I always get a lot of questions about how I keep my nails in good condition, how they grow so long without breaking and what products I use. Generally I am just lucky to be blessed with good nail genes lol, but I have listed my advice, products and a step by step self manicure guide below.

Products/equipment I use:

What I use to keep my nails healthy

1. Boots Essentials nail polish remover contains acetone but is not pure acetone, I sometimes use pure acetone nail polish remover to remove glitter polishes.
2. Revlon gentle cuticle remover. I usually buy mine from Amazon. This product has worked wonders for me and has reduced the need for me to cut stray bits from my cuticles,  but we will get onto that part in a minute.
4. Burts Bees Lemon Butter cuticle cream. This is not a cream but is definitely more like a lemon butter. I love the smell of this and use it a lot.  I have just started using Lemony Flutter from Lush Cosmetics because a lot of ladies in the nail community say its great.
5. Boots cuticle nippers, which they don’t seem to make anymore 😦
6. Nail file suitable for your nails, my nails are very strong so sometimes I need a stronger nail file, one for false nails.
7. Good hand cream, I don’t have one specific hand cream that I use all the time, but I do like Avon hand creams and am presently using their Royal Jelly hand cream.
8. Orange/manicure sticks.
9. Nails inc Kensington caviar base coat.

Step by Step DIY manicure
1. Remove all nail polish and apply Revlon gentle cuticle remover around the cuticles. There are no instructions on how long to leave it on or how to use it, so I just let it sink in. You will instantly see a difference. I then use an orange stick or my thumb nail to push back my cuticles and loosen any excess cuticle.

2. Use cuticle cutter to carefully remover any excess cuticle, ok so I cannot worn you enough DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU ARE NOT CONFIDENT, you could be left with infections and bad bleeding if you attempt to do this and you are not experienced. I only cut off the parts that are not part of the main cuticle, these are often called Hang nails. This is probably better done in a Salon for most people.

3. Apply Revlon gentle cuticle remover once again and leave to sink in, any little bits of excess cuticle left will basically dissolve.

4. Wash your hands and use a nail file suited to your nail type to file your nails into the desired shape, have a look at the different types in the below picture;

5. Apply a your preferred hand cream and cuticle cream and leave it to sink in for at least 10 mins.  I find myself applying cuticle creams throughout the day to keep my cuticles moisturised.  I get very dry skin as I wash my hands a lot having twin baby girls 🙂

6. Use cotton wool and Boots essentials nail polish remover before applying the Nails inc Kensington Top coat.  A lot of people prefer to use lint free materials to remove their polish and I probably should too, will order some soon lol .

I have used many top coats and have found this one keeps the polish on longer. I am yet to find a base coat that stops my nails turning yellow, so any suggestions are welcome.

So that was a very brief intro into my nail care regime.  I hope to film a video soon so you can see exactly how its done. Any comments or questions welcome, I have tried to provide links to the products I use where possible.