Nailing It!
By Anne Marie Scanlon
There are two things that nails and shoes have in common. Brand new they look great and make you feel good about yourself but a little bit of wear and tear not only do they look awful individually but you look awful too. Nothing says, nay screams, skanky mare like broken and chipped nails. If you want to make a good impression be it for a job interview, a date or meeting the future in-laws make sure that your nails look their best.
It's not as easy as it sounds. You can spend a fortune on a fancy manicure but these days with ever shrinking mobile phones and laptops, not to mention fiddly MP3 Players nails are in constant danger of chips and cracks. In order to keep Irish Examiner readers nails in top condition I consulted Skyy Hadley from As U Wish Nail Spa. Skyy has tended to the celebrity nails of Faith Evans and Charli Baltimore (only the best for Examiner readers) so you can be assured that when it comes to nails, she's nailed it.
Here are Skyy's top three tips for keeping nails neat.
Tip 1
A Nail Splits, Cracks or Tears on the Edge. What now?
This is guaranteed to happen to me when I'm traveling. I don't know if it's to do with schlepping suitcases around or the weight of the suitcases or indeed both but it's as inevitable as the woman at the check in desk asking me did I pack my own bags (honestly, do I look like Ivana Trump?, who else would be packing them?) Anyway enough about my travel woes here's what Skyy recommends.
"Drop a small amount of nail glue on the nail where it is damaged, then lay a tiny piece of facial tissue over the glue. Let the nail glue dry and gently buff to smooth. The benefit of using tissue rather than fabric is that when the tissue dries over the glue it will become clear. If you use a fabric, like silk, you will see the individual stitches in the fabric."
Tip 2
A Hang Nail Keeps Hanging Around. How do I give it the push?
Skyy says, "Resist the temptation to pull. Take a nail clipper and gently clip the hangnail the hangnail at the root. Spray the entire nail with astringent, such as Sea Breeze, to prevent germs and bacteria from infecting the nail."
Tip 3
Your Perfect Polish Chips. How do you prevent yourself from cracking up?
One of these days I'm going to start a stopwatch running as soon as I've finished doing my nails/left the manicurist. As I said earlier with fiddly phones and shrinking keyboards galore it's ridiculously hard to keep nails in tip top condition. And, it's disproportionately heartbreaking when you chip a nail isn't it? One wee chip and the entire two hands have to be redone. Who has the time? Who has the mental capacity to deal with it? There's a whole thesis in philosophy waiting to be written about this subject but in the meantime check out Skyy's solution, which you'll be glad to hear doesn't involve re-doing both hands.
"Dab a tiny drop of nail polish remover across the nail to even the remaining polish with the chip, so a new coat of nail polish can blend easily. Apply a new layer of nail color to the chipped nail and let dry."
Speaking of nail color, there was a time when nail polish came in one color - bright red; it was worn on 'talons' by a certain kind of girl. She wasn't a nice sort of girl. These days nice girls get to wear whatever color they like as do bad girls and all other girls in between. However having said that, no matter what the season, no matter what the fashionable shades are and no matter what the occasion - bright red nails never go out of style.
But variety IS the spice of life so let's take a look at some of the colors available at the moment. For sheer abundance check out Zoya which has over 200 nail colors in its range of fast-drying, durable and chip resistant polishes. Celebrate the 80s without resorting to legwarmers by dabbling with Zoya's 80s inspired acid and neon shades - Lola, a fluorescent hot pink; Haley an acid tomato red; Ginger a dazzling orange; Charisma, a lurid fuchsia. Now if fashion victimhood isn't your bag Zoya have plenty of pale shades like Betty, a pale pink, and traditional red (Gwyneth). Even though dark nails are a bit last season I'm a huge fan of Paris a dark plum which looks both fun and sophisticated. If you are a fan of dark nails and don't give a fig for trends (and with nails there is no need to slavishly follow prevailing fashion) then stock up on Zoya Raven a jet black polish from their Winter 2006/7 collection. For a professional look and finish try Zoya Anchor Basecoat and Armour Topcoat.
Nails Inc also have a whole host of products to perfect your at home professional manicure. There's a wide range of colors which includes South Molton Street (pale pink), Victoria & Albert (bright red) and my own favorite Aspen a fabulous bright sparkly slightly metallic red which looks good day or night, office or club or in my case at the Mother & Baby Coffee Morning.
Apart from the great shades the Nails Inc. range includes Harley Street - a smoothing base coat for ridged and damaged nails, Chelsea Bridge - a UV protective top coat to protect French Manicures from yellowing in the sun and UV light as well as a Superfast Speed Grow Base Coat to strengthen, toughen and nourish nails. Then there's the Oil Slick pens, try Vitamin E Oil Slick for dry damaged nails, Avocado Oil Oil Slick for weak peeling nails or the one with Lotus Oil to condition and hydrate cuticles and hard to grow nails. Now, no matter how lovely or well maintained your nails are they won't look their best on dry chapped hands so keep them smooth with Nails Inc. Belgravia Hand Cream which is enriched with Vitamin E.
Our friends at CHI who made my favorite flat irons (the one's that died in that tragic transatlantic currency exchange that went wrong, yes I'm still in mourning) recently introduced a new Ceramic Nail Lacquer which is touted as the first antibacterial and anti-fungal nail polish. What? Yes, CHI Ceramic Nail Lacquer uses Nano Silver which kills over 650 forms of bacteria and fungus. The formula also contains CHI 44 Ceramic and Silk to provide a long lasting, chip resistant coat. I haven't actually road tested this one so don't know how the chip resistance fairs against the competitors. There are 56 shades so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding one to suit.
But what of quick drying polish I hear you cry. Quick drying - pshaw. Try instant. Yes instant. Avon Instant Manicure made its debut in May of last year and the only question I have to ask is why? Why did we have to wait this long?
Mankind managed to go to the moon in the late sixties but it took this long for dry nail enamel to appear. Yes that's right dry. For anyone who is busy, in a hurry or just expects instant gratification in all areas of life then this is the product for you. The dry enamel comes on self-adhesive strips that are applied to the nail and then formed to fit. You simply select your nail size, smooth the color strip over the nail, remove excess and voila brand new nails - READY TO GO. No drying time, no smudging, no holding your hands at a funny angle for hours and not being able to go to the loo. Can it get any better than this? Yes, it can, there's a range of cool colors to choose from. Good luck getting nailed.
The Wearing O' The Green
Yes it's that time of the year again. Being of a contrary sort of nature - hard to believe I know, I usually refuse point blank to wear green garments on St. Paddy's Day. On the other hand the green eye shadow or eyeliner usually get an outing (but never both at the same time) This year thanks to the good folks at Jessica® I can let my fingers do the talking. Celebrity manicurist Jessica Vartoughlan is launching her brand new shade Fun House ($6) just in time for the annual March 17th celebrations.
For Stockists check online at www.jessicacosmetics.com
|
