Top Tips ... Nails!

I thought I’d do a couple of quick ‘off piste’ posts on some ‘Top Tips’ stuff that people often ask me about.  You’ll remember I did a post a few months ago about my Holiday Top Tips, well I had quite a good response to that, so I thought I’d do a couple more.

Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, I’m a bit of a girlie girl (no shit Sherlock!).  You’ll never see me without nail varnish ... EVER ... or horror of horrors ... chipped varnish!!!! Nor will you ever see me without makeup outside the house ... even at the gym ... which I’m told by some people is weird?!  Don’t get that one ... anyway ... 

I’ve tried so many different types, makes and techniques of pretty much every kind of cosmetic over the years that I thought I’d share some of my findings with you which should hopefully save you some time and money!  Big caveat though, these are only my findings ... these things may not work for you ... so that’s my disclaimer done!

OK ... here goes:

Nails

Since all my nails snapped recently (they’ve always been long, not false ... apart from the thumbs as they don’t seem to grow!) I’ve ventured into the realm of colour (I’ve always had French manicure as I don’t like colour on long nails ... it’s a bit too 80s or Porn Star, you choose!) and I just thought I’d mention that UK Glamour magazine (not the best mag for my age range it has to be said ... however ...) currently has one of four different Nails Inc nail varnishes attached to its latest copy.  Nails Inc usually cost £11 per pot and they stay on forever (if you put them on properly), Glamour costs £2, I bought 4 copies so I’d collected all 4 available colours – red, cerise (I’ve had about 6 people comment on fab this colour is ... also I’ve had it on for a week now and it’s only very slightly chipped today on my left thumb) a real dark nearly black and a lovely nude.  £8 for 4 varnishes ... bargain!

Other colours I’ve tried recently:

Chanel Le Vernis – Rouge Noir – fabulous, classic (made famous by Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction), dark and lovely on short nails ... my absolute fav colour ever!

Chanel Le Vernis - Peridot – awful, changes colour when you moved your fingers from a kind of sickly yellow to a putrid green.  It was only on two days when it chipped, it also made my hands look dead!  This is one of their latest colours and has been sold out everywhere ... took me ages to find some ... wish I hadn’t!

Chanel Le Vernis – Particuliere – a lovely nude colour ... another classic.  I remember when this came out and it sold out immediately ... I think it took about 10 months to get hold of some.  It's lovely, but very conservative.

I’ve also got another couple of Chanel’s – Blue Satin (dark rich blue) and Pirate (a deep red) ... both OK, but don’t seem to stay on very long without chipping.

OPI have some fab glitter varnishes in gold and silver that last for ages (wonderful for Christmas), but you can’t get the buggers off.  I had to get some varnish remover that removes false nails to do the job!  Nightmare!

There’s also these OPI (although you can get cheaper versions which I’m sure are just as good) ‘shatter’ top coats that you apply to any colour nail varnish and they give a crackle effect ... quite clever really, but I’m not sure they look that good on short nails.  Kinda made my nails a bit stumpy.  Plus, the white one (I have black, white, gold and silver) looked like I’d gone mad with the Tipex ... not a good look!

I’ve also had a couple of suede effect nail varnishes from OPI.  These are a matt varnish and are great if you’re in a rush as all you need is a base coat and a couple of coats of the varnish and it dries in minutes.  You don’t need a top coat cos that would spoil the effect.

The French manicure kit I’ve used forever is Elegant Touch ... it’s about £5.99 for the pink, white and clear (although I don’t use the clear) ... BARGAIN ... and you absolutely can’t beat it. 

Manicure Top Tips

So ... top tips for a manicure that should last a week without chipping (mine do!) if you do each step properly:

1.   Shape your nails and sort out your cuticles ... there’s nothing worse than nasty, craggy cuticles – makes your manicure look cheap and nasty!

2.   The base - I use is OPI Nail Envy ... two coats which I take over the top of the nail (prevents the colour you put on later from chipping)

3.   The colour – I use no less than two of coats of whatever colour I’m using (please avoid coating the cuticle with varnish, it looks horrid – the amount of nails I see with nasty, messy, colour coated cuticles ewwwwwww... you’re better off with no varnish than messy cuticles! If you don’t have steady hands and your lines around the cuticle aren’t neat – especially when you’re using a dark colour – use Leighton Denney’s Precision Corrector ... it’s a little bottle of strong varnish remover with a tiny brush which makes it easy to correct any mistakes, no matter how small!

4.   The top coat – I always use a top coat (apart from when I’m using Matt varnish) and have found Sally Hanson Diamond Shine Base and Top Coat is particularly good and give a good shine.  Again, I take it over the top of the nail (it helps to seal the colour in and prevents chipping)

5.   The Quick Dryer – I finish off with Pro Strong ProQuick (quick dry manicure dryer, which you can only get from either QVC or eBay, but it’s by far the best quick dryer I’ve ever found ... and I’ve tried ‘em all!) – again, I wouldn’t use this on matt varnish as it dries quick enough without it.

6.   Follow with a good hand cream ... if it’s a good one, you can also massage it into the cuticles – my favs are Clarins Hand and Nail Cream and L’Occitane.  They’re both non greasy, work into the hands well, smell lovely and don’t have a greasy residue.

It sounds like a lot of effort, but it’s really not ... takes me about 10 minutes from beginning to end and the results last at least a week ... well worth it!

And my best tip ... don’t ever, EVER do any kind of housework without wearing rubber gloves and most of all NEVER, EVER put bare hands in washing up water! ... NEVER!  There endeth the lesson!

Next post will be about Minx nails ... they’re the brightly coloured/patterned or metallic nails that the likes of Katy Perry, Beyonce and Cheryl Cole seem to be favouring at the mo.  I’ll tell you how you can do them yourself rather than have them done and a salon and save yourself ££££££s!

Until then lovely people, stay fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx