What's A Hot Oil Manicure & How Can You Do It At Home?

Your nails are so important. Beyond looking good while adorning colorful nail art, your nails are important for protecting your hands and keeping environmental pollutants at bay. Keeping up with your nail care is great for your body and imperative to reviving dry nails and cuticles. However, while it's easy to understand why we need to keep up with our nails, it can be hard to figure out the first step.

If you look down and notice that your hands are dry and bent out of shape, consider starting off with a hot oil manicure. "A hot oil manicure usually consists of submerging your fingers and nails into a bowl of heated essential oils, with the exact blend of these oils tailored to your particular nail ailment," explains Ama Quashie, a manicurist and founder of Ama Salon, while talking to Refinery 29. Adding this luxurious treatment is key to amazing, healthy nails in no time.

Of all the cuticle care tips for healthier nails, this one might be the best option. According to Makeup and Beauty, once you start to incorporate hot oil manicures into your routine, you will notice an instant improvement in your skin. Because the warm oil easily absorbs into the skin, it will look and feel much softer after just one treatment. 

If done on a regular basis, you should notice stronger and longer nails within a month. According to Milano Nail Spa Spring, the benefits from the oil allows the skin and nails to soak up rich nutrients that allow the nail to become healthier over a period of time. In addition, massaging the oil into the skin improves blood circulation, contributing to longer nails. Within a few weeks of doing hot oil manicures, your once-thin and dry nails should look and feel much better compared to how you started.

Believe it or not, hot oil manicures are really easy to do, and you don't need to go to a spa to get amazing results.

Cilver Bow Botanicals explains that the first thing to do is warm up the oil to a comfortable temperature and place it in a bowl of your choice. After washing your hands thoroughly, place your hands in the bowl of warm oil and let it sit for a few minutes until the oil cools down a bit.

Once that's done, remove your hands from the bowl, and rub the oil into your hands, allowing it to soak up all the nutrients that came with it. Follow up by washing your hands again to get rid of any excess oil. With newly moisturized hands, gently push back your now-softened cuticles. Do this every few weeks for the best results.

While anyone can benefit from this treatment, this is particularly great for people who often wear acrylic nails. According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, the process of applying fake nails can cause serious damage to your nails. Because in order to get them to stick, the nail technician has to file down the nail until it creates a rough surface. This can ruin the nails and make them a lot thinner than they once were. Even gel nails can cause many issues as well. 

The AADA continues to explain that prolonged use of acrylic nails can not only cause nail brittleness, but it can also increase your risk of skin cancer and premature aging of the hands. That said, hot oil manicures can help to relieve some of the issues brought on by these popular services. Using these in between treatments is a great way to give your hands a much-needed break so your nails could continue to thrive.

With hot oil manicures, it is important to go about this treatment as safely as possible. Since you're using hot oil, it's best to understand how to heat it. Avoid placing it in the microwave, as it can lead to breaking down the oil and heating it unevenly. Instead, place the bowl in hot water for two or three minutes until it's warm enough. It's best to use oil that is still comfortable to the touch; in other words, it should not be scalding hot.

According to Mahoney Environmental, the hotter the oil is, the more likely you are to suffer from varying degrees of burns, which could have lifelong consequences. This includes burning through all layers of skin and harming muscle and fat tissue in extreme cases.

It's also important to pay attention to the choice of oils you use. Healthy WA explains that using essential oils without combining them with carrier oils can cause damage to the skin. That's because essential oils by themselves are known to be an irritant, and can even be toxic to one's health.

While hot oil manicures are amazing, they are not the only way to achieve healthy nails. An important thing to do is keep your nails dry for as long as possible. According to the Mayo Clinic, too much water around the nails can lead to a breeding ground for bacteria. Plus, it can become easier for your nails to break.

Also, be sure to keep your cuticles hydrated to prevent all the work you put into doing a hot manicure from going to waste. Deborah Lippmann's website further clarifies that using oil works to help keep the skin moisturized while maintaining the work already done by the hot oil manicure. When searching for a cuticle oil, opt for formulas containing hydrating ingredients like jojoba and coconut oil, and make sure it's applied a few times a day, or whenever your hands feel dry.