If you wear bright nail polish- over here! Manicure tips.

[Missbopeep]

I'm a pastel/neutral girl but now and then fancy something brighter- like hot pink or deep red ( think Rouge Noir.)

Talking fingers no toes.

I put it on- and take it straight off.

It looks tacky. How do I get it to look classy?

My nails are short- they grow quickly so I usually file them so there is about 1mm of nail over tip. I do find it very hard to get absolutely even tips to the nails.

I don't do anything with my cuticles which are fine although on a few nails they are creeping down the nail a bit.

This means there is no neat 'line' with bright polish.

I don't have patience to spend hours doing my nails- up till now it's been a weekly file, remove old polish and add one coat of something very neutral. Takes 15 mins. I use lots of malvala polishes and t a couple of dark ones- Marron Glace and Elle that are beige- brown, and lilac-grey.

Do you do brights and if so how do you get a classy look?
Or should I give up and just do neutrals?

I do brights/darks for nails. I keep these short otherwise long vampy nails look tacky.

Make sure you leave nails to dry properly for a good 30 mins afterwards - do these while watching TV etc.

Base coat (Sally Hensen has a fast drying one) to prevent staining then apply 2 good coats polish (leave to dry in between coats). Then finish with top coat to add protection.

Make sure you prep your nails with a 4 way buffer, rub with remover, use a good base coat, leave a small space between the cuticle and sides of the nail, 2 coats of a colour to match skin tone, ie. if you're a warm tone use warm colour etc. and finish with good top coat. Use cuticle oil every day and it should last longer

How to tell skin tone please?

I think hands look best with bluey reds not orange so assume that's cool?

Yes that's cool toned.

Well I've got very brown eyes and dark hair with a red tone, if i put a bitter choc or ash brown colour on my hair it would look rubbish and i need more I have warm colourings and do not suit lime greens but suit turquoise greens.

So nail colour is similar, go to the shop and try the bottles next to the skin on your hand. If you want red don't just pick any red try and hold a few next to the skin on the hand. Can't tell I've been a nail tech forever can you!!

I don't usually wear colour on my finger nails (I usually stick to clear or nude). But today I have had them painted bright pink in a salon and they look really good, far better than if I did them at home. They are filed short and square, and the polish doesn't go right to the edges of my nails. I always paint them too close to the edges. Also they seem far shinier than when I do them. They definitely look classier than I thought they would.