How To Help Brittle Nails With Essential Oils

Today we are going to talk about all the best tips and ideas for using essential oils to help with brittle nails! Includes oil recommendations and recipes for making essential oils blends.

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If you’re anything like me, you try so hard to grow longer nails, only to have them split, crack and peel.  Lots of things cause weak, brittle nails, and there are lots of ways to treat them.  

Since chemicals can cause the very problems you are trying to treat, why use more to try and fix it?  Sounds crazy, right?  The solution?  Essential oils!

The toxic chemicals applied to our nails during manicures (nail polish, acetone, acrylic and nail polish removers) are absorbed into the bloodstream and metabolized by the liver.  

Sounds gross, but while essential oils are also absorbed into your body, their uses work with your body instead of poisoning it.

Best Essential Oils For Brittle Nails

So if essential oils can give you stronger, longer and shinier nails, why not try them?  Ok good, now that we decided that, here are the best oils to use:

Lavender

Lavender is good for reducing inflammation which caused my hangnails, weak nail beds, and torn cuticles. Less pain, less picking at them!  It’s also antifungal and antibacterial which helps prevent infection.

Frankincense

Frankincense is very moisturizing which is good for skin, cuticles, and nail bed. It also improves permeability so that the benefits of other essential oils are easily absorbed and readily available. That means that it helps boost other oils. 

Lemon

Lemon essential oil keeps nails from cracking, peeling, and splitting. Since it is high in vitamin content, it helps strengthen nails and nailbeds.  It also brightens and buffs dullness away from nails and cuticles.

Grapefruit

Antibacterial and antimicrobial, Grapefruit essential oil is especially helpful when applied after removing nail polish or artificial nails.  

One important note:  Many medications, such as anti-depressants, advise avoiding grapefruit.  Check with your doctor or pharmacist for medical advice about possible drug interactions when using it in essential oil form.

Tea Tree

Tea tree oil is fantastic when treating fungal or other infections in the nail and/or cuticles.  It has anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.

Rosemary

Rosemary essential oil is a great antiseptic and moisturizing oil to help nails grow.

Myrrh

One piece pf advice when trying to grow nails is to include more of vitamins E, B’s, and Omega Fatty Acids.  Myrrh essential oil boosts these to help growth.

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus oil will prevent infection, reduce inflammation, and promote healing of torn skin, ripped cuticles, and broken nails. This is my FAVORITE cuticle oil!

Roman Chamomile

Roman Chamomile aids the structural parts of the nail that lie below the surface and includes the matrix, nail root, and nail plate by promoting cell growth.

Carrot Seed

Carrot seed is known to moisturize the skin surrounding the nails and softens the nail beds and promote growth.

Using Carrier Oils

The best way to use essential oils for nails is to dilute in a carrier oil.  The best carrier oils for nails are jojoba, grapeseed, almond, rose hip, argan, evening primrose, avocado, and vitamin E oil.  

Just use 5-10 drops of essential oil per teaspoon of carrier oil.

Especially around the delicate cuticle area of your nails, it is important to use a carrier oil if you have sensitive skin!

Brittle Nail Essential Oils Recipes

Here are some great recipes for natural brittle nail treatments…

Nail Strengthening

• 6 drops Frankincense Essential oil
• 6 drops Lemon Essential oil
• 6 drops Lavender Essential oil
• 2 drops Myrhh Essential oil
• 2 tsp Jojoba oil
• ½ tsp Vitamin E oil

Growth

• 6 drops Tea Tree Essential oil
• 6 drops Lemon Essential oil
• 6 drops Rosemary Essential oil
• 2 drops Myrhh Essential oil
• 2 tsp Rose Hip Seed oil
• ½ tsp Vitamin E oil

Brittle Nails

• 6 drops Grapefruit Essential oil
• 6 drops Lemon Essential oil
• 4 drops Eucalyptus Essential oil
• 4 drops Roman Chamomile Essential oil
• 2 tsp Almond oil

When treating your hands with any of the best essential oils for healthy nails, start with clean, polish-free fingertips.

Mix oils in a droplet tincture, refillable make up brush or roller bottle, shake before applying to cuticles, and massage into the nail and surrounding area.

Essential Oil For Brittle Nails Wrapup

I hope that these tips and ideas about how to care for your brittle nails help.

I have a feeling that mine are a combination of age (I am 56 now), improper hydration and the fact that I use A LOT of chemicals in my artwork that can damage my nails.

Yours may be caused by something else, but know that I understand how frustrating this is and let's fix our nails together!