Skip the Salon: 16 Natural Nail Tips
Skip the salon. These tips are here to keep your nails looking healthy with or without polish.
Bruce and Jeanne Lubin
From removing fungus to perfecting your polish, these all-natural nail hacks will have you looking salon-fresh without leaving the house.
Healthier Nails
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At-Home Hot Oil Treatment
Hot oil manicures are popular at nail salons for reviving and conditioning dry, damaged nails. You can recreate this at home by mixing equal parts sunflower, olive, castor, and almond oils and heating the mixture for 15 to 20 seconds. Add a vitamin E capsule for extra nourishment. Test the temperature before dipping your nails, soak until the oils cool, massage the oil into your hands, and then rinse. -
Fix a Broken Nail
If your nail breaks too low for comfort, create a temporary patch using a small piece of a tea bag applied with nail glue. -
Do Away with Dirt and Grease
Before gardening or working under the hood, scratch your nails on a bar of soap to prevent dirt buildup. For cleaning afterward, use an old toothbrush and dishwashing liquid. -
Rub Out Fungus
Apply mentholated vapor rub, like Vicks, to your nail twice daily using a cotton swab. The camphor and eucalyptus oil in the rub have antifungal properties. -
Kick it with Cornmeal
Cornmeal, known for fighting fungal diseases in plants, can also be used for nail fungus. Create a paste with hot water and let it cool for an hour. Soak your nails in the mixture for an hour while you relax. -
Serve Your Nails a Spot of Tea
Use Pau d’arco tea, which contains antifungal compounds. Soak your nails in warm tea made from two steeped bags twice daily for 20 minutes. -
Oil the Fungus Away
Apply oregano oil or tea tree oil with a cotton swab to your nails twice daily. Both have antifungal properties. -
Grab and Go
Paint a small area of an adhesive label with your nail polish color and punch out a swatch to stick on the bottle cap for easy identification. -
Stray Polish Solution
Apply petroleum jelly around your nails to prevent stray polish from sticking to your skin. Use the same trick when removing dark polish to avoid staining your hands. -
Want Polish That Lasts Longer?
Apply white vinegar with a cotton ball to your nails to remove residue before polishing for a longer-lasting seal. -
Smooth Move
Refrigerate your nail polish for 15 minutes before applying to ensure smooth application. -
More Is Less
Apply three thin layers of polish, letting each dry before adding the next, for quicker drying and a better finish than one or two thick layers. -
Fancy Fishnets
Use a piece of loofah for a fishnet effect. After applying your base color and letting it dry, sponge on a second color over the loofah. -
Polar Plunge for Polish
Set nail polish by dipping your nails in a bowl of ice water for about a minute. This helps the polish set thoroughly and prevents chips. -
Top the Tip
Always apply top coat to the edges of your nails to prevent chipping. -
Neat Nail Polish Remover
Place cotton balls or an old makeup sponge in a pill bottle with nail polish remover for an easy, mess-free polish removal solution.
Powerful Nail Fungus Fighters
Perfect Polish and Drying
About the Author
Bruce Lubin and Jeanne Bossolina-Lubin are the proud parents of three boys and more than a dozen books. After saving thousands per year using everyday tips and simple lifehacks, they started their own business in the hopes of sharing their knowledge with others. They have been known to go into their friends’ refrigerators to turn their eggs upside down so that they last longer.