Hello ladies and gentlemen, are you having a fabulous weekend? I am. It's been busy, but oh so eventful. Yesterday while trying to find second hand retro knobs for our kitchen cabinets, we stumbled upon a real beauty - a ridiculously good looking 50s couch, with a gorgeous, scrolling wooden frame. Original gold and olive green upholstery. It was a dream. We both saw it at the same time, and fell instantly in love. So after putting it on hold, arranging a truck to get it, and cleaning it like crazy, it's sitting in our living room like it was always part of the family. I am just so crazy about it. We both are. I have a little photo of it on Instagram (@marissahowes) if you want a sneak peek, but if not, I plan to eventually get around to doing room tours on here. You'll see it sooner or later I'm sure!
But that's not really the subject of my post today. It's nails! I looove nail polish. When I wear it, my nails grow pretty long, and I just like the classy shine of well manicured hands. I'm a big advocate for do-it-yourself manis or home manicures, whatever you want to call it. When you do the upkeep yourself, it's so much cheaper, and come on, it makes you feel good when you can do it yourself. With all the different tools and tricks available to buy now you can achieve and look or effect yourself. It's so easy now and most of the time, everything looks like it came from a salon. You can even do gel nails yourself now! That's crazy! You should be excited about all the nail technology these days. I am!
I have done some schooling in the art of nails, so I wanted to share some tips and tricks for maintaining long and strong nails AND keeping that polish on for longer than a day without chipping...
#1 BE HEALTHY - This is probably the most important. You're nails will grow best if you eat healthy, exercise, and maintain a positive attitude. When you have a healthy mindset and you get it into action, your whole body benefits! Vitamins and supplements can help too if you need them.
#2 OIL/LOTION - Massage your nail area with oils and lotions. It softens the skin around your nails and stimulates growth too! You wouldn't believe how much this helps. Vitamin E oil is really great, because it has healing properties to it. Its good for taking care of any rough areas, cuts, or hangnails.
#3 CUTICLES - Soak your fingers in warm water, and gently push back your cuticles with a cuticle pusher. This cleans up your nail for easier nail polish application and also stimulates nail growth. This tip always works to get longer nails. Above all else, I swear by this tip the most.
#4 NAIL POLISH REMOVER - always go over your nails with nail polish remover before you paint them. If you've been soaking them, pushing back the cuticles and applying oils or even just touching your nails too much, there are oils on your nails now that will interfere with your nail polish application. Quickly wipe them to make sure they're completely clean. We want the nail polish to stick, not melt off!
#5 DON'T SHAKE - Don't shake your polish! It can actually create bubbles or turn your polish to a weird unusable consistency. Just roll it in between your two hands gently to warm it up. That's all you need. And don't shake your hands when your nails are drying either! That can create bubbles and your polish can even come right off if you're shaking to hard! It's all about gravity. If you're in a hurry, blow on it, take your hands over to a open window for a bit, or buy quick drying top coats. They're awesome.
#6 DO THE WORK - If you want your nail polish to stay, do a base coat, two coats of colour and then your top coat. It's foolproof. If you leave a step out, your nail polish won't be as strong, and it will probably chip earlier than you want it to.
#7 CAP IT - I cap every coat of polish I do. Even the base and top coat. This means swiping the polish over the very tip of the nail. This tip is a miracle worker. Trust me, sometimes I can get up to 10-12 days without a chip. It's amazing.
#8 LET IT DRY - Take your time and don't rush. Your coats should be completely dry until you move onto the next one.
These are some quick shots of my current nail situation. I'm wearing an Anna Sui red. I've had this one on for a while now without a chip in sight. I have to keep my nails fairly short to do my artwork, jewellery and various craftwork, but I can grow these babies pretty long if I follow my routine.
Follow these tips and you'll be headed for gorgeous, healthy nails! Yay!
Grow those nails!
Marissa xo
CharmingShop
Grow those nails!
Marissa xo
CharmingShop
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