How to get a good manicure.....

Getting a good manicure can be hit and miss at the best of times, when so many beauty salons fail to hit the mark. Once I've found somewhere that does it well, I try to stick with the same outlet.

Here's a few tips that I've learned over the years to make sure you're getting the best possible service.

Probably the first thing to check, is to actually make sure technicians are using sterilized utensils. Very often it's obvious that equipment has just been washed under the tap then put back into a steri-pack and re-sealed, you can tell it's been used over and over again. Do you really want the germs and dirt from other peoples fingers put onto your own? Blurgh I think not. A practice that I see so many women doing now, is buying their own manicure sets and leaving them with their chosen salon, so that they have their own personal utensils - great idea :-)

One thing that drives me insane, is seeing nail technicians sawing away at peoples nails. This is so, so bad and can cause splits and actually weaken the actual nail. Filing should be done in one direction from the edge of your nail to the centre up one side, then up the other. This way you get a nice smooth edge without your nails also accidentally being filed down too much (has happened to me on numerous occasions).

Do you always have your cuticles cut? You might want to think twice about that. Although it makes the fingers look nice and neat, you're actually cutting off something that plays an extremely important part in the health and strength of your nails. The cuticle protects the new cells as they grow in the nail bed, it also acts as a barrier to germs, dirt and grime that could cause infections in the fingers. I've never allowed my cuticles to be cut EVER and I have super strong nails to show for it. Pushing the cuticles back and trimming the excess skin is all that's really required.

It's good to give your nails a break and have some polish free days or a week or two at a time every now and then, just to let your nails 'breathe'.

The above also applies to a good pedicure and you should always give your feet extra special attention, after all, they do work extremely hard and are very often completely neglected.

Once you've found a good salon and a good technician try to stick with them, or at least try to 'train' them to do your nails the way you like them done.

Happy pampering :-)

Trying to nail it - testing out Gelish

I really don't know why I bother with manicures, usually within ten minutes of leaving the salon I've smudged and chipped the polish all over the place, plus I have a hard time finding someone to make my nails the shape I want them - I hate the squared off look, I like mine more rounded.

I have no problem with pedicures, they seem to last for ages, which is a good thing.

The last time I had my nails done, I was a guinea-pig for a girl practising her gels, tips and overlays, which was fine and the end results were lovely. However, having had gels and acrylics in the past, I knew full well that when the gel came off my nails would be a complete disaster underneath and sure enough when it did come off, they were so thin, weak, flaky and bendy they were a complete disaster. I vowed there and then, never ever again! My nails are usually very very strong and to have them like that was awful.

I'd been hearing about these other types of stronger, longer lasting UV cured polishes for sometime, Shellac, Gelish and Bio-sculpture. Many of my friends use them and I'd heard differing opinions on which one was best. I'm a firm believer however in that application is everything,if you have a good manicurist who applies the product properly, even if you're just using ordinary polish you should get decent wear out of it.

I discovered that the little salon - Tips & Toes, in the Meadows, just round the corner from me did Gelish, so I opted for that as a first try of these gel/polish hybrid brands. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of colours available, but as my nails are super short thanks to their current weakened state, I chose just light pinky colour and I decided to also have the product applied t my toes as well - in for a penny, in for a pound as they say.

It was the standard procedure for the mani/pedi combo, then the Gelish is applied. One base coat, two coast of colour, followed by the top coat. After each coating of the nail, you are required to put your finger tips under the UV light to cure the product and twice at the end. (I always worry about UV curing - skin cancer alert!). The beauty of this, is that there's no waiting for ages with your hands in dryers, no smudging or anything like that, because as soon as your hands come out the product is dry and hard, but still quite flexible.

I was extremely happy with the end result, the question now is, how long will it last? I've been told anywhere from two to four weeks, before it needs removing and replacing - the other thing that appealed to me about Gelish is that it's removed using acetone, so no filing, scraping or picking it off. Well so far, so good, I'm on day four and it looks as good as the day went on and my boyfriend kindly ran over my toes with a shopping trolley and there's not even a scratch!

So far Gelish gets the thumbs up from me :-)