My Nail Care Routine

As you guys know, I love painting my nails and I think it was over a year ago now that I settled into a proper nail care routine. 

For the past couple of years I have been using this Sally Hansen Super Shine top coat. I get mine from Xtras online and it is usually available for under £2. It leaves your nails super super shiny and glossy and I've been through several bottles. I just keep going back! 

At the moment, I am using the Avon Gold Strength base coat (£6 but I usually buy it when it's on sale) which seems to be going really well so far. In the bottle, it looks really shimmery but it doesn't translate like that on the nails. 

A base coat that I have also enjoyed using is the Avon Peeling and Brittleness solver (£6 but I usually get it on sale for £2:50)This helped a lot to make my nails super strong and if you paint your nails a lot like I do, I recommend using a treatment as a base coat. Another more expensive option is OPI nail envy.  

Another new step I have added into my nail care routine recently is this liquid freeze quick dry nail spray (£6) I have to admit that I was a bit sceptical when buying it as I didn't think it would work but it really does! It is a totally different formulation to what I thought it would be as it's slightly oily but it really does help my nail varnish dry quicker. 

My best friend has also tried this and she said that it did nothing to help her nail varnish dry quicker and that she hated the oily feeling it left to her fingers.... So maybe it's not for everyone. 

As for tools and cuticles, I use whatever I have around to push my cuticles back. In the photo here, there is an orange stick but I also like using the silicone cuticle sticks, I'm not fussy! 

I do cut my cuticles from time to time, (every 2-3 weeks) and I've never had any problems when doing so. I know that some people say you shouldn't cut them or push them back but I think it's totally up to you and it's just something I like to do to make my nails look nicer. 

To condition my cuticles I use olive oil (once a week) and I've found that this really helps to keep my nails looking healthy. I'm interested in buying the Essie apricot cuticle oil or the Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle butter. Have any of you tried them? What do you think of them? Leave me a comment and let me know. 

I cut my nails with the nail clippers (shown in the picture). I prefer to use these rather than nail scissors as they have a fairly straight edge so give me the basic shape that I like to my nails.