How to get great hair & nails - naturally

Better Nutrition, August, 1998 by Nancy Dodd Cates

For hair sprays, use pumps and stay away from aerosols. Aerosols allow fine particles to get in your lungs and irritate them. Also, look for hair spray products with gum arabic, gum tragancanth, and panthenol.

Let your fingers and toes do the talking

As hair is a personality-defining symbol for some, so are nails. Nails are shaped, filed, painted, and, in some cases, covered with "fake nails," all for the sake of making a statement about one's self.

In an interview with Better Nutrition, Karen Hansen, a cosmetic-marketing consultant to the natural products industry, said that if you choose to paint your nails, it's especially important to keep your cuticles well moisturized. Both nail polishes and removers are very drying, so she recommends applying natural, penetrating types of oils which are thin in consistency to keep your cuticles moist.

As far as fake nails are concerned, Hansen's recommendation is to avoid them. "They're horrible. Not only do they weaken your own nail bed, but they can cause fungus infections to develop in many people, as well."

Basic nail care is the same for both men and women, according to Hansen. She advises investing in a few basic "tools" to keep nails looking good:

1) A good nail brush: First and foremost, nails should be kept clean.

2) Moisturize: Use a good hand cream and/or oil to keep your hands and cuticles moist.

3) File, emery board, scissors, clippers: Use one or a combination of these tools to trim and smooth nails. Just as the ends of hair need to be trimmed, overly long nails can look "scraggly," too.

Caring for the nails on your toes is much the same as caring for those on your fingers, says Hansen. Again, she recommends keeping cuticles soft and well-moisturized. She suggests getting into the habit of gently pushing the cuticle back (a cotton swab should do the trick) after showering and applying a penetrating oil at this time.

She does note that extra attention should be paid to cleanliness of toe-nails. This is because when feet are trapped in the dark, moist environment of shoes all day, or, if you're wearing sandals, exposed to dirt, etc., they may be more susceptible to fungus. Thus, it is important to wash feet and dry them thoroughly daily. When choosing socks, cotton/polyester or polypropylene choices are best. (One-hundred percent cotton socks absorb too much moisture to be effective.)

A treatment for toenail fungus is to, after washing and drying the feet, apply tea tree oil or a combination of it and lavender oil on the affected area two to three times a day. If direct tea tree oil is too strong, then dilute it in a base of jojoba oil or another carrier oil. In addition to tea tree oil, James A. Duke, Ph.D., in his book, The Green Pharmacy, recommends these antifungal herbs for preventing, or treating, athlete's foot: garlic, ginger, licorice, chamomile, echinacea, goldenseal, lemongrass, arrowroot, cinnamon, and turmeric.

Hair and nails are an indicator of our health, just as our skin is. They are also an important part of our appearance. Taking the time to maintain healthy hair and nails and ensuring adequate rest and nutrition will not only reflect in the way we look, but also in the way we feel about ourselves.