Guest post | Tips for a perfect manicure

Hey! I'm Catherine and I'm from Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, thank you Georgina for letting me write on your great blog! So exciting and I wish Georgina and Squidge well :)

A couple of years ago I started painting my nails every night, I became obsessed with the perfect manicure and having the perfect nails.  Since then I've got my manicure system down to a T!

Step 1 - Remove Old Polish

I haven't pictured a nail polish remover, but its very important to soak a cotton pad in nail polish remover hold it against your nail for anything up to a minute then wipe away. This makes sure your nails are clean of all polish! Of course you could use nail polish remover pots or wipes too.

Step 2 - Cut and Shape

Next step is to make sure your nails are a neat even length and shape.  I do it, my nails grow long and I don't want to cut them but they start breaking and looking awful.  So clip your nails down to an even length, then shape them with a good nail file.  As for shape it depends on what you like - I like square, but it depends on what suits you.

Step 3 - Cuticles

Next step is to attack those cuticles! Start off by applying a cuticle remover, I use the Essence 15 second cuticle remover, however there is also a Sally Hansen one I know is popular.  Leave it for about 2 minutes or so then push your cuticles back using an orange stick.  Then using cuticle clippers, clip away the skin tags etc around your nails, do NOT cut your cuticles!  Just the annoying skin tags etc.

Step 4 - Paint & Treat

Next step is the best bit!  Start of by painting your nails with a treatment base coat, at the moment I'm using something my mum had but there's many out there, anything that helps treat your nail problem whether that is peeling, breaking, bending, weak etc.  Next up is the first coat of colour, then the second coat.  The best way I find for painting my nails is thinking 3 strokes per nail, 4 for the thumbs. Leaving gaps at the cuticles and the edges. Then apply a top coat if your nail polish needs it.  If you want to speed up the drying time a good step is drying drops, my personal favourites being Bourjois.

Step 5 - The Pampering Steps

Once your nails are dry, I pop on a drop of nail & cuticle oil to each nail, I use the essence cuticle care oil, but the Nails inc one and the Superdrug own ones are also good.  I then gently massage this in.  Finally I use a hand cream, my current favourite is Neals Yard Remedies orange and geranium hand cream.

And there you go - following these steps gets me the best manicure I've managed.  I hope these steps help you too, and thank you again too Georgina for letting me guest post!

Catherine x 

A big thank you to Catherine - I hope you find her tips for a great manicure helpful and don't forget to head over to her blog to take a peek :)

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