- Dry and ragged cuticles - This is just another manifestation of the gradual desiccation of the body. A cuticle oil massage into nails overnight will go a long way towards fixing this problem, while boosting blood flow to help encourage nail growth.
- Flaking/ Splitting nails - The oil treatment mentioned above will help prevent flaking - not immediately but over the time. Submerging hands into water isn't helpful - but its what rubber gloves were invented for. Avoid acetone based nail polishes: a quick blitz with an acetone-based polish remover is preferable to endless, endless rubbing and soaking with regular polish remover to get the glitter off. And never ever buff if your nails are weak.
- Nails that snap - Over-dry, brittle nails will simply break. Again, oil treatments help. Chemical types should be used for short bursts - otherwise nails become over-strong, and prone to snapping rather than bending flexibility when challenged.
- Ridges - Very, very common. Length-ways ridges can respond to very gentle buffing; your nails need to be naked for this (although, you can oil them first). Buff lengthwise but never to the point where you create heat. The quick fix is a ridge-filling base coat. Occasionally, a ridge becomes a split for which a best solution is a patch applied at nail salon while it grows out or a false acrylic nail. Yet again, you need to boost nail health while its growing out with stimulating oil massage of the nail bed.
- And eat good food - Try to consume oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, etc.) two to three times weekly for the omega-3 essential fatty acid, which helps nails, skin and hair. If you don't like fish, try supplement with fish oils or plant oils if you are veggie. Also, make sure you get enough protein for the iron content - iron deficiency is a common cause of flaking nails as well as thinning hair. And everyone needs a lot of multicolor veg for the Vitamin C which is vital for iron to be absorbed.
- Camouflage sun spots on back of hands - Try self-tanner of hands and forearms as this reduces the 'contrast' and thus the visibility of sun spots.
Tip: Taupes, oranges and frosted nail polishes can be desperately unflattering to the older hands. Ironically, mature women often choose taupes because they think this will distract from hands they feel self-conscious about, but instead pale pinks, soft crimson and very deep berry/ wine varnish, which has become a modern classic - will brings nails back to life.
Ref: 'The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible' by Josephine Fairley and Sarah Stacey.