nailsSummer has just arrived and we're all going for that lighter hair, tanned skin and looking for the colors of the season. Nail polish is something we love playing around with. A great looking manicure isn't just about looking for the perfect nail polish nor a good nail technician, it's all about having healthy nails and cuticles, whether you were going for the color of the season or a bare nail, just like your makeup, it won't look good if you don't have healthy skin. Looks aside, dried up nails and cuticles are painful! With my job, I almost always have nail polish on, whether I was on a shoot or attending events and travelling having coloured nails isn't helpful for someone who's trying to have them healthier and stronger.

Dry cuticles are something I personally suffer from, it gets worse during the summer and even when I'm travelling my hands and skin tend to get really dry. Drinking water is also something essential when it comes to hydrating your skin as a whole, not just your hands or face.

So, I came up with a couple of home recipes that I've read about and tried a few times. Sometimes we go really hard on all our mani's and pedi's however, constantly removing/pushing down our cuticles will have our nails becoming drier and weaker. A good organic recipe every once in a while will really help you get healthy nails and healthy cuticles.

Apricot Oil and Honey:

Apricot Oil is actually one of the best things I've used on my nails, the go-to apricot oil product for me is the Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil. You can also mix honey with the apricot oil, as it not only smoothes your cuticles but honey has antibacterial properties which allows it to kill the bacteria in that area.

Coconut and lavender balm:

We all know how coconut oil works wonders with our skin and hair so it's no secret that it also soothes and heals your cuticles if they're dry and painful. To make this super easy balm, use a very simple cuticle balm, add lavender oil drops to the balm, as well as a few coconut oil drops too!

Aloe Vera and Coconut Oil:

Aloe Vera is very healthy for your skin, even when you're suffering from severe sunburn is soothes and heals your skin almost immediately. Mix Aloe Vera gel along with a few drops of coconut oil and rub in your cuticles either every time you get a mani and pedi or every night before you go to bed.

Lemon Olive Oil:

Add a few lemon essential oil drops to petroleum jelly along with olive oil. The petroleum jelly will protect your cuticles and the olive oil will penetrate your skin to lock down the moisture.

Keep in mind ladies, that taking care of your cuticles will always help with having stronger and faster growing nails. It's very attractive and feminine to have strong nails along with healthy skin and cuticles. We tend to always focus on getting facials, massages and go for high end commercial products, but we should really focus on the foundation and base of everything, such as eating healthy, drinking more water to have healthy and hydrated skin, before aiming for good makeup aim for good skin, before choosing your nail polish make sure you have healthy nails and so on. All of these are small steps that you can take with you as a package when you grow older, so that it can be easier for you to have healthier skin than starting too late because that will only make things more difficult and sometimes it's too late to fix something.