Fingernails and toenails give a good indication of a person's current state of health and the state of someone's mind. Nails take about six to eight months to grow out, so they show what was happening at the time they were being formed, and to an extent, the body's progress while they grow. When assessing personality by the nails, one must take into consideration their size and shape and the size and shape of the fingertips beneath them.
Large nails belong to a painstaking type of personality who prefers to live and work at his own pace; he doesn't care for changes and upheavals. He is capable of producing very detailed and carefully executed work.
Small nails denote that the individual lives at speed, he is competitive and he isn't great at dealing with details. He can be openly critical, while the person with the large nails can be just as judgmental, but he keeps his feelings to himself.
Those with nails that are square at the base find it hard to express themselves or to release energies from within their personalities. Nails and fingertips that are square belong to people who are good at figure work.
Very square nails denote practicality and capability, but a lack of imagination. The mind is attuned to structural ideas, such as mathematics, mechanics, farming, or building work or craftwork of all kinds.
Long square nails (a) show a methodical nature. These people can be creative and quite deep in their thinking, but they lack vigor or speed. They may harp on about the past, but they are loyal and kind to those who need help.
Short square nails (b) denote an irritable personality that fears change, yet paradoxically also dislikes boredom. This person is quite hard to live with. He may be sexually aggressive, jealous and possessive, argumentative, critical or very cutting. Even in its mild form, people with this type of personality can be moody and difficult.
People with rounded fingernails (c) are sociable, emotional, creative and fairly harmonious, but they are easily bored and may lack power, vigor and strength of character.
Large round nails belong to a laid back person who likes to take his time over things. Such a person is rarely spiteful or difficult, but he lacks ambition, and he is probably idealistic rather than materialistic. He may not be a worldly success in the ordinary sense of the word, but he may be a great friend to the needy. This kind of person acts as a creative balance in this money-conscious world.
Small, rounded nails show restlessness and changeability. Sociable and creative, this type is more competitive and more critical than the other type, but he is sympathetic, helpful and friendly. His emotions may be hard for him to control, but his sense of humor will help him to keep a sense of proportion.
A long, narrow nail (d) belongs to someone who would prefer life to be easy and free of too many responsibilities. This type of person seems to remain close to his parents throughout life.
Superficially charming, people with long, narrow nails may be selfish and babyish. They may be creative, but they are also materialistic and possessive. These subjects want the good things of life without having to spend too much effort in getting them. Extremely narrow nails show touchiness, long narrow ones show a mercenary nature.
Small and fan-shaped nails (e) mean that the subject is an energetic, super achiever who has little tolerance of the foibles of others.
Ultra-small, fan-shaped nails seem to indicate a high level of self-indulgence, possibly in connection with alcohol, food, smoking or even drug taking. This person may be unreasonably jealous of others, or whiningly sorry for himself.
Truly spatulate nails are less fan-shaped and they have a panel of flesh showing on either side of the nail. These belong to active, inventive, slightly offbeat people.
When the spatulate nails are large and the finger ends splayed outward (like a spatula), the person is restless and inventive. He cannot sit still for long and may prefer a job that keeps him either on his feet or driving around the country. Although spontaneously kind, these people forget their friends as soon as they are out of sight. Their tense nature will make them competitive, either in sports or in business.
People with pointed nails can be idealistic or artistic dreamers who never achieve much, but they are family loving, humorous, and kind-hearted.
When the nails resemble claws, the subject needs money and status. This type of person needs a comfortable life and he will make an effort to provide it for himself if there is no prospect of anyone else doing it for him.
Fingernails and toenails describe events that happened to their owner during the previous six to eight months, and they can indicate even minor day-to-day changes by variations in their color.
Problems with the stomach, bladder or kidneys. The subject is easily fatigued.
When fingernails bulge upward in the middle and turn over at the ends, they are called “Hippocratic” nails or “watch-glass” nails and this used to be something that doctors saw quite often, as it was a classic sign of tuberculosis. It was also seen in the smoky towns of the industrial revolution, where people didn't get enough clean air to breath. It's also seen in cases of lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease or heavy smoking due to the damage to the lungs. The nails improve if the subject's health improves.
Clubbed finger-ends can also indicate ulcerative colitis or cirrhosis of the liver.
Circulatory problems will cause thickening and a characteristic yellowing of the nails, and there may be nutritional deficiencies, an under-active thyroid or even brain damage. However, I suggest that you take care not to jump to conclusions if you see nails like these, because they may simply be an inherited characteristic or even the result of damage from soaps and solvents.
White spots on the nails point to vitamin or mineral deficiency, such as a shortage of zinc, magnesium or calcium. These often show up in the late spring, after a dark cold winter when the lack of sunshine has caused a shortage of vitamins A and D. These spots can also be a sign of anxiety and depression.
If the moons at the base of the nails suddenly change, either by growing larger or by disappearing altogether, the subject may have heart problems. If the moons are normally small, non-existent, or very large that's fine, because it's only important when they suddenly change.
A blue or purple shade across or around the moons indicates heart trouble, possibly angina.
These nails are curved so that, if you look at them from the tip toward the wrist, they look like the roof of a tunnel or a Nissen hut. This shows a weakness of the spine, which most likely may have been damaged by the work that the person does.
These can indicate heart disease and Reynaud's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, or autoimmune diseases such as lupus. These lines can be caused by exposure to cold and by anorexia.
These denote problems with the bones, joints, cartilages, tendons, muscles and nerves surrounding the bones. If this appears on most of the fingers, the person probably has rheumatism.
If a ridge runs down one or two fingers, it's a sign of bone damage somewhere in the body. If the line appears on the thumb, the problem may be in the head, neck or spine. If on the index or middle finger, it could be on the middle part of the body. The ring finger suggests problems with arms and legs, and the little finger suggests problems in the hands or feet.
If the tip of the nail is brown, the rest pink and the cuticle white, there may be chronic kidney failure.
The nails are thickened, hard and yellow or greenish yellow; there may be respiratory or lymphatic disease, also thyroid problems (Grave's disease), or jaundice.
Streaks due to bleeding beneath the nails are a real danger signal because this indicates high blood pressure or an infection in the lining or the heart, although it can also be the result of psoriasis.
Irregular pitting is caused by psoriasis, while regular lines of pits are associated with alopecia.
If these appear on a white-skinned person's nails or cuticles, the subject could have a malignant melanoma (skin cancer).
If nails suddenly change color from a nice, healthy pink, there is something wrong in the bloodstream. Any nail will lose its color when the end of the finger is pressed, but if the color is slow to return, the person is anemic.