As you may or may not be aware, one of my goals this year was to really start taking care of my nails as my nails are generally an embarrassment! I've always been a nail biter, I always forget to repaint them and either have no polish or chipped polish 90% of the time, I am slobbish with base coat and top coat and my cuticles are dry! I really want to put it behind me and start afresh and I think I have found my holy grail nail items that are going to help me do so...
The plan was to have a little step by step procedure but due to my incorrect predictions of when 'magic hour' would be one Sunday afternoon I have decided the step by step photos are too poor quality and so will do a run through instead.
The first step is to clean and dry my hands and nails thoroughly and remove any nail polish debris. I'm not fussy over what polish remover to use but I opt for one with acetone as the friendly acetone free varieties are disappointing.
I then take a cuticle oil and I have been loving O.P.I's avoplex nail and cuticle replenishing oil. This contains a myriad of hydrating ingredients from avocado oil to vitamin E and can even double up as a multi purpose item as is also recommended for dry elbows. This is not cheap at £16.95 but a little goes a long way and I cannot see myself running out of this. For a cheaper alternative I also occasionally use coconut oil too and this does the job also.
After leaving the oil to really soak in for about half an hour I then go in with an orange stick and gently push back the cuticles and clean up underneath my nails. You could also trim cuticles at this stage but I find it Is so easy to trim back too far so I rarely do this.
I then go in with a file and tidy up the shape of the nail. Again, I'm not fussy on what file to use and I think primark files are adequate. I have a lot of friends who swear by glass nail files so whatever you fancy. I also like the cube files that have a buffer on and if I'm going for a natural look I love the effect these give.
The plan was to have a little step by step procedure but due to my incorrect predictions of when 'magic hour' would be one Sunday afternoon I have decided the step by step photos are too poor quality and so will do a run through instead.
The first step is to clean and dry my hands and nails thoroughly and remove any nail polish debris. I'm not fussy over what polish remover to use but I opt for one with acetone as the friendly acetone free varieties are disappointing.
I then take a cuticle oil and I have been loving O.P.I's avoplex nail and cuticle replenishing oil. This contains a myriad of hydrating ingredients from avocado oil to vitamin E and can even double up as a multi purpose item as is also recommended for dry elbows. This is not cheap at £16.95 but a little goes a long way and I cannot see myself running out of this. For a cheaper alternative I also occasionally use coconut oil too and this does the job also.
After leaving the oil to really soak in for about half an hour I then go in with an orange stick and gently push back the cuticles and clean up underneath my nails. You could also trim cuticles at this stage but I find it Is so easy to trim back too far so I rarely do this.
I then go in with a file and tidy up the shape of the nail. Again, I'm not fussy on what file to use and I think primark files are adequate. I have a lot of friends who swear by glass nail files so whatever you fancy. I also like the cube files that have a buffer on and if I'm going for a natural look I love the effect these give.
Once my nails are prepped, I go in with a base coat and I'm currently loving O.P.I's nail envy as I have found it really strengthens my weak brittle nails which is vital for me. I'm also a fan of the Leighton Denny matte base coat which I use when I really want to elongate the durability of my manicure.
After 2 coats of base, I choose a colour and variety really is the spice of life! I love the nearly white pastel shades that are everywhere right now and a deep vampy red is classic too but today I opted for nails inc 'green park' which I would describe as a dusky teal. Its a great transitional shade for in between seasons.
I normally apply 2 coats of polish but that all depends on what polish you are using. When the final layer is at the tacky stage I then apply a top coat as I find this fuses the colour to the top coat and really helps prevent chipping. My all time favourite top coat is without a doubt Nails Inc Caviar top coat. It dries in seconds and makes doing nails easy if your clumsy like me. It also leaves a gorgeous super shiny finish. It can be pricey but I actually picked this bottle up for £4 at T.K Maxx.
So that is my nail routine currently and I love that I am finally giving my nails chance to condition and yet this routine is foolproof. It is the best of both worlds
What are your favourite nail products? what colours are you loving at the moment?
I normally apply 2 coats of polish but that all depends on what polish you are using. When the final layer is at the tacky stage I then apply a top coat as I find this fuses the colour to the top coat and really helps prevent chipping. My all time favourite top coat is without a doubt Nails Inc Caviar top coat. It dries in seconds and makes doing nails easy if your clumsy like me. It also leaves a gorgeous super shiny finish. It can be pricey but I actually picked this bottle up for £4 at T.K Maxx.
So that is my nail routine currently and I love that I am finally giving my nails chance to condition and yet this routine is foolproof. It is the best of both worlds
What are your favourite nail products? what colours are you loving at the moment?
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