7 Ways to Strengthen Your Nails ...

You can create a mixture out of really easy to find ingredients, lemon juice and olive oil, to fortify your nails. All you need is a few drops of the juice and about a tablespoon of the olive oil. Then all you have to do is rub the mixture right onto/into your fingernails. It's best to follow this up by pulling on some plain what cotton gloves. Ideally you should do this at night, because then you can leave the gloves on while you sleep! If you do this two times a week, your nails will soon be much stronger.

Red pepper can help give you red hot nails. This mixture is really potent, though, so be careful. Take about ten drops of cool water, a teaspoon of cream, and half a teaspoon of cayenne. This mixture gets smeared onto and rubbed into your fingernails, and stays there for about 15 or 20 minutes. I recommend using gloves for this one too, just because of the ingredients. Whatever you decide to do, don't rub your eyes! And this is a method you should only use about once a month.

As you can see, lemon juice can have a great effect on your fingernails. This time, you want to mix it with salt – just a pinch will work, with a tablespoon of lemon juice. Using a brush, apply the mixture to your nails and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. You can try this technique several times a week – 2-3 is a good bet.

Sea salt, too, has great fortifying properties. This method actually involves making a sea salt based bath for your nails. A bowl full of warm water and a tablespoon of sea salt will do the trick. Then, all you have to do is submerge your fingers for 20 minutes or so. After your time is up, dry off your hands and use a fortifying cream. It is actually recommended that you do this for ten days, then wait a month, and repeat.

Depending on your ability to easy find beeswax, this method might be a little more difficult. Of course, you can basically find beeswax at any store these days, so perhaps I'm wrong. Anyway! What you want to do is melt down a few grams' worth of the wax, and mix it up with the mashed up yolk of a boiled egg. If you like, you can add in a little bit of peach oil. The mixture goes right onto your fingernails, and you can do it everyday – or at least until the yolk runs out, because this one is a bit time consuming!

Simply drinking plenty of water is a great way to strengthen your nails. In fact, if your nails are brittle, dull, and weak, it might actually be a sign that you aren't getting hydrated enough. You need to drink at least 2 liters of water everyday, and not only will you notice an improvement with your nails, your hair and skin will improve as well.

Last but most certainly not least, don't forget the importance of vitamins. Specifically, plenty of vitamin D is necessary to keep your nails strong and healthy. You also need plenty of calcium, which will further fortify your fingernails. You can take a daily multivitamin to get the amounts you need, but you can also drink plenty of milk and eat yogurt.

It didn't take me long at all to get my fingernails in good shape. Once I stopped biting them, they strengthened up in no time, and I am going to try some of these methods to make sure they stay strong. What do you do to keep your nails strong and healthy?

Top Photo Credit: treehugger*