What was once considered a luxury for the rich is now part of the daily routine for the modern woman.
Any manicure would begin with removal of old polish and color. To remove the old polish. Moisten a cotton ball with nail polish remover. The type of polish remover depends on your personal preference. Press the cotton ball over the nail for a few seconds to soften the old polish.
1) Smooth: First, rid yourself of any dry, rough skin with an exfoliating hand treatment. Just massage your dry hands in a "hand-washing" motion for 60 seconds, then rinse.
2) Nourish: Apply a rich hand cream then massage cuticle cream around each nail. If you have time, wrap your hands in Clingfilm for 20 minutes.
3) Buff: File nail in one direction, not sawing back and forth. This will keep them strong and give you a smooth finish. The fingernails should be filed into oval tips. Begin on the left hand with the little finger and work towards the thumb. Next use a cuticle stick wrapped in a bit of cotton wool to gently push back your cuticles, the skin around the edge of the nail bed. Sometimes it is necessary to remove dead cuticle or hangnails with small scissors or cuticle nippers. Be very careful when you do this.
4) Paint: Apply base coat using long strokes. When the base coat is dry to a light touch apply polish. To avoid getting polish on your cuticle, place the brush on the nail a few millimetres away from the cuticle and just let polish seep back towards it. Then make a stroke down the centre of the nail towards its tip, followed by another stroke at each side. Apply two thin coats of polish, wait three minutes, then finish with a topcoat.(Wait at least 3 minutes before applying a second coat. You should not paint over your nails another time unless your nail polish is dry the first time.
If you make a mistake, take a paper towel and douse it with nail polish remover as you did with the cotton ball in step one, and try to get the excess polish off your skin using the flat edge of the paper towel. Then, if you need to re-coat that fingernail, go ahead. If not, great. Just move on to the next fingernail until you are done.
You can buy the quick drying kind of nail polish at the stores, or a quick drying sealer that is clear over the color of your nail polish to quicken drying if you are in a hurry.
At night, you can condition your nails and hands while you sleep. Get some white cotton gloves and before you go to bed, slather on a generous amount of hand cream and put the gloves on over it. This well help condition your hand and nails.
French Manicure
French manicures have a distinct classic and understated style. The difference lies in the coloring. A French manicure is characterized by a pearly shade on the nails with the tips highlighted by frosted white.
