What are Emery Boards?
Emery boards are flexible strips coated in emery, an extremely hard ground mineral. Essentially, emery boards are like sandpaper for the body, and they are most commonly used to shape and trim nails. Most drugstores and beauty supplies carry emery boards, as do salons, and they can be very useful tools to have around the house. The base material for an emery board is often cardboard, although other materials may be used. The primary advantage to the flexibility is that the emery board can be bent and used in a variety of ways, unlike a metal or glass skin and nail file, which remains rigid. The disadvantage, of course, is that emery boards will eventually break down and require replacement. In addition to being used on the nails, emery boards can also be used to file down calluses. Learning to use an emery board is quite easy; the trick is to use very light, even strokes, and to run the emery board in a consistent direction across the nail or callus. Because emery is so hard, it typica
