Beautiful nails are a sight to behold. And every one of us have scoured the internet to find ways to keep our nails healthy and beautiful.
Thankfully, your one-stop solution to having beautiful nails is lying on your kitchen shelves. And it’s none other than vinegar.
Wondering how vinegar can help you achieve long, shapely nails? Read this article to know more about vinegar and its numerous benefits on fingernails and toenails.
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How to use vinegar for healthy nails?
Using vinegar for maintaining your nails is very easy. However, to get the best results, it is always recommended to buy raw and unfiltered vinegar from the market.
Here is how you can make a concoction of vinegar for your nails:
- Boil the water to a lukewarm temperature, or until the temperature that you can tolerate without burning your skin.
- Mix vinegar and water in equal proportions.
- Soak your fingernails and toenails in the solution for 30 minutes daily.
- Pat the area dry with a clean cloth to keep your nails healthy.
Vinegar is one of the best home remedies for various nail problems and nail infections. Although it does not trigger any allergic response, you are advised to discontinue usage of vinegar if it affects your skin negatively.
Here is the video about Manicure and Pedicure
What is vinegar?
Vinegar refers to an aqueous solution of acetic acid. Simply put, when 5-8% acetic acid is made into a solution with 92-95% water, it is called vinegar. Vinegar can be made from fruits, palm, coconut, grains and even spirits.
The process of vinegar formation is simple. Because it takes place in two steps, it is known as double fermentation. The steps are as follows:
- In the first step yeast is used to convert simple sugar to ethanol.
- In the second step, ethanol is converted to acetic acid using bacteria.
Commercially, vinegar is either produced by slow fermentation or fast fermentation.
Depending on the source of vinegar, it has varying concentrations of flavonoids, phenolic acid, acetic acid and aldehydes which confer numerous benefits to the final product.
How can vinegar fight fungal infection on the nails?
The major reason why vinegar is so effective in keeping nails healthy is because of its antifungal properties. Although vinegar is considered mildly acidic, its concentration can be useful in fighting bacterial outgrowth on the nails.
This is because most bacteria grow in an alkaline environment which is warm and moist. By soaking your nails in vinegar, you will be able to restore the normal pH balance of the nails.
In addition to this, vinegar’s antifungal properties can kill any fungus that grows on the nails. It can also alleviate any redness or irritation caused due to the fungal infection.
Other Benefits of using vinegar on fingernails and toenails
The ways in which apple cider vinegar helps to keep nails healthy are as follows:
1. Accelerates the Growth of Nails
Nearly all of us have a habit of biting nails down to the flesh. And some of us have brittle nails that break after growing upto a length. Wondering how to get long nails?
Apple cider vinegar is found to help nails grow faster. Soak your fingernails and toenails in apple cider vinegar every day for 20 minutes to get the best result. You can also consume one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar with a glass of hot water to get fast results.
2. Strengthens the Nails
Brittle nails are a major letdown for most of us. The reason why nails break on their own is because of the scarcity of minerals and nutrients in our body.
To prevent your nails from becoming weak and thin and breaking, apple cider vinegar acts as a wonderful remedy. Raw apple cider vinegar can not only strengthen the nails and improve their surface texture, but also keeps the cuticle healthy.
3. Prevents Discolouration of Nails
Another dominant nail problem for most of us is nail discolouration. Although there can be many reasons why nails start to change their colour, their effect is visible as yellowish or greenish nails.
To combat nail discoloration, apple cider vinegar is found to be very useful. It can fight any fungal growth on the nails and prevent them from turning yellow.
If your nail acquires white spots and long lines like ridges, then it can be due to nutrient deficiency. Consuming apple cider vinegar with water helps in good digestion and absorption of nutrients and can prevent those spots.
4. Acts as a Manicure
If you are trying to do a manicure at home, apple cider vinegar can be a great inclusion. Hard and brittle nails are difficult to cut and buff. By soaking your nails in apple cider vinegar, they become soft and manageable.
Vinegar also helps to soften the cuticle for cutting without weakening the keratin structure in between. Additionally, apple cider vinegar can be used to disinfect the nails before proceeding with the manicure.
5. Prevents Chipping of Nailpolish
Apple cider vinegar can help make your nail polish last for a longer time. This can be attributed to its acidic nature.
When you soak your fingernails or toenails in vinegar, the acid in it strips the coating of oil on top of the nails. This allows the nail to hold the nail polish for a long time without substantial chipping.
Conclusion
For the purpose of maintaining healthy and beautiful nails, generally apple cider vinegar is used. It is extracted from the fermentation of apples and contains malic acid in addition to acetic acid.