With or without varnish, the manicure must always be impeccable. Our secrets to showing beautiful hands without too much effort.

A very simple styling

Filing your nails with professional nail supplies is the essential reflex to shorten them a little and give them a nice rounded or almond effect. Work on dry fingers, with a cardboard or glass file, but especially not metal, because this material weakens the keratin and makes the nail brittle. Avoid back and forth movements: you should always operate in the same direction. In case of really long claws, cut them first with manicure scissors. Rounding is better suited to rather plump fingers. If you want to lengthen them for an optical effect, prefer an almond shape.

Cuticles under control

To avoid small, unsightly skin around the nail, moisturize generously. Massage the nail and its periphery daily with a balm or an oil. You can even apply it if you wear varnish: this will optimize its shine. If necessary, then push back the cuticles with a wooden stick.

Gentle polishing

Erase any streaks or irregularities in a jiffy using a polisher, unbeatable for blurring out relief. Use this accessory sparingly, every two weeks maximum, so as not to over-refine the area. If imperfections remain, apply a smoothing base, which immediately fills in holes and furrows and ensures a beautiful curved effect. Also run the polisher over the edge of the nail to remove any small irregularities.

Custom-made treatments

Dry nails tend to break. Hence the benefit of moisturizing them well with balms, oils and ointments, which restore their suppleness. Reserve hardeners for soft nails, otherwise they may promote breakage.

A beautiful natural color

If they turn yellow from tobacco, household products, or polish pigments, combine the juice of half a lemon, a teaspoon of baking soda and lukewarm water in a bowl. Scrub the preparation with a nail brush or toothbrush, then rinse. If that is not enough, apply a whitening varnish, whose bluish pigments neutralize the yellow reflections by optical effect.

Colors à la carte

If you want color, choose yours according to your skin tone. On a golden skin, long live the corals, poppy red, gold, brown. Prefer a cool tone like lavender, pink or blue on rosy hands. Be careful, no brown if you have brown spots, nor blue if your veins are visible. If your ends turn red easily, avoid all shades that contain it.

A delicate cleaning

Only the nail polish remover can remove the varnish. Choose a gentle formula, without acetone, and if possible in the form of an oil or cream, to prevent the nail from drying out. No need to rub. The right thing to do: soak cottons or compresses in the product, place them on the nails, press for a few seconds to dissolve the pigments, then slide the cotton towards the end of the nail.

A well applied nail polish

Take care of the application of your lacquer to ensure its longevity. After applying a base to clean, dry and degreased nails, apply a thin layer of varnish as a primer, then a second, more even. Apply it to the edge of the nail as well to seal in the color and prevent splinters from impact.

Top shine

The top coat is essential to make the color last, but also to give it a shiny finish. Apply a thin layer to the nail and its edge. If you want a nicely curved nail, choose a thicker gel texture. Don’t hesitate to apply a thin layer of top coat every other day to maintain the shine.

A routine without excess

To keep nails healthy and well hydrated, it is best not to varnish them every day of the year. This is because the product forms a film that prevents sebum from depositing on the surface of the nail. The solution ? Once you have removed make-up from your fingers, keep your nails bare and moisturize them with a balm, leave on overnight. Do not re-color until the next day.

Read also: A Gentle Scrub For Smooth Nails

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