Melissa’s question…From what I understand, nails, like hair, are dead cells. Except for the cuticles. I asked a manicurist once and she told me OPI Nail Envy works because it has vitamins in it. This makes no sense to me because, even if it does have vitamins on it, how would putting vitamins on a dead cell, make any difference?
The Left Brain’s answer:
Yes, vitamins in nail products = Marketing BS.
Vitamin vitriol
However, it is worth noting that oil soluble vitamins like Vitamin E & A could help keep the nails less brittle because they would have a plasticizing effect. However, this would be true of many oils.
And, as Dano pointed out in our Forum, Dano “nails are made up of keratinized cells – dead cells jam-packed full of hard keratin protein. The same thing in the dead surface skin cells that allows them to be protective and help keep bad things out of us and good things in us. We can’t put a topical cream containing vitamins on our nails, and actually have it sink down to the cells lower down the nail, or even under the nail bed, just like we can’t spread food on our skin and get our nutrients that way.” (In the Forum thread you’ll also see Melissa’s hilarious comment about a Clinique sales person telling her to buy a certain foundation because it had “more technology.” Funny stuff!)
What do YOU think? Do you buy beauty products with vitamins because you think they’re better for your skin and hair? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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See, I *know* this but it still doesn’t stop me wondering that there must be *something* in nail treatments etc that works – it is likely to be the moisturising effect when you think about it making them less brittle isn’t it?
Most likely.
I’ve heard that prenatal vitamins, (taken internally, of course) make your nails grow really fast and strong. This comes from pregnant women, so maybe their pregnancy had something to do with it, I don’t know. Is there any reason this could be true?
I’ve never seen any medical literature supporting the idea that vitamins taken while pregnant impact the growth of nails.
People associate hair growth with pregnancy because pregnant women don’t shed as much hair for reasons that have to do with their pregnancy.
But that association (pregnant == great hair) leaves people to associate anything associated with pregnancy with hair, nails, eyelashes, and anything else. This is why people are flat-out convinced with no evidence that prenatal vitamins make your hair grow.
Pregnant women may take them, but that’s not why their hair is fuller …
What about vitamins that say are good for the nails? For non-pregnant women.
I can’t help but think that it has something to do with us always striving to model perfect. Yes, we KNOW that our hair and nails are “dead” and can only get nutrients and get healthy before they grow out, and yes, we KNOW that advertisements have all sorts of enhancements – airbrushing, girdles, taping ears back, photoshop (I noticed while flipping through my Fredricks Of Hollywood catalog recently that some of the girls in the see-through clothing have had their nipples photoshopped out so it won’t qualify as porn), etc. Yet deep down, we still strive for that look. The full, wavy, perfect, healthy hair. The long, strong nails. The full red lips. The straight white teeth. And we’ll grasp at any straw to try and get it, even when we know and can even admit it won’t work.
I mean, this has driven me to buy over the counter diet pills like SlimQuick and some of the hoodia and green tea stuff because I want to be thin SOOOOOO badly and be “beautiful” rather then “fat and ugly.” Even though I KNOW they won’t work. I imagine it’s the same thing with nail “vitamins” and “healthy hair” products.
I have the opposite problem. I actually break nail clippers when clipping my nails. They are just very strong. My dd has the kind that peel off in sheets; weak, flimsy nails that won’t grow so maybe genetics don’t play a role.
@jami, I, too, get suckered in and want to believe. We all do. Sigh…
The Dermatology Blog, which I found through BB, says there is evidence that taking biotin may help nail strength. 2.5 mcg/day?
I wish the Brains would not be quite so flip about the “stupidity” of vitamin claims. Sure the marketers are playing on our belief that we can “nourish” our nails, hair and skin, but aren’t some vitamins (C in particular) actually beneficial–because of their chemical properties, not their nutritional ones? Ascorbic acid is a useful ingredient, I understand, as may be Vitamin E–as an oil and preservative at least, and niacin….
During early pregnancy fingernails actually grow faster. There are many women who take prenatel vitamins to help with their nail strength and nail growth. I am sure that taking the supplements will help overall health and in turn help fingernails.
Prick a vitamin e supplement and massage into cuticles and fingernails, this will help keep nails moisturized and help them grow stronger.
Before you jump all over me – I WORK for FlexiNail. I do have an awful lot of knowledge about nails though – so maybe my brief comments here may make sense.
Someone above very thoroughly described what a nail is and what it is made up of. Correct, it is dead cells packed together. As they pack together they “push” the nail out (it grows). When the body fights a disease or infection, sometimes this “growth” is disrupted and you will see a horizontal line across the nails. You can’t change that “ridge” until it gets pushed out to the end of the nail.
I mention this because it is very difficult to change the make-up of the nail that is already there. It has a natural protective coating that as humans we tend to screw up with things like frequent exposure to water (dish washing, soaks in baths and even frequent hand washing with water or alcohol based gels etc); trying to make them look good (acrylics, nail polish, nail polish remover etc); and even exposure to weather (dry cold winters or dry hot summers).
All of these things (and more) attack the nail’s protective coating and cause nail problems. The lipids are stripped from the nail and the nail “dries” out and becomes brittle or peels.
Taking an oral supplement will NOT help and you are wasting your money if you buy some for your nails. Even most nail “oils” are simply an oil (which yes should hydrate and supply lipids to the nail) with “added” vitamin E etc. The vitamin E in these oils is mostly to stop the oil from going rancid, because unless the oil is able to penetrate through the nail’s protective barrier – the oil and the vitamin E etc just sit on the top of the nail and do very little other than to hydrate the cuticle (which is a good thing).
If you want to see a real difference to your nails, try a penetrating nail conditioner (yes, like FlexiNail: http://www.FlexiNail.com ) that is designed to penetrate into the nail and take all the good stuff down with it. A good conditioner like this will help repel evil water and even when the nail is exposed to the elements or our treatment of them – they are “re-hydrated”. I know you are skeptical, but read some of the testimonials on the site and even watch the video of ME bending over and snapping my nail 90 degrees. Watch the video, I think you will like it. And for the last “sales” pitch, if it doesn’t work for you – there is a 100 DAY (one hundred day) money-back guarantee and FREE s/h on top of everything else.
My name is Derek and if you use the “contact us” link from the website you can ask that I answer your question directly. We will also do our best to provide you with personal and exceptional customer service. You have my word on that.
It’s an interesting view for sure and I appreciate it so this is a little something for all…
If blind people wear sunglasses, why don’t deaf people wear earmuffs?