We paint them, bite them, chip them, and polish them, yet hardly ever look at them. Fingernails are often treated as accessories, extensions of vanity, not biology. But they’re alive in their own way, shaped by every nutrient you absorb, every habit you keep, every invisible shift inside you. Nails are made primarily of keratin, a super-tough protein that shields the tips of our fingers and toes from trauma. The visible plate emerges from the nail matrix, but the half-moon-shaped lunula at the base of the nail is actually the growth centre, producing the keratinised cells that harden into the nail plate. Above this sits the cuticle: a layer of dead cells joining the base of the nailbed to the surrounding skin, acting as a security guard by helping prevent bacteria, fungi and other path

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