Easy at home manicure

I love to look after my hands and nails and Im always giving myself little manicures, its one of my favourite things to do on a Sunday. I find this one of the most relaxing treatments to give clients and I always think you feel a little bit better about yourself when you have nicely manicured hands. If you love going to the salon for manicures it is still important to do some maintenance at home so this 10 step manicure will help keep your hands and nails in beautiful condition between visits.

However if you have never experienced a salon manicure then you should definately try one but I know its not always easy to stretch our budget that far so my little diy manicure when help get your hands and nails in tip top condition.

 I would recommend that you do this once a week and in a few weeks I will show you how to give yourself a luxury manicure in which you can include exfoliation, a hot oil treatment and hand mask to really soften and moisturise your mitts !

Another good tip to get your nails in great condition is to apply a cuticle oil or cuticle cream every evening before you go to bed. My absolute favourites are CND Solar Oil and Qtica's Cuticle Balm.

To get prepared for your mani I find the best thing to do is to find yourself some space at a table, gather together everything you need then sit down then pop on some of your favourite music. If your feeling extra indulgent a glass of vino would also go down a treat xx

Illamasqua - Stagnate

Things you will need

A bowl filled with warm soapy water (pop in a dash of any gentle hand wash)

Towels

Any acetone free nail polish remover

Cotton wool

An emery board (a crystal file is great as its really gentle)

Nail buffer - I have one which has three surfaces one to buff, one to smooth and one to shine.

Cuticle Oil or Cuticle Cream (Olive oil is great as its really nourishing)

Cuticle Remover - Sally Hansen do a great one

Cuticle pusher (always use one with a cushioned end or wrap the end of a wooden orange stick with some cotton wool)

Cuticle Nippers

Base Coat/Polish/Topcoat or Nail Treatment

Step 1

Remove any polish with an acetone free nail polish remover and gently file all your nails

Step 2

Gently buff your nails using step 1 of your buffer - buffing helps to ease out ridges, increases circulation and the flow of nutrients to the nail.

Step 3

Working on one hand at a time take some cuticle oil or cuticle cream and massage into each cuticle then the hand soak in the warm soapy water for five minutes.

Step 4  

Dry off your hand then apply a tiny amount of cuticle remover to each cuticle and leave for a few minutes to work.

Step 5

Take your cuticle pusher and gently push back each cuticle. I never trim my cuticles with the cuticle nipper I only ever use this to remove any excess skin. Over trimming could end up causing you to bleed or get an infection. Clean your hand off in the bowl of water to remove excess cuticle remover - you dont want this hanging about on your skin for too long.

Now repeat steps 4 & 5 on the other hand.

Step 6

Take some cotton wool dipped in polish remover and clean off each nail.

Step 7 

Use stages 2 & 3 of your buffer to smooth and shine - I find doing this always helps my polish last longer - before applying any polish I always finish off my washing my hands to make sure Ive got rid residue of anything which might be left on the nails and hands.

Step 8

You can apply your nail treatment or polish and remember if your applying polish to always use a base coat as this stops your nails from yellowing and creates a smooth surface for the polish.

Step 9

Leave your polish to dry for a couple of minutes and apply your top coat which will help prevent chipping.

Step 10

Once the polish is dry take some hand lotion and apply to each cuticle and over your hands to help moisturise and add some more shine to your manicure.

Voila !

Perfect nails and hands to flash to all your friends.

With Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx