Manicures: The Basics

In this post and the next one, I thought the best thing to do would be tell you what I would term 'the basics'; I'll tell you everything you need to give yourself a great manicure in the first, and the things you'll need to create amazing nail art in the second.
Giving yourself a mincure is a great 'Friday-night' thing to do; after a hard week at work, its a nice way to chill out whilst watching a rom-com to prepare for your Saturday night party. And here are the essentials...
Nail varnish remover and cotton wool pads. I know it's sad when you have to take off your design before it's chipped, but rather than picking it off, it really is best to take it off properly. The best I've found is actually one of the cheapest and is 'Boots Clean Off Nail Polish Remover' and I find that using double sided cotton wool pads are the best things to use with it.

Next things: hand cream, cuticle pusher and cuticle remover. I've got so many hand creams that have been given to me in toilettries sets for Christmas and Birthdays that I dont really buy a particular brand, I just use up the ones I've got. Cuticle removers may look like some medieval torture device, but are really essential for leaving you with a completely blank canvas on which to work!
A buffer and a file are two bits of kit that you'll need to keep your nails in great shape and looking tip top. Again, files are things you can just pick up as you go; my Cath Kidston ones are really good though. I've never tried the glass nail files but have heard they're really good! There's also the 'S shaped' file the 'Stylfile' which can be used to file your nails to a natural rounded shape (and can be found on Amazon.co.uk) - looks really good, but I prefer to file mine to a square shape.

Lastly, you'll need a place to keep everything! Preferably somewhere portable, so you can take your manicure kit with you, and something with compartments so that you'll know exactly where to find everthing when you need it is ideal. I've got mine in a set of drawers and I've painted the fonts with blackboard paint so I can categorise everything - one for base and top coats, one for nudes and neutrals, one for all my colours and one for all my other things.

I'm close to outgrowing it now so have been looking for something bigger and better. Acrylic stands can be bought online, but are quite expensive so I've been looking at making something. The best tutorial I've seen on YouTube is here (In the process of finding the link for the storage tutorial, I've just found this one too which is a great idea) I'll let you know how I get on if I decide to make anything!

Fairydust at your Fingertips - Welcome!

I started doing 'nail art' around 2 years ago when I was at uni. Me and the girls I lived with used to sit watching girly movies (read 'girly' as 'Disney'), reading gossip magazines and painting our nails.
I've always wanted to have brightly coloured nails: from being about 5 or 6, whenever my Godmother came to babysit me, I'd always ask her to paint my nails. I always wanted 10 different colours, a different one for each finger, but she'd never let me. Then, as I got older, I never felt that I could enjoy having lovely coloured fingernails because I was a nail biter!!! I'd buy rainbow coloured nail varnishes with the hope of one day being able to wear them with pride and had quite a collection! So when I was in my third year at uni, had time to spare, and nail art was making a definite appearance in the fashion and beauty scene, I decided to jump aboard! I've gone from having short, icky nails, to being asked at least once a week if if I've painted them myself!
As I said before, nail art was, and still is, having "a fashion moment" so I had lots of sources from which to draw inspritation. There are so many youtube channels where girls post video tutorials of their latest designs, magazines are writing about the latest nail trends, and celebrities are sporting wacky and alternative styles (remember Zooey Deschanel's adorable tuxedo design?).

My favourite youtube channels are cutepolish and ihaveacupcake; they have really great designs, which are easy to follow and not too difficult (check them out!). I copy some of their designs, but mostly use them for inspiration, and that's what I plan on showing you guys here. I want to show you some step-by-step guides on how to do my favourite designs, so that you and your friends can have the same 'movie, nail painting, and chocolate eating' shaped fun that me and my friends have had. I also want to tell you about my favourite products and colours, and how I like to use them. I'll point you in the direction of any new youtube channels or magazine articles that I think you'll like, and will take requests for any trends or designs you'd like to see my interpretation of.
I've posted a couple of 'taster' photos below so you can see what's to come. This is my first blog, and something I'd like to do just as a bit of fun. I'd be painting my nails all the colours of the rainbow anyway, but if you guys want to get involved too, then that's great!