This year’s trend for nails is much less about colour and more about a glossy, gleaming, glimmering texture. Here’s a few essential nail care tips you can try at home…
ALSO SEE: 6 Affordable Nail Care Products To Buy This Week
1 Get rid of hangnails
What to do
Nail care starts with your cuticles. Soften your skin with a cuticle balm.
Try this…
Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Intensive Nail & Cuticle Therapy, R280 for 15g, nourishes dry skin around the nails with a dose of moisturising panthenol to prevent pesky hangnails. It’s pricey, but a little goes a long way.
2 Neaten the edges
What to do
Push back with a cuticle remover.
Try this
Theravine Cuticle Remover, R138 for 11ml, is a fast-acting formula to gently and painlessly loosen and remove excess skin in a minute. Remember to wash off straight after use.
ALSO SEE: Trendy Beauty Buys For Lips, Nails and Cheeks
3 Improve the health of your nails
What to do
Cut back on those gelish manis.
Try this
Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, R109,99 for 13,3ml, is great for nails post-gels or in-between appointments. It helps to strengthen and protect your nails. Instantly fills ridges and and hides imperfections.
4 Gently exfoliate
What to do
Scrub your hands as you would your face.
Try this
Use Lush Salted Coconut Hand Scrub, R165 for 130g. Hands are often a giveaway for age – pamper them as you would the rest of your body and get rid of dehydrated skin with mineral-rich sea salt and moisturising coconut oil. Smells like summer!
Top tip: You could also massage in the remainder of your face exfoliator, then rinse it off.
ALSO SEE: 5 Tips For Great Nails
5 Focus on zero damage
What to do
Apply an overnight mask.
Try this
Sally Hansen Moisture Rehab Strengthener, R129,95 for 10ml. Massage this in at bedtime and wake up with healthier hydrated nails.
6 Aim for no peel nails
What to do
Choose a gentle nail strengthener.
Try this
Mavala Barrier-Base Coat, R234 for 10ml, is ideal for dry, delicate nails as it prevents flaking, splitting or chipping and keeps nail polish intact.
7 Use a top coat
What to do
Finish your manicure with a speed-dry overcoat.
Try this
Essence gel-look plumping top coat, R34,95 for 8ml, visibly smoothens ridges, gives your nails an extreme shine and makes them more resistant.
8 Anti-age your hands
What to do
Get OCD on SPF hand cream.
Try this
Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Anti-Ageing Hand Cream SPF 25, R109,99 for 50ml. Keep a tube of this in your bag at all times.
9 Keep your nails trim
What to do
Regularly file and buff nails to prevent snags that weaken them.
Try this
Elegant Touch Designer Emery Board, R27. File, shape and smooth with this emery board, which can be used for both natural and artificial nails. Finish with a buff to give your natural nails a salon-worthy look.
10 Stick to no-fuss nail colour
What to do
Contemplate the latest savvy arrival…
Try this
Mavala’s new Blush Collection is all about soft, feminine colours with an artistic touch. Give yourself a quick, sleek mani in less than three minutes with Mavala Mini Nail Polish in Poetic Rose, R90. We’re buying all the dreamy shades! Available in Woolworths stores countrywide.
Now and again, it’s also a good idea to…
Take a mani break
A gel manicure is fabulous – though we do get bored with the same colour, and the removal is definitely not healthy; repetitive use of gels ages your nails, making them brittle and more prone to damage. The solution? Use these tips to strengthen your natural nails and enjoy the season’s best new shades.
ALSO SEE: Treat dry skin with these winter saviours
