DIY Moisturizing Nail and Cuticle Oil

This post is sponsored by NOW®. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Is hand-washing leaving your hands, nails and cuticles dry and cracked? I’m sharing a few of my favorite creams, lotions and a simple DIY cuticle oil to nourish, moisturize and protect your hands. This nail and cuticle oil treatment blends essential oils and extracts for an intense moisturizing and nourishing remedy for hands and nails.

Can we all just take a deep breath and collective sigh? Phew.

It’s been a crazy and overwhelming few weeks for most of us. In the midst of this scary pandemic, many of us have had our lives turned upside down. We’ve been doing our best in our house to stay happy and healthy through social distancing, maintaining a healthy diet, amping up our immune system (here are 6 Natural Ways to Optimize Your Immune System), staying active, getting fresh air, and most importantly: constantly washing our hands.

Washing your hands so often (and singing countless renditions of the ABC’s to hit that 20 second mark) can leave them feeling dry and even cracked. Washing your hands often can strip your skin of its oils leading to dry, itchy and irritated skin, cuticles and nails. Aside from being uncomfortable, hangnails and cracked skin can create open wounds for bacteria and infection which is definitely something that we all want to avoid.

Since washing hands often can strip our skin and nails of all their natural oils, it’s so important to make sure to moisturize often. The best time to moisturize is directly after washing your hands. Keeping a skin soothing and ultra-moisturizing oil-based cream or lotion near the sink is best so that you can apply immediately (it’s best to leave hands slightly damp when applying). A few of my favorites to use are NOW® Solutions Shea Butter Lotion for intense moisturizing or NOW® Solutions Vitamin E Cream to replenish skin’s natural moisture. Shea butter lotion has 10% shea butter to provide a rich, nourishing coat of moisture to the skin while phospholipids in soy lecithin help reduce moisture loss and intensify shea butter’s natural moisturizing action.

I have a tendency to suffer from splitting nails and ragged cuticles. Add stress and a terrible hang-nail picking habit and my nails were a hot mess. Adding this moisturizing cuticle and nail to my routine made a huge difference in relieving and providing intense moisturization for my dry & ravaged hands. I’m sharing one of my favorite DIY recipes for cuticle and nail oil that can be so helpful for soothing dry and cracked cuticles and nails! It’s loaded with so many amazing oils that offer so many benefits for supple, smooth and healthy skin, nails and cuticles.

This nail and cuticle oil contains tons of skin nurturing oils to keep your hands looking healthy, ultra-moisturized and smooth. While each of these oils can be used alone, I prefer a combination of them all for the best results!

Argan Oil

Argan oil is rich in vitamin E and fatty acids to improve moisturization. It’s easy to rub in (doesn’t leave a greasy residue) and quickly absorbs to help maintain a healthy skin pH and sooth, nourish and protect skin from the elements. Bonus: add a few drops into your palms, rub together and apply to hair for extra shine and to tame fly-aways! This organic argan oil is my favorite!

Vitamin E

Vitamin E has moisturizing and healing benefits. This Natural E-Oil helps to moisturize the skin and keep skin looking healthy and I love adding a few drops to my skin care products.

Rose Hip Seed Oil

Pure rose hip seed oil is rich in omega-6 essential fatty acids to help with natural nourishment and renewal of skin. A few drops rubbed into cuticles can help restore, nourish the nail bed and cuticles.

Choice of: Jojoba, Sweet Almond, Coconut, or Avocado

These are all great carrier oil options that can are deeply restorative to dry, irritated skin and brittle nails.

Feel free to add a few drops of your favorite essential oils* too. Many essential oils can make skin and nail look healthy, as well as adding some beautiful natural scent! For all uses, carefully dilute with a carrier oil such as jojoba, coconut, grapeseed, olive, avocado or almond oil prior to use. A few of my favorite essential oil for nail & cuticle oils are:

• Frankincense
• Lavender
• Lemon
• Eucalyptus
• Tea Tree

NOW® essentials oils are the only brand that I use! They’re high quality, go through rigorous testing and the most affordable out there. You can find them at nowfoods.com, Amazon (very large selection available) and I’ve seen them at my local Meijer too!

*Caution: NOW® Essential Oils are highly concentrated and can be irritating to the skin. Avoid direct contact with skin and always dilute essential oils before topical use. Discontinue if rash appears after skin contact. Not for internal use. Avoid contact with eyes.