Tell me how you look after and paint your nails.

[QueenoftheNights]

I hardly ever wear darker polishes but have got a lovely plummy Essie shade. Putting it on, it looks as if I've dipped my fingers in the pot. It's all over. I cannot keep it neat. I'm going to go round the edges with a cotton bud/ polish remover.

The 2nd issue is I use polish most days- pale shades. My nails are quite dry. They are strong and grow quickly, but when i take the polish off they are very dry looking. Any ideas? I've got some Jessica stuff (oil) but how long would it take to work?

I treat myself to shellac on a regular basis. £20 well spent.

I get them done- shellac or extensions

I always do my own. It takes a bit of practice but it isn't hard. I'd suggest looking on You Tube for something along the lines of "how to" , there are heaps of them by nail technicians .

Hi best thing I have ever found for dry nails (which also helped mine grow) was Vaseline Intensive Care hand cream (pink tube) but a fab on your nails and rub in morning and night works a treat. As for tidy polishing - practice is your friend. OPI also do a tool to help clean up messes but I've found a baby bud dipped in polish remover is equally as effective.

Not practical for every day, but if you have a bath after you've painted your nails and they are dry, the overspill onto your skin will flake off and leave you with perfect nails.

Use cutical oil and a base coat before you put your polish on to help with the dryness.

I always have painted nails, and no issues with them being dry. I do:

Base coat - Orly Bonder
Coloured polish - two coats, sometimes three
Top coat - Jessica Brilliance

Ido them in the evening, so like a PP suggests, any overspill comes off when I shower the next day, but I go round the edges with an orange stick before the topcoat.

I use Nailtiques as a base coat which has really improved my nails, plus CND Solar Oil on my cuticles and directly on the nail between manicures. For painting as a p98 said practice makes perfect, I keep a cuticle stick handy to clean any oops before it dries, a cheap concealer brush dipped in remover or acetone is good too to tidy up edges if necessary.

The best way I can describe it is to get a small bead of polish onto the brush, place the brush a few millimetres away from the cuticles and then push towards the cuticle, then sweep it back to the end of the nail as usual. Don’t touch the cuticle with the polish - for a manicure finish you want a millimetre of nude nail between the coloured section and the pushed-back cuticle.

I've started using wraps from Lily and Fox. Bloody love them!

I loved getting my nails done with Shellac but it was getting expensive, so I treated myself to a second hand lamp and some polishes and do them myself now

I do my own - bright shades - you just have to practice. I'm much better than I used to be. Push cuticles back gently and as PP said, don't go all the way up to the cuticle. You need a neat line. I have also bought some sally hansen 1 minute cuticle remover & sometimes use that with a cuticle nipper. Always use base coat. And use a high shine top coat.

I paint/cure my own gel polish, I do it every two weeks otherwise the growth shows too much,I file and repaint, but apart from the occasional dollop of hand cream and a drop of nail oil when I remember I tend to leave them be. I prefer a strong colour and have just painted mine green and grey.

When you're filing your nails, always file in the same direction only. Making a see-sawing action with your file will cause splits and rough edges, weakening your nails. That doesn't look good under nail lacquer.

Practice loading the brush with enough lacquer to cover your nail in 3 strokes.

Always use a base coat first, and remember to take this, the lacquer and top coat over the edge of your nails.

The manicurist who I used to go to always said 'treat your nails like jewels, not like tools' and I think that was good advice

“When you're filing your nails, always file in the same direction only. Making a see-sawing action with your file will cause splits and rough edges, weakening your nails. That doesn't look good under nail lacquer.”

I actually never file my nails. I don’t see the point.

I use sharp nail clippers to create the shape I want, then I paint them. What is filing actually supposed to do?