Let’s talk about nails and the Skin Actives nail care duo.

We paint nails and stick fake nails on them to make them pretty and, in the process, we may even forget that they are attached to a very living body. You may forget it, but  nails don’t.  We all had, at some time or another, “nail problems”. Older people often have discolored nails, often the result of fungal infection. This is not necessarily a serious problem but it can be. Why not avoid problems by remembering that nails, though made out of “dead” protein,  do grow and that the nail bed required nutrition to make them? And, just as our skin received less nutrition as we age, nails do too. This is why we should provide extra nutrition topically.

What are nails?

The horny plates that grow on the back of each finger and toe, the equivalent of the claws in our cats. In higher primates, including us, the claws became flattened as nails, they are more useful in manual activity than claws are. Nails are a part of the human integument that covers our body, together with the skin and hair. Nails are made of alpha keratin, a protein, but how are they made?

The nail apparatus is formed from an invagination of the primitive epidermis on the upper side of the terminal phalanges of fingers and toes. It is similar, in origin, to the hair. The keratin in the nail is not too different from that in hair, but the nail contains more calcium. The nail matrix is the tissue under the nail and contains nerves, lymph and blood vessels.The matrix produces cells that become the nail plate. The matrix will continue to produce cells as long as it receives nutrition and remains in a healthy condition. As new nail plate cells are made, they push older nail plate cells forward; and in this way older cells become compressed, flat, and translucent.

But nails grow more slowly than hair, 1/8 of an inch per month (vs. 1/4 to 1/2 inch per month for hair). We know that nails can hurt, lots of nerves reach the nail bed and let us known when we catch one in a car door. Nails can be damaged enough that they fall off. But even without any of those painful accidents, sometimes they grow slowly and/or badly. Why?

Just like our hair, made of “just” protein, needs a lots of nutrition to grow normally, our nails, also made of proteins, need lots of nutrients. This is because live cells are in charge of producing these proteins. Once that you realize that nails and hair have much in common, it is not surprising that keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) works as well for nails as it does for hair.

Nails protect our fingers and toes, it is our duty to protect them and preserve their health. If you wish to have your nails grow healthy, try our nail care duo. The SAS nail care oil will supply some nutrients that are also required by the nail but are not present on our water-based Nail Care Serum.  The nail duo will become even more useful if you tend to mistreat your nails, and nail polish can be part of that “mistreatment”.

The nail care serum is not very different from the hair care serum: plenty of nutrients, including amino acids, and KGF.  Also antioxidants and vitamins.

When we forget  or we are unlucky, the weakened tissue will provide a good environment for nail fungus. This is a problem difficult to treat and antifungals taken orally cal lead to serious side effects (because fungi are eukaryotes just like we are).

What is the SAS nail care oil?  The base is our traditional EMUlator, a combination of plant “fixed” oils that provides fatty acids composition  similar to that present in emu oil, to provide nutrition and to enhance the penetration of antioxidants astaxanthin, lycopene, etc. ) and antifungal essential oils, also present (clove and palmarosa).   Do you need nail care oil? Yes if your nails look unhealthy, and certainly if they show the discoloration typical of fungal infection.

Nail Oil: Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Nut Butter, Linum Usitatissmum (Flax) Seed Oil, Orbignya Oleifera (Babassu) Seed Oil, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Seed Oil, Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Seed Oil, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Curcubita Pepo (Pumpkin) Seed Butter, Hippophae Rhamnoides (Seabuckthorn) Fruit Oil, Borago Officinalis (Borage) Seed Oil, Calophyllum Inophyllum (Foraha) Nut Oil, Aleurites Moluccana (Kukui Nut) Seed Oil, Astrocaryum Tucuma Seed Butter, Garcinia Indicia (Kokum) Seed Butter, Tocotrienols, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Astaxanthin, Lycopene, Xanthophyll, R-Alpha Lipoic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Clove (Eugenia caryophyllata) essential Oil, Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martini) essential  Oil.

Nail Serum: Water, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Water, Propanediol, Panthenol, Caffeine, Carnitine, Niacinamide, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Glutamine, Arginine, Leucine, Serine, Cysteine, Valine, Proline, Lysine, Glycine, Asparagine, Glutamic Acid, Threonine, Alanine, Phenylalanine, Methionine, Aspartic Acid, Tyrosine, Tryptophan, Histidine, Isoleucine, Glucose, Fucoidan, Apigenin, Acacia Senegal Gum, Xanthan Gum, sh-Polypeptide-3 (Keratinocyte Growth Factor (KGF)), Superoxide Dismutase, Propylene Glycol (and) Diazolidinyl Urea (and) Methylparaben (and) Propylparaben.