For those of you who catch a glimpse of my paws today, I can assure you there was a time when they resembled those of a princess. One who'd never seen hard work in her life. Twice weekly manicures turned into those gel nails (french mani's of course) and upkeep was penciled in meticulously. Alas, life catches up with you and priorities take precedence over dry times. I'd still like to maintain some sort of decent looking digits, and there has to be a way. I've come up with my version of the at home, handy mani:
~Grab a professional manicure whenever/where ever I can. Sometimes I leave without nail polish, dry times kill my schedule. However, my hands are soft, cuticles have disappeared and nails have been filed by the hands of an artist. Something I cannot attain on my own.
~During months weeks in between. I prefer a short nail. As in man short. Is it pretty? Probably not. But nothing grosses me out more than dirty nails. So I file as needed. I prefer a larger file, like this,
as opposed to those tiny brown files we grew up with. They get the job done, and fast.
~Cuticles. Surely the outcast cousin of the nail family. Why are they there except to annoy me? Cuticle oil as much as possible and push back. Try Vitamin E oil for a natural alternative.
~Polish. Some do, some dont. I'm on the fence. For those of you who like a simple gloss this is the bomb. Dries before you're done painting the last nail. Like I paint my nails in the car while waiting in the carpool lane. The superwoman of quick dry.
Should you like a wee bit of color, here's a little secret models use, just apply a basecoat of Ridge Filler. I like OPI, again a quick dry, and just provides a little somethin' somethin'.
For just a bit more color, top that OPI Ridge Coat with just one coat of Deborah Lippmans Prelude to a Kiss, Addicted to Speed and voila! You nailed it.
Hands need just as much love too mamas. Love the C.O. Bigelow line from Bath and Bodyworks, A. because it's accessible, and B. because it's cheap! And who doesn't have fourteen of those little "free item with any purchase" coupons floating around at the bottom of the purse? All the better..
~The chapped hands cleanser (currently out of stock) cleans away those nasty dry bits left over from all those scrubbings we've been doing during flu season.
~Look Ma! New Hands! Like Ma always said hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.. those hands!
~Finally, some people call them age spots, I like to think of them as freckles. This rids both. Also has SPF, something those freckles need.
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