eating more vegetables and/or taking a multi-vitamin or supplement specifically for improving nail strength.

OPI Nail EnvyOPI have a range of products which you paint on your nails to help if they are thin, brittle or ridged. My mum used it a while back to get rid of a very deep ridge on one of her nails. It worked amazingly well and would definitely recommend it to anyone.

How to Stop Greasy Hair

I am often reminded of greasy hair products. Greasy hair shampoo has been nagging me for a while. Greasy hair is to be discouraged for our personal and professional lives. Why should we bother to care about our hair any way?  You really want to have the most perfect hair you can.  You know what I’m talking about don’t you. If you have any questions or suggestions let me know. That’s right up until this point.

Some years ago I suddenly developed really greasy hair. I’m not sure how it happened but it coincided with me taking Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) from Superdrug. I frantically tried to wash the grease out but to no avail. It only seemed to make matters worse!

Would Designer Shampoo Work?

I couldn’t go around wearing a hat for the rest of my life so decided to take a trip into town and bought, at great expense, a detox shampoo from Aveda. I was convinced it would work, it’s full of natural ingredients and is considerably more expensive than shampoos from the supermarket after all….

As soon as I got home I rushed upstairs to the bathroom and applied the shampoo, eagerly awaiting the results. I’ve always had really nice hair, even if I do say so myself.

I couldn’t believe it… my hair still looked as if I’d dunked it into a deep fat fryer! Would I ever have beautiful hair again??

What Would We Do Without The Internet?

Out of sheer desperation I connected to the net in search of the answer to my prayers. I’m not sure what I typed into Google (probably something like “how to get rid of greasy hair” but I quickly came up with a site suggesting bicarbonate of soda.

Thank Heavens for Bicarbonate of Soda!

I applied a 50/50 mixture of shampoo and bicarb of soda to my hair along with some water. Wanting to make sure that it did the job properly I left the mixture on my hair for half an hour. With great trepidation I rinsed and dried my hair to find that my hair had returned to normal. Yipee!

What Other Uses Are There for Bicarbonate of Soda?

  • If you want really clean skin without using harsh soaps, simply mix in some bicarb of soda into your shower gel or face wash and you’ll have skin cleaner than ever before.
  • Put a pinch of it into a vase to keep your flowers fresh.
  • Put 8tbsp of soda in the toilet bowl overnight to keep it fresh.
  • Sprinkle it onto carpets, leave for 10 mins and vacuum up to get rid of pet odors.