Giving myself a manicure is a weekly must for me, I like my
nails to look neat and clean and most of all – shiny!! I’m not a massive
wearer of coloured nail polish on my fingernails (toe nails are a different
story – I have to have them painted!) but I always have a clear coat of nail
polish on. Here are the steps I take when I’m giving myself a manicure at home!
I usually do this after a shower or bath because your nails
are softest after being in the water! I’ll take a few cotton tail cotton pads to remove my nail polish along with Cutex Ultra Cleansing Nail polish remover which
I have went through countless bottles of because it my favourite! I then take
my Leighton Denny Glass Nail File
and file my nails, making sure to only file in one direction so as not to cause
breakages! I love glass nails files so much, they make the edge of the nail so
smooth and file so quickly! They are a bit dearer than standard files or emery
boards but so worth it!
I then use Sally
Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover and put a small amount around each cuticle,
leave for 15 seconds then push the cuticles back with my new Leighton Denny Hoof Stick, I was using
wooden orange sticks before this but I far prefer the Leighton Denny one! After
rinsing this off, I then take my favourite clear coat which is OPI Nail Envy. This stuff makes my
nails so shiny and doesn’t flake or peel off like other clear polishes I’ve
tried in the past. I couldn’t be without this stuff now, I usually buy mine from
Ebay as its much cheaper, just make sure you get a genuine one from a top rated
seller!
If I’m in a rush I sometimes use either Avon Nail Experts Liquid Freeze or Bourjois Instant Dry Nail Enamel Dryer to quickly dry my nails or
if I’m in an even bigger rush I run them under the cold water tap as this sets
the nail polish and stops them from smudging! Last but not least, to keep my
hands feeling as good as my nails look I use a hand cream. I’m currently using
the Soap and Glory Super Cream Hand
Cream. This smells amazing, moisturises really well and dries in quickly so
you can get back to what you were doing :)
What are your manicure essentials?