This sort of manicure is currently taking on a completely new appearance with plenty of salons doing a black French manicure, that is, tips of the nails painted black as opposed to white.

black french manicure

Then there’s the American manicure, a favorite option; it’s a considerably softer variation of the French manicure. The tip of the nail is a gentler, creamier shade and gives a bit more natural look.

If you need to give yourself a break following a difficult week’s work or perhaps you wish to appear and feel at your very best for a special occasion, the basic manicure is probably the simplest, most quickly effective and most affordable, way to get it done.

In contrast to most of the current far-fetched beauty treatments, the manicure is definitely not a modern sensation. The term comes from the Latin “manus” which means hand and “cure” meaning care. Contrary to the current manicures in salons nowadays, the ladies, and gentlemen, of historic Egypt utilized alkanna as well as other organic ingredients to deal with their nails and hands whilst in India people made use of henna as nail polish. Lengthy and vibrantly ornamented nails quickly grew to become an indication of royalty plus a high social position: in China the dowager empress, Cixi, had become recognized for her extended, artificial nails while in ancient Egypt plebians were merely permitted to have shorter, lightly shaded nails.

Manicures as many of us today know were originally perfected in France, seemingly by King Louis’ personal physician who had the concept of developing a totally new set of instruments to take proper care of nails and fingers (not nearly like these in nail salons today!). Throughout the last century women started to be progressively serious about taking good care of their hands and nails and for that reason increasingly more specialist tools and instruments were produced to assist with this. The very first ever nail lacquer (which was pink) has been around since 1917 and by the 1920s ladies around the world could easily get nail polishes in any colour. Nonetheless, back then nail polish could just be purchased at pharmacies and also were actually of bad quality, generally peeling off the following day. It wasn’t right up till the Nineteen Thirties that the initial strength gloss came out allowing nail polish to go longer.

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Well, let’s get the science bit out of the way first – nails, hair and skin contain the same protein – keratin. Most of the keratin you come into contact with is dead and forms the outer layer of your skin, hair and nails. If you experience weak, brittle, split or peeling nails what you are suffering from is excess drying of the external layer of keratin.

A Split Nail

It is well known that when you get split ends with dry hair you use a good quality hair conditioner to improve the look and feel. You do this every time you wash your hair. So probably without realising it you’re providing a continual moisturising treatment to the keratin in your hair.

It’s exactly the same with your nails. They too need a conditioner, but of a different type – the best moisturiser for your nails is cuticle oil. This is absorbed more quickly than conditioner on your hair and doesn’t need to be washed off.

Oiling your nails on a daily basis will feed the growth area of the nail (down at the cuticle) and will help deter splitting and flaking by its moisturising effect.
Hands are in water so much each and every day that to avoid weak, brittle, split or peeling nails it’s very important to ensure that they do not dry out. Can you imagine washing your hair twice a day and not conditioning it? Your hair would be very dry, dull and lifeless.

If your nails are inherently weak oiling them won’t make them strong but it will make them more flexible and less like to chip and break.

Cuticle oil (Solar Oil is excellent) can be used whether you keep your nails natural or if you wear varnish. Solar Oil penetrates in and around the cuticle area. Not only will it feed the new growth of your nails but it will also keep the skin around your cuticles soft and less tempting to chew or to cause painful hang-nails.

Maintaining healthy nails is very inexpensive. A bottle of cuticle oil costing, say £10, applied on a daily basis will last about 10 weeks. That works out to about 15p per day – hardly a king’s ransom for healthy attractive nails!

Your hands are on show all the time, whether meeting people, paying for items in the supermarket, restaurants, clubs or when holding a cup or glass. Just think how much nicer it is to see clear even nails, soft skin than raw skin with dry chewed areas.

Your hands and nails are often the first contact you have with someone and are an instant giveaway on how much care you take of yourself and your appearance.

Just think that with one daily application of Solar Oil you can offer your hand with complete confidence. For more information on cuticle oil click here.

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1) Cleaning. Every good manicure begins with clean nails. You can’t beat a nylon nailbrush for doing it. Scrub underneath the nails with soapy water before removing any old nail polish. At any time you would like to have truly white nails a smart tip is to soak them in lemon juice, then dry thouroughly and buff.

2) Which file? Once your nails are clean shape them by using a board file. Go for a gentle diamond or crystal file, or choose emery boards of no more than 180 grit. Higher grit files really should be used for buffing the nail plate, as opposed to shaping. File in one direction just to avoid breakages, and do not soak your nails beforehand
or they will be too soft to shape.

3) Which shape? Avoid pointed witch-like nails. I have found “squoval” much better – square with rounded corners. It’s simple to maintain, if you do you allow the nails longer, it can certainly really elongate short, stocky hands. As a rough guide, glance at the shape of the cuticle towards the bottom of your nail, and mirror this in your own filing.

4) Soaking. After shaping your nails, soak them in tepid to warm water. To have a spa-style treatment, make use of an exfoliating scrub, as well as a moisturising mask across the back of your hands. It is easy to tell a woman’s age by her hands – they communicate so much so it is really worth it to look after them.

5) Push back. Next, turn your attention to the cuticles along the base of your nails. Whatever you do, don’t bite or cut these back. Instead, smooth with a cuticle remover, before gently pushing them back with an orange stick.
Taking good care of the cuticle creates a real impact on the health of one’s nails, so moisturise them daily utilizing a specialist treatment oil. I would recommend Solar Oil – it’s comes equipped with a brush it truly is surprisingly easy to apply.

6) Base coat. The nail bed is porous and easily discoloured due to the pigments in coloured nail polishes. Shift stubborn yellow stains with the addition of a denture-cleaning tablet to the warm water you utilize when you soak your nails. It truly does work brilliantly. Protect them with a clear base coat each time you paint your nails.

7) What colour? Think about nail colour as another accessory. It changes both your look as well as your outlook. You may be wearing jeans together with a T-shirt, but painted nails will instantly help you to look more polished. Do not be afraid to try out bright colours coupled with sheer shades. red is definitely a sure bet for looking chic and stylish.

Top Coat. Always, always finish using a top coat of clear polish, that you can titivate every two days to maintain your nails looking fresh. To safe you time and reduce the risk of smudging opt for a quick drying one.

9) Firm favourites. People could possibly get pretty fond of their favourite colours. Always try to have at least a few favourites as colours change as quickly as fashion nowadays and unfortunately your “favourite” may disappear from the shelves. Keep up to date with changing colours.

10) Protection. Look after your nails. Remember they really are jewels not tools. Always wear protective gloves when
doing household chores or gardening jobs.

Follow these top ten tips and you will be astonished by how good your nails and hands will appear. But most of all make sure to apply Solar Oil every single day without fail. You wouldn’t let a full day pass without applying your facial moisturiser. It’s simply the exact same with your nails

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Welcome to my new website.  I do hope you all like it and I’ll be adding to it as we go along with more pictures in the gallery and special offers as they come along. If you want to make sure that you’re kept up to date please join my mailing list by signing up in the box at the bottom of this posting. This is a double confirmation sign up, so you’ll be sent an email asking you to confirm that you want to receive information from me.

In the blog you’ll be able to find all sorts of tips and hints to help you keep your nails in the best of health. Additionally I’ll be able to let you know about new products and colours as soon as I know about them.

This site was designed for me by Kieren at KK Web Design . Not only does he do a great job but all it’s all set up so that even I (well, Doug) can keep it up to date.  So if you’re thinking about a new website don’t hesitate to get in touch with Kieren

That’s all for today but I’ll be posting again very soon.

Please have a look around my site and feel free to leave comments – good or bad!

Best regards

Barbara