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Diagnosing Different Nail Types
Not all nails are perfect. Some are thin, some are ridged, and some have cracks and tears. But luckily techs have a number of natural nail products to strengthen and treat a variety of nails. Here’s a quick guide from Nail Tek’s Mary Jo Zwirowski.
by Staff
November 16, 2010
2 min to read
HEALTHY NAILS
Characteristics
Healthy nails will have a pink appearance, are flexible, rarely break, are smooth, and have no visible signs of splitting, peeling, or breakage.
Treatment
Recommended home care would include Nail Tek I, Hydration Therapy I or Citra 1 for maintaining healthy natural nails, as they have strengtheners and conditioners to help balance what is needed to keep nails healthy, flexible, and breakage-free.
DRY AND BRITTLE NAILS
Characteristics
Dry, brittle nails can show vertical ridging, flaking at the free edge, as well as dry white spots that can be similar to dandruff. They also have a tendency to break in the quick, causing painful breaks.
Treatment
Recommended home care would include Nail Tek III, Hydration Therapy III or Citra 3 for adding conditioners and moisturizers to help bring the nail back to a healthy state. Utilizing a strengthener on this type of nail will just add to the dryness.
SPLIT, PEELING, AND WEAK NAILS
Characteristics
Split, peeling, and weak nails are very thin, have splitting/layering of the free edge that usually extends beyond the free edge. A good analogy would be a peeling onion, which is thin and the layers can be easily peeled back.
Treatment
Recommended home care would include Nail Tek II, Hydration Therapy II, or Citra 2 for giving the nails added strength to help combat the splitting, peeling, and weakness.
EXTREMELY THIN NAILS
Characteristics
These are extremely thin nails with excessive splitting and peeling of the free edge.
Treatment
If you have a nail that is resistant to the above formulas or has excessive splitting and peeling you can try Nail Tek IV or Hydration Therapy IV, which will give nails added strength. These formulas can also be used for someone looking to have more rapid growth.
Mary Jo Zwirowski has been a nail professional since 1988 and a certified reflexologist since 2007. She is a master educator for Nail Tek and owns her own nail studio, Tipz N Toez, Ltd. in Naperville, Ill. She specializes in personalized natural nail care, “foot facial” waterless pedicures, reflexology, and extreme customer service.
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