Manicure: a cosmetic treatment of the hands involving shaping and often painting of the nails, removal of the cuticles, and softening of the skin. In other words - the ultimate way to treat yourself, after a long week of work.
With nail art being the latest craze, we need to make sure we get our nails perfect, whilst keeping them nourished.
I've hosted a Q & A with nail expert, Arelis Parache. Arelis runs an Instagram page packed with creative and inspiring designs. Check it out: NailsbyArelisP. Arelis is a stay at home mum from Virginia, USA. She looks after her boys aged 3 and 8. She’s blessed with a creative streak, always baking, decorating, and inspiring us with her crazy nail art obsession!
How did your nail obsession begin? How old were you?
"I have always loved to paint my nails, but the obsession began 2 years ago when my husband decided to make me happy and purchase 20 Essie polishes at once. I was 32 years old."
What tips can you provide for always having such strong and healthy nails?
"My best tips are:
- Always use a base coat to protect your nail.
- I file my nails, never cut.
- A good cuticle oil. I use Essie's Apricot Cuticle Oil
- Top coat to protect your nail colour
- And a good hand lotion to hydrate your skin."
How often do your paint your nails? Do you ever leave your nails without polish?
"After having my Instagram, I paint my nails sometimes twice a day. I hardly am without polish but sometimes at night I stay without polish to let them breathe, this is because I do nail art all day."
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Here are our steps (tried and tested) to achieving the perfect manicure:
1. Start with clean nails and freshly washed hands
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| 2. To shape your nails, you can use nail clippers or a nail file. Clippers are ideal for cutting nails and a file is perfect to shape, so if you’re happy with the length of your nails, use a file. Lightly file your nail in a one direction motion, to your desired shape, being squared or oval. The reason we file one way is to prevent nails splitting down the middle – ouch! |
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| 3. Buff. Buffing your nails will help to smooth out any uneven ridges, and make them shine. It also stimulates blood circulation for healthy nail growth. Just place the buffer on top of your fingernail and rub it back and forth, do this about 5-6 times on each nail. Rinse your hands after buffing; you will have a lot of excess particles covering your nails. |
4. Apply cuticle remover to your cuticles, and push your cuticles down. You can choose to trim your cuticles with a trimmer or scissors. Be careful to only trim the dead (excess) cuticle - not your skin! Once you've completed all of your fingers, massage cuticle oil into the cuticles. Removing cuticles is removing dead skin and bacteria, whilst making your nails look longer!
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| 5. Apply your base coat. A base coat is like a primer; it will protect and stop the polish from staining your nail. You can choose to use a strengthening base coat, a vitamin base or a growth treatment. |
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| 6. After choosing your colour or design, you can apply 1-2 coats of polish on. If you can’t stand the helpless feeling of wet nails, speed up their drying time with a quick dry top coat polish or treatment. |
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7. When your colour has completely dried, coat your nail with the final coat. A top coat prevents the colour from chipping and looking dull, it also helps your manicure last longer! We love Sally Hansen mega shine, the name says it all. It perfects your manicure with that glossy salon shine!
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8. Wash your hands and apply cuticle oil for a second time, as well as hand cream. These works together to provide moisture and nourishment to the nails, whilst softening your hands.
9. Viola, you’re at home manicure is complete!
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| These are the best products to revitalise, protect and strengthen your nails - not to mention, give you a perfect manicure! My red mani was done at home, using all Sally Hansen products - She is the #1 Nail Expert from the USA! Stock up, at priceline x |
This article was published first, by Jessica Abdo, at The Newsroom.
