Best Non Toxic Nail Salon in Houston

When your nails grow to a certain length, they lose their natural elasticity. Before there were dryer sheets and prepants to encourage nails to grow straight, and moisturizers that with just one drop. Nails only grew, on average, about 4 to 5 inches a year before they were replaced by a new nail. But the act of growing nails is like fiddling with a clock.

While you’d consider it normal to look at a clock once in a while, when you’re looking at your nails frequently and begin to feel their natural state, you’ll feel slight agitation. That small amount of fidgeting produces tension in your nails, which can cause them to break and spread. The nail bulb begins to gradually fill with these large irregular hairs called a spiral nail, which grow as long as possible, and which ruin your nails and causes them to be long and stiff.

And yes, you can get spiral nails in the natural manicure phase — perfect in your unique style — but then it’s your finger-holding, ideal-night-out wear phase when you really want to nail that routine manicure. Or you can have them in the tropical, sandy style that fits with the more adventurous times in your life. There’s really no right or wrong color or style, but the best way to prevent spiral nails is to schedule a laser treatment. That will restructure your nails’ growth pattern for years to come.

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Using the right preadhesive pads will firm and lengthen your nails and protect your fingertips. Dr. Smai Kamasady, who has clients as far as Thailand, recommends Peruvian Leather Quick Strike Nail Oil ($22) for ultimate natural nail protection. You can also try Peruvian Leather Extra Fancy Polish ($27) with the scissors, or designer brands like Guido Palau’s volcanic pepper-lime polish.

If you don’t want the local superstitions of a semi-razor — hello, crown pin! — and you’re looking for fancy alternatives, visit your board-certified dermatologist for just the right design to grow your nails. Don’t try growing them another way: it’s always better for them to grow normal length and shoulder-length length, which is what the nail growth industry calls “glow.”