Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I'm right in the middle of exams and spare time is hard to find!
Today's post goes out to my sister Cachelle, who needs some education in the nail care department. As an art student, her fingers are always covered in paint and ink, and she's always tearing her nails on things! (＃ﾟДﾟ) Everyone in our family has ridged, weak nails, and I have to use specific products to get mine in shape for polishing. So I present to you my nail care and maintenance routine (Cachelle, if you read this take note!!!) :
Step 1: Shaping and Filing
For shaping and filing I use the Stylfile file and buffer. The curved shape is unbeatable for getting a perfect round nail, and can also be manipulated to shape nails into stiletto, square or squoval shapes. The abrasive on the file is good quality and long lasting. The buffer works very well and gives nails a nice smooth, shiny surface for polish to adhere to.
The buffer has 4 different areas, and the file has a stronger grit and a smoother grit side:
Step 2: Nail strengthening cream
I use Nu-Nale to strengthen my weak nails before I get to polishing them. I use a small dot of cream on each nail, making sure to rub it in so it soaks through the nail's pores. This is what the tube looks like, I got it in Boots for just over £3:
I find that this product starts working overnight if you choose to go without polish and leave it on. I personally do this every few days to give my nails a rest if I can. Otherwise, it's just good to put some on and leave it for half an hour before painting your nails, just to give them some extra strength.
Step 3: Strengthening Base coat
I use Original Nail Envy by OPI as my base coat. It's very expensive for a nail product at nearly £19, but it does last a long time and keeps nails stronger and stain free when you wear polish. I recommend using it as a topcoat as well! I received this as a gift, and I probably wouldn't buy another full size bottle since they're so expensive. I advise finding a mini bottle on Ebay, that way you can save at least £10-£12 and still have enough to last you for a long time!
I also have a couple of go-to products that I use once the polish is on:
Seche Vite topcoat:
I really love this topcoat. It provides a glassy finish like no other topcoat I've tried, dries quickly and is self-leveling (i.e. it smooths out itself and the polish underneath it to minimise lumps etc). I find that it does bubble on the nail occasionally if you pile it on too thick or shake the bottle too much. It really smells very chemically since it contains toluene, so make sure to ventilate the room when you use it! It's not cheap at around £10, but it's lasted me a good few months and I'm not even half way through!
This is a sprayable version of quick drying nail oils. It's really quite handy! I use it after Seche Vite to speed up drying time further, and to moisturise my cuticles (it contains Vitamin E, which is beneficial to the cuticles I imagine). It dries things nicely within a few minutes, depending on how thick your polish is applied onto the nail. It's about £3 from Boots.
That's a summary of the products I use to keep my nails in check. I hope this was useful, and if you have any questions please just ask!
Thank you for reading,
Amber ◕ ◡ ◕
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