You may like the appearance of artificial nails, but you may not like the way they can leave natural nails thin and brittle.

Here are ways to minimize such damage, courtesy of the American Academy of Dermatology:

• Instead of acrylic nails, use gel nails that you can soak off rather than nails that must be filed off.
• Make sure your salon uses an LED light, rather than a UV light, to help artificial nails harden. An LED light emits less radiation.
• To prevent infection, ask the nail technician not to trim your cuticles.
• Consider getting artificial nails only for special occasions, rather than wearing them all the time.

Source: HealthDay