Whether you just want to have a girls’s night in or you are getting dressed up for date night, pretty nails can make you look and feel your best. These easy green manicure tips and tricks will have your nails looking beautiful without a huge carbon footprint or unhealthy beauty ingredients.
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The Inside Scoop on Beauty Salon Manicures
According to TotalBeauty.com, nail salons are a six billion dollar a year industry. Women spend anywhere from $15 to $45 per visit and this doesn’t even factor in the cost of the gasoline it takes to drive there.
Most traditional nail polishes, removers, and nail treatments are not particularly eco-friendly. The next time you are in need of a little pampering, skip the drive and settle in at home for a green manicure that you can do yourself.
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Green Manicure Tips for Healthy Nails
Good manicure habits will also protect the health of your nails. Getting healthy, beautiful nails can be hard, especially if you are trying to avoid questionable beauty produce ingredients. Do you really want to risk the health effects of regular exposure to UV lights and toxic nail polish just to get pretty nails? Personally, I don’t! So, I thought I’d share a few green manicure tips for healthy nails with a smaller carbon footprint.
Other healthy nail tips besides eco friendly manicures:
- Don’t pick at your cuticles. If you have to trim cuticles, use an approved nail tool.
- Moisturize your nail bed and the cuticle. You can do this with essential oils or even just olive oil rubbed on at night.
- Take nail supplements and drink plenty of water.
- Skip the salon and use these green manicure tips for a DIY manicure that is healthier for nails.
- Avoid harsh, acetone-based polish removers.
- Don’t overdo hand washing. This will just dry out your nails. Use a natural soap when possible.
- Limit contact with cleaning chemicals. Wear gloves when you clean or wash dishes.
Start with your own fingernails
Fake nails are extremely unfriendly to the environment. Not only is the creation of artificial nails bad for the environment they also end up in the trash when you are finished. If you have a hard time growing long nails, consult a nutritionist to make sure you aren’t deficient in any vitamins or minerals. There are numerous vitamins for stronger nails on the market today that may help.
Like these green manicure tips? Here are more natural beauty articles to read:
- How to Find the Best All Natural Beauty Products
- Ways to Use Fresh Lemons in Beauty Routines
- What to Look For in a Natural Face Wash
Pamper your skin naturally
One of the most important green manicure tips I can give you is to choose natural beauty products. If you want to soak your hands and feet before starting your mani/pedi, choose a natural bath salt with essential oils followed by a simple sugar scrub. These will go a long way towards keeping your skin soft!
Find the right tools
Find nail files made from crystal, stone, or bamboo which are greener choices than traditional disposable nail files. Which nail tools should you stock in your green beauty cabinet? Here are a few common manicure/pedicure tools:
- Small bowl for warm water
- Cuticle clippers
- Cuticle pusher
- Foot bath for pedicures and a natural foot soak
- Nail art brushes and tools
- Natural Nail brush
- Nail buffer
Choose eco-friendly nail polishes
There are a number of companies creating green nail polishes. To find them, ask a sales associate at your local beauty store. Check out my own frustrating search for safe nail polish. There are a LOT of factors to consider! If your kids want to get involved, too, check out Piggy Paint natural nail polish. Kids love it!
Take it off naturally
Instead of using traditional nail polish removers choose a soy-based nail polish remover instead. Choose organic cotton balls to remove your nail polish or an old rag. The basic idea for all of these green manicure tips is to choose natural and not throw anything away if you don’t have to.
Use Essential Oils for Green Manicures
If your nails are brittle and dry, choose an essential oil to help hydrate them. Healthy nails hold a manicure longer, meaning less work for you! What essential oils are good for nails? Lavender and jojoba essential oils can strengthen weak nails when applied regularly. Other oils with nail strengthening properties include lemon, frankincense and myrrh oils.
These green manicure tips will help your nail health improve over time. In addition, choosing a DIY mani/pedi is a great way to go green and save money. You cut down on gas emissions driving to the salon, save money by doing it yourself and have a lot more flexibility in the types of products you use. Have you ever tried a green manicure?
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.