You wash your hands regularly and, as far as you can remember, you are not a miner or a gardener. Yet a dark edge regularly appears under your nails. Even if you haven’t even left the house… Where do those dirty edges come from and what can be the cause of dirty nails? We give you five potential causes.
Dirty nails cause #1: Dirty keyboard
Do you remember the keyboards of the past? They were often white or light gray. You may also remember how dirty they could get if you used them for a while. With a dark keyboard, this dirt is a lot less noticeable and if you have to tap a lot, this dirt may regularly disappear under your nails. Pretty gross, yes. A good reminder to regularly wipe your keyboard with a hygienic cloth!
Dirty nails cause #2: Oily hair
Washing your hair a lot is not good for your hair and scalp, but if your hair is a bit on the greasy side – your nails may well suffer from this. Maybe you touch your hair a lot, or run your hand through it often? All that tiny oil builds up under your nail.
Dirty nails cause #3: Dander
You lose dander all over your skin all the time. Dust on the ground, for example, consists largely of skin flakes (yum, we know). You can also lose skin flakes under your nail, although they may be a bit more difficult to remove. The accumulation of this can result in a ‘dirty’ edge. Fortunately, this is easy to solve: use a soft brush to clean your fingertips. Don’t scrub too hard, it can hurt and isn’t necessary.
Dirty nails cause #4: Make-up and cream
You might forget it, but the creams and foundation that you apply to your face in the morning can also end up under your nails and cause extra dirt. So always wash your hands after applying your day cream and/or foundation.
Dirty nails cause #5: Long nails
Nails also get dirtier the longer they are. Dirt then becomes more difficult to get out from under and dirt has a greater chance of piling up. So keep your nails short to avoid dirt as much as possible.
