tell me your 'nails' routine please

[mayfridaycomequickly]

I'm trying to be a bit more 'presentable' - I bought a Babylis Big Hair and my hair is in good nick and generally looks ok.

Next on the list is my nails. They're strong and I keep them shortish and neat but when I put varnish on they look a bit rubbish.

My cuticles need pushing back or something - do I need a tool?? Do you use a fancy cream or anything on the raggy bits down the side of your fingers?

thinks I should bite the bullet and go for my first ever manicure

Weekly manicure.

Sod poncing about trying to paint nails with my left hand

Own nails.

Sometimes give one a nibble if it's a bit raggedy.

Sorry, suspect that's not helpful. It's true, though.

Clarins Hand and Nail Cream gave me beautiful, very strong nails for my wedding. And it smells lush.

Depends how much time/money you have for them.

One off/lots of money but not much time - get them done professionally.
Regular thing/less money & more time - do them yourself. I do:

Keep them trimmed & smoothly filed - mine are never more than 5mm longer than my fingertips. nail shapes I find oval to be easy to maintain & looks good.
Simple polish in neutral colours looks good & the chips are less obvious. Bold colours look great but are higher maintenance. Always wear basecoat, especially if you're wearing a highly coloured polish as it can stain the nails permanently.
Don't wear polish all the time. Give your nails a couple of days off per week, and if possible the odd week off every month as well.
When you don't have polish on, try going to bed occasionally with a thick slick of hand & nail cream on & some moisturising gloves. This keeps the cream off the bed covers & allows your hands to absorb more moisture.

I do my own nails
I usually change the colour every two or three days.
It is just part of my nightly routine that once the kids are in bed I sit down and do nail maintenance whilst watching telly.
I take off nail polish with remover, buff and file neatly into shape, then two coats minimum of polish.
Use a thick Laura Ashley or Norwegian formula hand cream every night before bed , very thick layer applied to soak in overnight.

Any chips are instantly fixed as I don't like to see chipped nails.

I do pretty much exactly as Loadsablusher. I use a "sticky" base coat to help polish grip - mine is Orly - two layers of colour, then topcoat, currently the Dior one. On the rare occasions (going on holiday) I've had gel/shellac nails done I've felt like my natural nails were really weak and wrecked afterwards. I've not had naked nails for about 10 years!

I keep mine trimmed quite short, as they flake if they get too long, and file them regularly.

Handcream and/or almond oil rubbed into the nails at night before bed.

I never touch my cuticles!

If I am going to varnish them, I use a base coat (usually something strengthening), then one or two coats of varnish, then Seche Vite on the top (dries everything quickly and gives the nail a shiny, hard exterior).

I highly recommend Solar oil. It's made a big difference to my nails and cuticles. I also use the body shop hand butters at night x

I have acrylics that need infilling every 4 weeks.
I paint them everyday. To match my outfit.

Shellac manicure every other week. If I do them myself, I use a base coat, two coats of colour and a top coat. I am a nail biter if they are not done, so make sure to always have them done.

I do my own gel nails. Invested in a sensationail uv kit and I do them every weekend. I use gel nail shields as I HATE soaking gel nails off in acetone, and it takes too long and wrecks your nails. The gel nail shields just need to be soaked in water for 10 mins and then the whole gel nail can just be peeled off- it's brilliant! The downside is that they only last about a week, but that's still 6 days longer than a normal manicure lasts for me!

If I do them myself I file them, gently push my cuticles back, base coat, colour then top coat.
The best stuff I ever used was from the £1 shop a few years back but it's worth keeping an eye out for. It was Sally Hansen teflon tough - my nails would normally peel but this made them so strong.
The reason why your thread caught my eye is because I'm still a bit annoyed with another SH product (that I paid full price for I might add :) ) The Double duty dual base and top coat is crap - Don't buy it to use a top coat as it drags the colour off.
I spent agessss yesterday painting my 'Easter nails' with chicks, bunnies and patterns - only to top coat them with this stuff and it ruined them