1. Moisturize your nails

Moisturizing is a well-known mystery to healthy skin, but it’s often overlooked in nail care. While dry, brittle nails can be the result of many aspects, they’re ultimately a cry for moisture, so consider good moisture the foundation of your nail care routine. When applying hand lotion, give your nails a little extra concentration. There are plenty of moisturizing nail products on the market, but using moisturizer is only half the battle—there’s more to strong nails than a fancy cream or serum.

2. Leave your cuticles alone

• It’s common practice to cut, push back, or try to get rid of cuticles altogether, but cuticles are not the adversary. The cuticle is “the nail’s natural protective seal,” according to certified dermatologists and nail experts. Messing with your cuticles can do far more harm than good—even if a nail technician is the one doing the handiwork. A compromised cuticle can leave the nails helpless and at risk of infection.

• Cosmetic dermatologists agree that poorly kept cuticles can have a domino effect. When your cuticles get dry or injured it can damage the nail bed and affect the way your nails are growing out. They suggest moisturizing the cuticles with cream or cuticle oil to help protect and strengthen your nails.

3. Avoid contact with water

• Don’t stop washing your hands or shower with gloves on but do pay attention to ways you can reduce the time your nails spend in contact with water because excessive water contact can weaken nail structure. (Wet hair is especially vulnerable, and the same caution-when-wet approach you take to handling wet locks can apply to nail care, too.) For example, consider wearing gloves while doing the dishes or other wet work.

• Do you know how soft and bendy nails get after a long bath? Consider this: The nail is like a sponge. It is 1,000 times more absorptive of water than the skin, for example, and so water can easily diffuse into the nail. Extreme water exposure can put considerable strain on delicate nail cells (called onycholysis), which can lead to brittleness, peeling, and breakage.

• This is also why absorbing nails before a manicure is a bad practice. Not only does this make your nails more vulnerable to infection, but it also doesn’t allow nail polish to adhere as well or last as long.