My Dearest Readers and Fans,
It has come to my attention that there is a little bit of confusion around the internet about whether oil actually DOES enter the nail plate.
The short answer is IT DEPENDS…. on how you define oil.
Now here’s the long answer. With information from respected scientist and author of Nail Structure and Product Chemistry, Doug Schoon.
My mom, Mrs. Chemist, has been telling me for months that this day would come—I would be forced to teach what jojoba really is.
What is Jojoba?
Jojoba is NOT an oil. It’s a wax ester that is liquid at warm temperature, so it looks like an oily substance. But under the microscope, it is most certainly NOT an oil.
Image courtesy of the Jojoba Co.
Your body oil—Sebum—is a wax ester. The molecular structure of jojoba is almost identical to sebum. ALL other oils look, feel, and behave differently than jojoba.
Image courtesy of the Jojoba Co.
Please realize that in every topic in this world, experts disagree. That’s ok. That’s what keeps the world interesting. Just think of parenting experts…they disagree all over the place!
My goal is to teach my readers HOW to think. I do research. I walk you through my thinking process. If it makes sense, great! Use the information to improve your life.
An Unexpected Email
Doug Schoon emailed me after spending some time on NailCareHQ.com when I asked for permission to reprint some of his articles on my site.
“Hi Ana,
Wow, pretty impressive job, based on what I’ve seen so far. I’ll check out more later.
I love the fact that you’re a “regular mom” who did her research. That shows that others can too, if they try and know how. If you haven’t already, you may want to considering teaching people “how” to do research properly.
Few people seem to understand the process and many get sucked into sites that manipulate them with silly, fear-based nonsense, while asking for donations.” ~Doug
I stumbled into studying jojoba because it worked so well for me. And geeky me … I just had to know why. I have spent months researching jojoba and analyzing everything with Mrs. Chemist. I had to understand WHY Bliss KissSimply Pure™ has worked better than anything else.
Pure Nail Oil™ does not nourish the nail plate from the top down to the nail bed. Your body hydrates the nail plate from the bottom up.
Pure™ creates a surface barrier in the top layers of keratin. This helps keep the moisture and sebum that your body is producing in the nail plate.
The Nail Plate Does Absorb
In Doug Schoon’s book Nail Structure and Product Chemistry, he has an entire section in one of his chapters addressing how water and oils DO penetrate the nail plate. (Page 36-37) This is the last paragraph.
“Oils will also be absorbed into the nail plate to plasticize it, but more slowly than water. Just as oils are absorbed more slowly into the nail plate, it is also more difficult for the oils to escape. Therefore, oils stay in the plate for a very long time and can exert a dramatic long-term influence on the durability of the natural nail plate.” [source: Nail Structure and Product Chemistry, p 37]
We know that water and sebum can travel UP through the nail plate and water can travel DOWN through the nail plate.
It makes sense to me that sebum or another wax ester can travel DOWN at least through several layers.
Does jojoba go down through all 50 layers? Probably not. I don’t even know if electron microscopes could capture the jojoba wax ester being absorbed by the nail plate.
Empirical Research
What I, and my customers who take the “Let’s Get Naked Challenge” are doing is called EMPIRICAL RESEARCH.
“Empirical research is a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience. Empirical evidence (the record of one’s direct observations or experiences) can be analyzed quantitatively or qualitatively. Through quantifying the evidence or making sense of it in qualitative form, a researcher can answer empirical questions, which should be clearly defined and answerable with the evidence collected (usually called data). Research design varies by field and by the question being investigated. Many researchers combine qualitative and quantitative forms of analysis to better answer questions which cannot be studied in laboratory settings, particularly in the social sciences and in education.” [source: Wikipedia.com]
With empirical research, it doesn’t really matter WHY or HOW Pure Nail Oil™ works. It can’t be disproven.
Customer after customer continues to tell and show me how Pure™ changes the strength and flexibility of their natural nails.
The reason Pure™ works so well is because it has the highest concentration of jojoba wax ester than any other cuticle oil on the market. This is why I’ve labeled Pure™ as a Nail Oil, not just a cuticle oil.
Pure™ just works. Simply ask Olga, Erica, and Kelli.
Olga: https://www.nailcareheadquarters.com/OlgasResults
Wow! How awesome is it to receive an email from Doug Schoon!?!?! That in itself is awesome.
I *LOVE* this article. It contains everything that people should know about how oils and water penetrate the nail plate, and really explains just how Jojoba oil works, and why you truly need Jojoba Oil as the main ingredient in your nail oil. I can guarantee that I’ll be using this information often! Thanks so much for posting this, Ana!
I know right!!!! It was very awesome. I was doing a geeky girl happy dance all day. I wanted to tell everyone…and they were like, “huh, who’s he?” LOL
I’m so happy you will find this to be a great resource to share with your friends. Thank you. ~Ana
I think that your blog and this post are great. Thank you for putting out a lot of straightforward and useful information. Since reading it, I have started using jojoba oil on my nails, from a bottle that I already had. But I have a question, do you think that your Pure Oil works better than straight jojoba oil?
Thank you for writing Pam.
Yes, you can use straight jojoba. I have not personally tested jojoba on it’s own. The main preventative for me was that it costs 3 to 6 times more than other oils, and I know that with each application, some oil ends up being rubbed into my hands as well as everything else I touch (keyboard, drawing tablet, hair, etc).
It takes approximately 3 days for our nails to initially absorb enough jojoba wax ester, but it needs to be done in several applications.
It’s very similar to drinking water—we need to drink about 3 liters of water over a day, but we can’t do it all in one sitting. We need to sip continuously. Our nails are like that too. The body absorbs at it’s own rate.
The only thing I do know is that somehow olive oil and grapeseed oil work synergistically with jojoba wax ester to create amazing results. My customers’ before and after photos continue to astound me.
Hey Ana,
This blog is really interesting. Have jojoba oil at my home and will definitely use it. Actually i had this problem of chipped and week nails and i read an article about how to take care of your nails. They have some really amazing tips for the same. I followed them and can see the difference. And hoping your jojoba oil treatment will prove to be an added advantage. Would like to share the tips with you. Hope it adds value to your post. Here is the link.
beautyonaclick.com/tips-for-healthy-strong-and-beautiful-nails