While some women have naturally great nails, others search endlessly for anything that will help make their nails strong, thick (but not too thick), and long (sometimes too long). Sadly, you can’t fool Mother Nature. What is genetically predetermined cannot be permanently transformed. If you are lucky enough to have strong, fast-growing, perfectly shaped nails with smooth, even cuticles, only trauma and damage to the nail bed will change the health and appearance of your nails. If you have naturally brittle, soft nails and thick cuticles, there is also no way to alter what you’ve inherited. There is a lot you can do to make your nails look and feel better (there’s plenty you can do to make matters worse, too), but changing the way your nails naturally grow is as impossible as changing the way your hair grows.
I know there are dozens of nail products made by everyone from Revlon and Sally Hansen to Barielle, Orly, and Cutex, plus new ones being introduced monthly, all claiming they can repair the irreparable. Don’t any of them work? If they did, we’d all have long, beautiful nails. Yet millions of women have struggled with weak, brittle, soft nails, trying an endless assortment of strengthening, lengthening, and fortifying nail products, only to give up in frustration. It is almost impossible for a woman who wants to improve the appearance of her short, fragile nails not to wonder about all of the products that claim to feed the nails, engorge them with vitamins, or build them up from the outside in. I would love to say those claims are legitimate and tell you which ones perform the best, but all the claims are bogus; changing the way a nail grows can’t be done by putting something on it topically. Also, there’s no research showing that vitamin supplements such as biotin or eating gelatin can change the way the nails grow, either.
Physiologically speaking, the nail is simply a protective covering composed of dead cells filled with a thick protein called keratin, quite similar in essence to the hair. Although the part of the nail you can see is dead, the matrix (the part of the nail under the skin) is very much alive. The white crescent area of the nail is called the lunula and is part of the matrix. The nail grows out from the matrix, and as the growth of new cells builds up and dies it is pushed forward and out toward the surface. The cuticle is the protective layer of skin between the outside environment and the matrix. Keeping the cuticle intact is perhaps the single most important element in preserving the health of the nail.
Despite the nail’s basic attributes, several long-standing myths about getting the talons of your dreams make the coffee-klatch rounds every now and then. Perhaps you’ve heard some of these nail delusions before, such as that tapping your nails on a hard surface will help nails grow and make them stronger. That isn’t true in the least. You can’t strengthen the nail by exercising it, assuming the nail needs the same training as a muscle. If anything, tapping will do just the opposite of what you want. Repetitive pressure or strain on the nail will lead to breakage and splitting. Another inane nail fiction is the notion that eating gelatin makes nails healthier. Gelatin probably got its reputation as a nail builder because of its relationship to protein. Like your nails and your hair, gelatin contains protein, but no form of food can go directly to the nail or hair to help it grow. There are no studies or data demonstrating that eating gelatin will improve the condition of anything. Eating a balanced, low-fat, nutritious diet (meaning lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) is certainly an important factor in overall good health, but feeding the nail directly just isn’t feasible.