For hand care, I use Nails Inc Kensington Caviar hand lotion (£15/100ml). Kensington Caviar is one of the few hand lotions that I have found that doesn't give me that horrible squeaky feeling on my hands (seriously, I'm not mad, does anyone else get that? It sets my teeth on edge!) so I have used it ever since I got a free tube with a Nails Inc order. I use it 3-4 times a day. I haven't got the prettiest hands around, as you have repeatedly seen, but at least they're soft! It also smells lovely and absorbs quickly.
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| Nails Inc Kensington Caviar hand lotion |
In addition to the lotion, I have a small trick that I use about once a week, especially in the winter. I get a big blob of Soap and Glory 'Greatest Scrub of All' (£9/125ml) which is a lovely face exfoliator, and spend about a minute massaging it into my hands, much as I would rub in hand cream, then rinse with warm water. It leaves you with the softest, smoothest hands ever. Obviously, don't scrub too hard, or too often! I suppose you could use the exfoliator of your choice, but I have a soft spot for Soap and Glory - and a large collection!
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| Soap and Glory Greatest Scrub of All |
For my nails, I use Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle basecoat (£9.65/13ml). This stuff is nothing short of miraculous. I have been using it for about a month now, and have been so surprised by the results. My nails were a mess before, they were all peeling and soft. I started to use this in place of my normal base coat, and within 3 days I started to see my nails get harder and peel less. The peeling has actually stopped now, and there is no bend to my nails at all. They are also getting long for the first time ever. I really recommend this basecoat to anyone with nails that need a bit of care.
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| Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle |
For my cuticles, I actually do very little now. They used to be shocking, grown onto my nail and actually sore. I spent a long time one day soaking and moisturising them and pushing them all back. I had to do this every day for a couple of weeks before they went back to normal. Now, I use Nails Inc Vitamin E Cuticle Oil pen (£12/pen) each time I do my nails, and whenever I remember. I gently push back my cuticles with my metal nail stick after I have removed my polish and washed my hands in warm water. That's it. I don't trim my cuticles, and I'm careful not to pick or bite at them. One of the best tips I ever learnt about painting my nails was to leave a small gap so that you don't flood the cuticle with polish, and this tip went some way towards keeping my cuticles in good condition - I don't ever have to clean polish off my cuticles now and so never have to rub at them.
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| Nails Inc Vitamin E Oil Cuticle Pen - bit of a shady pic |
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| Nails Inc Buffer, File and metal cuticle stick |
The final thing that I have to show you is my favourite polish remover, Cutex Nourishing (£1.60/100ml):
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| Cutex Nourishing Nail Polish Remover |
I love this remover as the nourishing formula cleans the nail completely without making it dry. I know some people like to use acetone on their nails, but I can't imagine how badly this would dry mine out. Since I paint my nails at least every two days, I like to go as easy on them as I can. I have been using this for a couple of years now, and it really suits me. It's also good for cleaning Konad plates and equipment - I did find that a cheaper brand of remover that I briefly tried left a horrible film on my image plates and made stamping harder. It even has the bonus of smelling actually quite nice compared to most polish removers.
Well, I think that's it. One of the most wordy blogs I've posted yet. I promise the next one will be less yap, more nail.
If you have any questions, please ask! I love it when people give me suggestions for blog topics or nails designs - thank you Sophie and Holly!
Thanks for reading!
Love the post.
ReplyDeleteMay have to try out the facial scrub, my hands get so dry in the winter.
Peg x
Thank you :) Yes, it works really well!x
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