Beauty Clinic: Girls' Night In with the perfect manicure
Q. My three flatmates and I want to have a girls’ beauty night in, as a change to the usual ‘nights in’ with the telly. We’d like to give each other manicures but we’re not sure of the best way to do it. Can you help?
A. That’s a brilliant idea. We might have to do the same… So, the best way is to split into two pairs and each give the other a manicure.
To start with, it’s worth doing a bit of planning and organising your manicure kit:
• Nail polish remover (someone’s bound to have old polish on)
• Nail files – crystal glass or good size emery boards (never a metal file)
• Basin of warm organic full fat milk
• Scrub (use a face or body scrub, or DIY with about equal amounts of brown Demerara sugar, olive oil and honey)
• Orange stick with angled tip, or rubber ‘hoof’
• Cotton wool or reusable pads
• Cuticle oil/cream (see our Award winners here)
• Soft nail buffer
• Hand oil
• Hand cream (see Award winners here)
To polish:
• Base coat
• Polish (see Award winners here)
• Top coat
And here are the steps for a perfect manicure:
1. Remove any existing polish. If you have weak nails do this after filing and shaping as the polish acts like a kind of glue to stop nails splitting while you file.
2. File and shape. File in the same direction from one side to another, or towards the centre. Avoid the side ‘walls’ of your nails or you weaken them. Shape nails into squovals – squares with gently rounded corners and a slight curve at the tip.
3. Soak and soften. Soaking in warm milk (or water if you don't have milk) helps dissolve dead cells and softens cuticles.
4. Scrub hands and nails. Rub a dub with a scrub gets hands and nails clean as a whistle and super soft.
5. Apply cuticle remover. Then wrap a wisp of cotton wool round the orange stick (or use rubber hoof) and gently push back cuticles. Never cut cuticles.
6. Buff nails until they gleam. Use a smooth, soft nail buffer, such as a chamois leather one. Never anything that abrades nail if they’re weak. Do it swiftly and gently to avoid heat building up and damaging the surface. You may find they look so good you don’t need polish after this step.
7. Moisturise and massage. Our favourite step, even if we do it ourselves – and we just drool if someone else gives us a really good hand massage, because we all store so much tension in our hands. Rub in warm oil (almond, avocado, jojoba or light olive do nicely) over your hands, particularly the nails to stimulate growth. Let it sink in then layer over your favourite hand cream.
8. That’s it for ‘au naturel’ but read on if you like the polished look.
9. Wipe nails clean and apply a base coat. Make sure there’s no lingering oil or hand cream on your nails, then dry well before applying a nourishing base coat to protect the nails and also stop coloured polish discolouring the nail. Remember to ‘cap’ your nail tips with the base coat and each following layer of polish to help prevent chipping.
10. Shake polish well and apply. Load the brush carefully and wipe off excess on the rim of the bottle to avoid blobs. Brush on with three strokes: first one down the centre of each nail, then a stroke either side. Do one hand at a time, starting with the thumb. Keep hands flat, still and relaxed as you paint. Let polish dry for a few minutes then repeat for a second coat. Remember to take the polish just over the nail tips.
11. Apply a top coat. This gives a high gloss finish and protects your colour. Reapply after two or three days to prolong your polish.
12. Drizzle a drop of oil on top. This stops freshly polished nails sticking if you brush against something.
13. Sit peacefully for 10-15 minutes, or more. Time for a break before you treat your pair.
We’re so inspired by this that we’re planning a weekend hand treat ourselves!
