Time  in short supply?

A few minutes indulgence lasts days if you do a good job on your home manicure. If you know you are going to get interrupted here is a way to get your pampering in manageable chunks!

LENGTH

The basis of a classy looking manicure is the shape and length of your nails. Do make sure they are all the same length (even if you have been culturing that witches little finger nail for years!)......The next bit is a matter of taste

SHAPE

Square

Square shaped nails can look very neat and smart.Unfortunately many people wear square too long, and at its worst its far from classy and frankly looks cheap!

Stilletto
It really suits that pre-war style of painting your half moons white too but can cause nails to break low down.
    
Oval
By far the most practical shape, and one that suits most people. Look at the shape of your cuticles. Your nail shape looks best if its a mirror image of that at the other end. It makes painting them much easier.

TECHNIQUE

The golden rules are to file straight across the top. File in one direction only for all types of nail file, unless you are using glass. With glass files the experts say, you can gently go backwards an forwards if you have a lot of nail to remove. The concern with see-sawing is the generation of heat with friction which causes your nails to be brittle. Once you have the right length, file from outside to centre with the file angled just under the nail to get the perfect shape on the sides. Don't file down the sides unless you are repairing tears in which case you need to file the length of the nail down first and keep filing at the sides to a minimum. Once you have the desired shape and length. Do turn your file onto a 45degree angle and bevel the edge of your nail. This brings the nail layers together and reduces the likelihood of peeling or chipping.

CUTICLE CARE

There are lots of ways to soften your cuticles, which is how you want them before you start prodding them! Be it putting vast amounts of cream or oil on them and then your marigolds and setting about the bathroom or washing up, or sitting with them soaking in a bowl of fragrant warm water, or having a soak in the bath, to soften your cuticles you do need to get them warm and well moisturised. Once you have got them looking soft, work quickly to very gently push them back, either with the round end of your glass nail file, or a clean hoof stick designed for the job. Failing that wrap your thumb in a clean towel and give it a go. The trick here is to be gentle and not to expect miracles all at once especially if you have the thick and overgrown variety of cuticles!. Straight after that apply your Award Winning Organic cuticle oil.  A drop on each nail and massaged in. I always recommend doing this bit at bedtime, because you'll be less likely to go and wash your hands straight away!

SCRUB

We all benefit from a good scrubbing! The Green Hands hand scrub in the studio is put together in small batches and stored in a pretty jar. Use Olive Oil, Soft Brown Sugar and Local Honey, mixed together to make a wonderful hand scrub. It gets all the rough bits off and leaves your hands feeling very soft. (Also great on feet!).

MOISTURISE

If you, like many of us, have dozens of half empty tubes of cream in the draw/basket/ cupboard this is your mission... Throw away anything over 12 months old. Throw away anything that mentions methyl, butyl or any other sort of Paraben preservatives. If you are left with anything, check if it still smells attractive and use it up - in large quantities, every day, after every washing up session, after every hand wash.

THEN

Apply your favourite British made Organic hand cream, we like Herbfarmacy & Poppy Organic, these are SO softening. And thats it, polish is optional!