Cleaning Trends & Protecting Your Nails

If we had told you a year ago that the country would come together with an obsession and love of cleaning, you would have thought we had gone mad right?

Wrong ... unless you have been hiding under a rock you will have seen or heard of the phenomenon that is Mrs Hinch; transforming the lives and living rooms of her 1.6 million Instagram followers.

 For those of you who have been hiding under that said rock, let us recap and fill you in. Sophie Hinchcliffe (Mrs Hinch) from Essex has taken the internet by storm with her Instagram stories; cleaning her immaculate home, sharing her top cleaning tips and ‘Hinch Hauls’ containing her favourite cleaning products and essentials.

As much as it may sound like a bizarre phase or trend, cleaning otherwise referred to as ‘Hinching’ has become so popular and has even been linked to helping people with their mental health; to some the act of cleaning can be as soothing as the art of meditation.

Research shows that ‘those who find their home environments stressful experience more frequent depressed moods and feelings during the day, while those who find their homes to be restorative experience fewer depressed moods.'

When things in life become chaotic and unpredictable it is thought that we may experience feelings of anxiety. Studies suggest that once order is restored in our homes or environment, we may feel safe which could help explain the anxiety-relieving effects cleaning can have.

Cleaning has quickly taken over social media with more and more cleaning based Instagram accounts and Facebook groups popping up; all sharing a love for keeping things neat and tidy. We have become obsessed with cleaning our homes until they sparkle and shine.

Cleaning products and cleaning tips have become normal conversations in many homes and work places … I can confirm that the StylPro office is no exception, many of us are self-confessed cleaners and ‘Hinchers’.

Our new love of making sure our homes, rooms and possessions are clean, sparkling and shiny can however, have an impact on our hands, skin and nails. If we aren’t careful, we can damage and break those nails which, let’s face it, we can spend so long growing and perfecting.

Looking After Those Nails  

We’ve researched and collated some great tips and tricks to make sure your nails stay healthy and protected so you can carry on cleaning without the fear of a chipped or broken nail.

Wear Gloves

Hot water and chemicals can dry out your hands and soften your nails; putting your latest manicure at risk of chips. A mere 5 minutes of hand washing or cleaning with water can weaken your nails, add in a chemicals and / or soap and before you know it you’ll have soft and torn nails … how many times has that happened right?

According to research, it takes about the same amount of time for the hot water to affect your manicure as it does for you to wash a pan. Hot water can change the molecules of your nail polish almost making it melt. 

The easiest way in protecting those nails is by wearing gloves whilst using water and cleaning products. Keeping your hands and nails dry will prevent those pesky snags and keep those tears at bay.

Avoid Alcohol

If possible, avoid using products containing alcohol including hand sanitizer. Should your nail polish come into contact with alcohol it can be cause damage to your manicure, ‘it won’t take off the polish, but it will break it down and make your nails more susceptible to chips.’

It  may not be possible to avoid alcohol in cleaning all together so make sure those nails are protected under, if possible, cotton lined gloves to protect your hands under all that scrubbing and scraping.

Keep Hydrated

Keeping our bodies hydrated is crucial, drinking enough water to hydrate our bodies from the inside out is a great starting point. How many times have we be told to drink at least 2 litres of water a day? It seems like an impossible task we know … (the StylPro team are on a hydration mission this year with the biggest water bottles you have ever seen!)  but your bodies will thank you later.

Naturally our nails are low in oil and moisture and if not keep hydrated it is easy for them to become broken, dry or brittle. Using cuticle oil on wet skin, before hand cream will help to protect and hydrate your nails. The skin around your nail will absorb and seal in the moisture. Cuticle oils contain a combination of ingredients that will quickly absorb into the skin and will toughen up weak and vulnerable nails.

We need to add moisture to our nails regularly to prevent chipping, breakages and nail splits. The easiest way to keep those nails protected is to apply a moisturiser or lotion after each hand wash.  

Keeping your skin moisturised, especially around the nails in the winter when we are all prone to dry cracked hands, will help keep your cuticles stay healthy and support healthy nail growth.

 File those nails

Making sure you file those nails and keep on top of it is a great habit to get into and will help to stop any snags or tears appearing. Be sure to replace your nail file regularly and separate files used with polish and files used without polish to keep your nails in the best shape. It’s important to file your nails in one direction only, filing your nails back and forth will cause your nails to split. We recommend the Stylfile to help with this.

There you have it, everything you need to know to protect your nails and get them back into great shape. Luckily the Stylfile range developed by our inventor and CEO Tom Pellereau has everything you need to make sure those nails stay in tip top condition all year round.

Whether you are into cleaning or not there is no sign of the trend stopping any time soon! Why not give it a try, whether it be cleaning your home, work space or beauty tools … who knows it could help you fight off those last few January blues.

Team Tom