{"id":92387,"date":"2016-07-15T15:29:55","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T22:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nailcarehq.com\/?p=92387"},"modified":"2025-01-23T19:48:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T02:48:05","slug":"mani-bath-bombs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nailcareheadquarters.com\/mani-bath-bombs\/","title":{"rendered":"ASK ANA – Mani & Bath Bombs – Good or Bad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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BATH BOMBS<\/span>\"Bath-Bomb-nailcarehq\"<\/h6>\n

ASK ANA: Bath Bombs<\/h2>\n
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Hi Ana, mani-bombs seem all the rage. But I’m confused. You teach that water is damaging to nails. So are they ok, or should we stay away from them? Are bath bombs ok? ~Anne<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

ANSWER<\/h2>\n

To put it simply, mani bath bombs make me cringe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was shocked when I learned from author Doug Schoon (Nail Structure and Chemistry)<\/em> that fingernails have the ability to absorb one third\u00a0their weight in water.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Repetitive\u00a0exposure to water can cause delamination\u2014the fancy word for peeling<\/strong>. I explain this in more detail in\u00a0my article about water absorption.<\/a><\/p>\n

I should add the disclaimer<\/strong> here that I’m not a doctor, a scientist or chemist.<\/p>\n

I like to research<\/strong> by going down different rabbit holes and pulling information from different places. My goal is “thinking and processing” rather than just taking advice blindly.<\/p>\n

Moisture?<\/h2>\n

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, moisture is\u00a0very small drops of water, either in the air or on a surface:<\/strong> “It was a clear day with little moisture in the air.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

So, one could make the assumption that water on the surface of our skin or nails would provide “moisture.”<\/p>\n

This is completely\u00a0false.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Does your skin feel moisturized after a shower or bath?<\/p>\n

Have you ever heard the advice that we shouldn’t take hot showers because it dries out the skin?<\/p>\n

So what’s correct?<\/p>\n

Your miraculous body<\/strong> has given you the road map.<\/p>\n

Hydration<\/h2>\n

If we\u00a0don’t drink enough<\/strong> water, our\u00a0skin feels dry and our\u00a0lips start to chap.<\/p>\n

If we\u00a0wash our\u00a0hands too much<\/strong>, the skin gets tight and starts to feel prickly. In extreme cases, the skin starts to crack.<\/p>\n

Do you have dry heels\u2014maybe cracked skin?<\/p>\n

Does water make it worse or better?\u00a0I can see you smiling as your mental\u00a0light bulb is getting\u00a0lit.<\/p>\n

The dictionary definition of “hydration” is: a substance produced by chemically combining\u00a0substances with water.<\/b><\/p>\n

Your nail bed and skin push a hydrating blend of water and body oil (sebum) through your skin and nail plate.<\/p>\n

Your body creates the perfect blend to keep our skin soft and water resistant. That sounds more like hydration to me.<\/p>\n

Oil Is The\u00a0Solution, Not Water<\/h2>\n

Water coming in contact with your skin and nails actually strips the oil from both<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But mani and bath bombs have essential oils<\/strong>, that must be ok, right?<\/p>\n

Nope. Oil and water don’t mix.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now let’s think about the Italian salad dressing in your refrigerator. Vinegar behaves the same as water.<\/p>\n

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Oil and vinegar, as everyone knows, don’t mix. You can force them to do so by shaking or mixing them violently, but they’ll eventually part ways. But you can compel them to make friends through by introducing an intermediary. Garlic and mustard make very good ambassadors, but there are other foods which work equally well: blue cheese, catsup, a touch of miso, and of course egg yolk, which is perhaps too good an emulsifier for vinaigrette-it will make your dressing seem more solid than liquid. [Credit: LifeHacker.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ok, get out of the refrigerator Ana! Back to the mani and bath bombs.<\/p>\n

The Bath Bomb<\/h2>\n

What’s the process with mani or bath bombs\u2014soak your nails or skin in a wonderful bubbly concoction of baking soda,\u00a0corn starch,\u00a0citric acid\"\", epsom salt,\u00a0teaspoons water,\u00a0essential oil\"\"\u00a0(1 tsp)\u00a0,\u00a0coconut or olive oil (1 & 1\/4 tsp), and possibly\u00a0food coloring. The DIY recipe I found makes 6 large bath bombs.<\/p>\n

Now for some basic math. Two\u00a0& 1\/4\u00a0tsp.\u00a0divided by six bath bombs equals 1\/3 tsp.\u00a0per bath bomb.<\/p>\n

Humm, soak in water for 15 minutes\u2014bad<\/strong>\u2014and come out with a thin film of oil on your skin\u2014good<\/strong>. But how much of that oil is left in the bath tub?<\/p>\n

Mani bombs are much smaller, so they contain significantly less oil<\/strong>. And again\u2014how much is left in the bowl?<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the water has stripped more\u00a0oil<\/strong> from the\u00a0skin and nail plates than that thin film of oil can replace.<\/p>\n

In Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n

Since we can’t just stop bathing and washing our hands, we need to take some time to mend our skin abuse.<\/p>\n

A jojoba wax ester based hydrating oil<\/a> can help reverse our germaphobe habits\u2014and the “I know I shouldn’t wash my hands so much, but I can’t help it.”<\/p>\n

\"ana-seidel-signature_72\"Our skin seems to be able to recover from water far better than the damage it does to the nail plate.<\/p>\n

You want to have nail polish on your nails at all times<\/strong> when they come in contact with water. Be extremely careful to not let your nails absorb water. This is why my number one rule is “Never Shower Naked.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Enjoy that bath bomb. Ditch the mani bomb. And be ready to add wonderful oils that mimic sebum<\/a> back onto your skin.<\/p>\n