I recently joined forces with 5 other bloggers for a fun collaboration where we each share our nail care routines and talk about the nail products we love and recommend. In the past I’ve featured some of my favourite nail products on this site. In fact, if you check out this link – achieving a great manicure – you’ll notice that many of the products mentioned are long-time favourites of mine. A few of the participating bloggers decided to post videos, while others, including myself wrote up a blog post. For a list of the other bloggers and their video/blog post links please refer to the bottom of this post.
OK, so when it comes to my nails, I work pretty hard to maintain their strength and keep them healthy. If I’m not careful, my nails break or chip easily so I have to make sure that I use the right products consistently to help keep them strong. Luckily my nails have gotten stronger over the last several years and are no longer as thin as they once were. The following routine works best for me..
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| MomsMakeupStash’s Go-To Nail Products! |
1) Cuticle Care – One of the most important products to help care for your nails is a good cuticle cream/oil. Among my favourites are the Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream (not pictured), LUSH’s Lemony Flutter and Essie’s Apricot Cuticle Oil. Each of these products does a great job of hydrating the skin at the base of the nail. After softening my cuticles, I gently push them back to make them look neat & tidy. About once a month, I also apply the Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover (not pictured) to remove any excess cuticle. I then use an orange wood stick to scrap off any residue. I will ONLY use a cuticle nipper on hang nails.
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| Lemony Flutter (LUSH) & Apricot Cuticle Oil (Essie) |
2) Shaping & Buffing – I shape my nails using a nail file (I’m not usually picky on using a specific one and generally use whatever I have lying around). If you use a glass or crystal file and find that either work better, please leave me a comment and let me know what you’ve experienced. I tend to prefer a square shape with a and like keeping my nails short-mid length. Buffing helps even out the nail surface and improves the quality of your polish application but I find that it makes my nails more brittle… so I exercise caution with this.
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| Random Nail Tools |
3) Strengthening – I’m currently using OPI’s Nail Envy to improve the strength and durability of my nails. If I’m not wearing a polish colour, this product is always on my nails. If I do have on a colour, then I apply this before the base coat. My nails have started to grow quicker and break less often. This may be doing the trick!
4) Moisturizing – I use a hand cream every day. I like trying different ones and usually rotate through different brands. Right now, I’m currently using the Evolution of Smooth (eos) Hand Lotion. It’s a great size to throw in my handbag and does a great job of moisturizing my hands and nails. I also keep a backup of this lotion by my kitchen sink and re-apply after doing dishes or working in the kitchen. Moisturizing your hands and nails often is a such an easy step to ensure you maintain healthy skin and nails.
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| Nail Envy (OPI) & Hand Lotion (eos) |
5) Remover/Base & Top Coat – Before I sit down to paint my nails, I make sure that my nail bed surface is clean of any polish, dirt or oily residue. My polish remover of choice is the Remove+ by Zoya. This is also a nail prep & cleaner as well as a remover and aside from glitters and tough textured polishes, I find that it works best for me. A few years ago, my friend Mary from San Diego (a nail blogger & Youtuber) recommended the Stickey Anchoring Base Coat by Creative Nail Design (CND) and I’ve been using it ever since. Until then I never realized how important a good base coat is for preventing breakage, peeling and staining. When looking for a good option, consider a product with protein, aloe, vitamin e or calcium. As for a top coat, I like using the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat (not pictured) or the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. Both options provide a nice glossy finish and quick drying results.
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| Remove + (Zoya), Stickey Base Coat (CND) & Seche Vite |
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| My Nails Without Polish (strengthener and base coat only) |
The products mentioned and methods identified work for me. Make sure to test out and try different products and techniques to identify what works best for you. Everyone’s nails are different. The most important thing about starting and maintaining a nail care routine regardless of the products you choose, is consistency. Great results don’t occur overnight. Be patient and stick to it. You’ll be impressed with the results 🙂
Be sure to check out these other bloggers’ nail care routines.
Thanks ladies for collaborating!
Miranda (coming soon)
Kaely (coming soon)
Stay Connected!