Why You Should Always Apply Sunscreen to Your Nails

While you’ve heard about the importance of applying sunscreen to your hands (they are the first thing to age, after all) a million times, you’ve probably never heard about the importance of applying sunscreen directly to your nails- that’s where BodyHacks comes in!

Skin cancer comes in a few forms, but one of the most over-looked aspects of skin cancer is skin cancer that occurs under the nails. One of the main indicators of having skin cancer under your nails is the appearance of a dark strip under your nail bed from the base of your nail to the tip of your finger.

If you’re like me, and wear nail polish 24/7, it’s very important to do a thorough inspection of your nails when you remove your nail polish to make sure that there are no abnormalities under your nails. If these abnormalities go undetected, the skin cancer could advance and actually begin to lift your nail off of your finger.

To prevent any type of skin cancer, it’s important to slather your body with sunscreen- preventing skin cancer under the nail is no different. In order to protect yourself from this specific type of skin cancer you must apply sunscreen to your nails everyday, just as you would apply sunscreen to your face and body.

To make wearing sunscreen on your nails even easier, brands have introduced a clear coat of nail polish that actually contains SPF so all you need to do is swipe it on post-manicure and you’re good to go.