How do you make your nails look nice?

[ladyandthechocolate]

My nails are short and functional but i'd like my hands to look more elegant. The cuticles look a bit raggedy and my hands are dry.
What should I do to make them look better? A friend of mine had gel nails but they seem a bit faffy to me and I don't like mine too long.
Any tips?

[mathanxiety]

I use Burts Bees Lemon cuticle cream for general nail health and I love the results.

[kuckingfunt]

trim your cuticles, slather hand cream on them and put some clear nail varnish on. Always makes your nails look a bit neater I think.

[muggglewump]

Fix cuticles, buff nails till smooth, paint with pink from a french manicure, but no white, clear on top of that and flexitol cuticle cream daily, plus handcream.

[JaxTellersOldLady]

Go and get yourself a professional manicure, it will make your hands look fantastic.

In between that, lots and lots of hand cream, good stuff that I love is Clarins.

[ladyandthechocolate]

Thanks. Must make more effort. I think my hands are letting me down a bit. Any good brands of long lasting nail varnish?

[kelly2525]

Minx! Ive recently had my gel nails taken off and had some minx put on 3 weeks ago, im really pleased with them, and its a lot less hassle.

I should explain, minx is a semi permanent nail "polish" Its warmed up, peeled off a sheet then placed on your nails, and like i said, mine has lasted 3 weeks.

Theres loads of designs and colours, a lot of them are chavvy, but mine are a simple rouge noir.

The girl that does mine charges £15, if you have a look on ebay you can see how many different colours there are