Manicure of the Moment

This month has seen me paint my nails more than ever- down to boredom I think!

However this time, I decided to show you how I do my full-on manicure!

I do not use a huge amount of products- most of these were gifts so I'm just lucky I have them but all of them work really well and I really like them.

To begin my nails are filed. This gets rid of any rough edges and makes your manicure appear smoother. I use a Cath Kidston Nail File as it does the job perfectly.  

 

Next I use a hand cream. I am a hand cream lover as my hands can get quite dry- especially in the winter (who's don't?!). I chop and change all the time but this one has to be my favourite.

 The Body Shop Almond Hand and Nail Cream is lovely. I use it religiously before I go to bed as part of my night time routine and I love the smell, the sinking-in-ness and how it makes my hands feel. The cream is suitable for all skin types making it not too greasy.

Next I use a cuticle cream. This helps to prevent your cuticles from becoming dry and flaky. Two of my favourites, and to be honest the only I have tried, are the Cath Kidston Cuticle Cream Rose and the Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream. Both are lovely but today I decided to opt for the lemon one as the smell is so fresh and has the smell of lemon curd! Yum! (obviously don't eat it!)

 After the cuticle cream has sunken into my cuticles (duh!) and the hand cream has sunken into my... (you got it!), it's time to move onto the fun part- PAINTING!

I use a base coat as my nails are quite weak and have a tendency to peel (ew I know!). I use the Rimmel London Nail Nurse Stronger Nail. It provides a smooth base and also protects your nails. I also really enjoy to wear this alone. It has a slight gold shimmer so looks lovely when it catches the light. Although, be careful as for some reason it attracts pen ink when worn alone and can turn your fingernails blue!?

Finally, we have reached the end and it involves colour-woah! Today I am using Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint in the colour Eat My Dust. It is such a pretty colour and is a light blue but with a hint of lavender! As the name would suggest it dries really quickly and also lasts a reasonable amount of time! I do not use a top coat for my nails as I don't actually own one! I keep meaning to pick one up but I'm not the kind of person to have their nails painted all week. The colour will usually begin to bore me within a 4 or 5 days and this nail polish lasts that long for me so I'm happy with not using a top coat. 

So this is the finished look as they would say! I really enjoy this process and the colour at the end of it really depends on my mood but at the moment I'm loving this colour as it's not an in-your-face summer-colour but it's also brighter than other winter colours. 

What's your current go-to nail colour? I'd love to know!
Leave me a comment below!