TRUE OR FALSE: Silica Helps With Nail Growth Welcome to this week’s segment of ‘TRUE OR FALSE’. Each week, we’ll be prodding and poking old wives tales (and ideas sold to us by large beauty corporations) from every angle to see how they stand up in the face of T-R-U-T-H. This time around we consulted our dear friend, the internet, to determine whether or not cutting your hair makes it grow faster. Here goes! Silica, Does it Legitimately Work?! Like For Real? They say Silica is “the best kept secret for healthy hair, skin and nails”, but is this promising statement really legit? This is a discussion I have brought up with increasing frequency in the office of late. Why, you ask? Because I was born with a lack of keratin (an extremely tough protein, that is a major component found in our skin, hair, and especially our nails!). Lucky 4 moi, my hair grows at like 489 miles per hour, but my nails are a totally different story. My best friend is one of the ~lucky ones~. Her nails are constantly at a *fabulous* length, and are as hard as… nails (lol, punny me). Me on the other hand—a whole different story! I had a good run two years ago whilst wooting around Croatia for my European summer vaccay, literally swimming and sunbaking for a month, not lifting a finger, ever. During this time I had astonishingly long nails—long enough to paint (and not look like a 6-year-old wanting to doll myself up). It was fab, though short lived. I arrived back in Sydney and just HAD to find a way to get those lush bad boys back. Silica. Everywhere I read, Silica, Silica, Silica! *Oy vey!*. Silica is a mineral that is related to healthy and strong connective tissue—the muscles, tendons, hair, nails, cartilage and bone, as well as healthy skin. It takes all the nutrients to the nails, helping not only to strengthen, but also feeds the nail bed with all the vital nutrients that encourage strong and healthy nails. Obviously, I was sold. Off to Chemist Warehouse I went. The package said ‘take 1 tablet per day with food’, so that’s dutifully what I did for a month, as suggested. Magically strong, long and beautiful nails? Nowhere to be seen, if I’m being real. Now let me confess, I am guilty of expecting instant changes. I’m impatient and I require fast-acting results, so I kept that in mind. Considering that it had been four long hard weeks of remembering to take that daily tablet, I really didn’t see/feel much of a difference. Now, this is just my personal experience, and I would love to hear others journey on the Silica train. While I have your attention, let me tell you about some other ways to get that growth hip hop happenin’… DON’T CUT YOUR CUTICLES!!! There is no good done in cutting your cuticles! They are essentially there protect the matrix (tissue under the nail) from where the nail is growing from, so why the hell cut them off?! Cutting the cuticle can easily cause infection and it ain’t pretty i’ll tell ya that much. MOISTURISE THOSE CUTICLES Though you’re not meant to cut the cuticle, it is recommended to keep them moisturised so they’re soft and give way to the nail growing. I carry around little tin of Burts Bee’s Lemon Butter Cuticle Crème http://t.cn/Re5lRFY to quickly massage into my nails after I wash my hands to keep them soft ‘n’ sparkly (not really, just soft). Oh and if you’re an oil person, Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects your nails, so rub that sh**t on. STOP THE SHELLAC AND ACRYLICS! This, I cannot stress enough. THEY ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOUR NAILS. First of all, they file your whole nail down to then glue on the faux nail or gel, how does that even remotely sound nourishing for those precious little angels?! THEN to remove, they literally saturate each nail in pure acetone, which sizzles through each layer shellac until it reaches your nails. And look, most of the time you’re left to cut the remainder of the flakey and weak nails you now have off after (if you haven’t ripped the shellac off by yourself already). They’re my top 3, but I want to hear from you guys have to say. I will never give up this fight. I will have long, strong, lean nails someday. The post TRUE OR FALSE: Silica Helps With Nail Growth appeared first on CHRONICLES OF HER. Jai Kaldor

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