I’ve been often asked what I do to keep my nails nice/healthy.  How do I care for/maintain my nails?

The short answer is:  I polish them.  A lot.

A healthy nailbed is important… and probably good genes.  Prissyness is probably a key quality too.  You have to actually care about your nails.  You pay attention to what you care about.

I do NOT cut or trim my cuticles.  They are there for protection.  It’s important to keep them moisturized and pushed back.  A good time to push them back is right after washing your hands while you’re drying them with a towel.  I use cuticle oil freely.  I DO nip hangnails though!  As immediately as possible.

Filing has been VERY low on my list of nail upkeep activities. Rare buffing to smooth the nail surface before re-polishing.  If my nails are snagging on material or have the slightest jagged edge, I use a fine/medium buffer to smooth it out, but my nails grow better when they are left alone.  So, why should I argue with them. *shrugs*

I like the moisturizing in shea butter and oftentimes regular ol’ petroleum jelly for general hand softening.   And DRINK WATER.  Hydration from the inside out!

My natural nails…. free and unencumbered 🙂

What I use abundantly:  
Cuticle Oil, Base coat, Top Coat

Right now my favorite cuticle oil is from Sally Beauty Supply – Beauty Secrets Cuticle Oil.  It smells incredible.  And it works.  Cuticle oil at the end of every manicure…. and any other time I think about using it.

Sally Hansen has some really time-tested products…. they’ve been around forever.  I like "Hard as Wraps" Nail Gel Hardener as a basecoat when my nails have grown out.  It strengthens my nails and gives them extra protection for the "clumsiness" of my person.  I don’t do manual labor or anything…but my everyday wear on my nails can be grueling for a "little ol’ nail".  The added acrylic gel fibers in the product are extremely supportive.

So far, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat is my favorite fast drying topcoat.  It works as promised, and dries any polish color within a minute after application.  Of course, it tells you to wait two minutes before applying it, but still… three minutes for dry polish is a win!  Since I started using this topcoat I haven’t had sheet imprints on nary a nailbed.   This is telling because I’m notorious for the "right before bedtime" manicure.

When my nails are very short, I opt out on basecoat. Once they have any amount of length that I want to retain, I use a strengthening basecoat.

That’s pretty much my entire nail care routine.

…and do everything as daintily as you can…. your nails will love it. 😉