Tips & tricks: My nail care routine

Hey everyone!  I'm back again for an extensive and detailed review about my nail care routine.  Be ready to read a lot, but note that this might actually help you.

To do or not to do acrylics? Is the question... Well, like I've said to many of my fellow and lovely Instagram followers:  DO NOT DO ACRYLICS! Oh my God you won't know how bad acrylics are until you see your naked nails after wearing acrylics for a couple of weeks.  They dry your nails, weakened your nail bed, filing can hurt your cuticles, and the consequences of all this you are going to notice as soon as you decide not to wear acrylics anymore and your nails start splitting to shorter than nubs and by then you will want to have your fake nails again.  Yes, I am saying this from experience.  I used to be an acrylic junkie (as long as I could afford it), every Christmas, every summer or every new school semester I needed to have my french acrylic nails or at least with glitter to hide my bitten and shorter than short nubs.

Anyways, if you have committed yourself to a nail care routine and leave away all those bad habits that include biting and tearing off your cuticle skin (yes, some people do that, my mother does this and is a disgusting habit) then you might be ready for some tips.

The era of acrylic is over and a lifetime of nail polish is about to start.  Once you have decided to leave behind those fiction days you will be able to see how beautiful your nails can grow and their capability to grow strong which is very important by taking care of them and buying the right products for your body, hands, and nails.  Remember that depending on how fast your nails grow you will be able to outgrow that weakened nail bed faster or in my case it could take months.

Lotions & Oils:  Before going to sleep I like to use Sally Hansen's Smooth & Perfect Hand Creme, just to wake up to soft hands and nice cuticles.  I also like to compliment my hand creme with cuticle oil.  In my case, I like to rotate the use these before going to bed, I will pair a cream with an oil depending on my mood because there are some nights when cream is all I want.

           

This is what I currently have on my night stand.

Bio-Oil - is not necessarily a cuticle oil but it does hydrates skin and it has Vitamin E (you can buy this at Walgreens)

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula - be careful not to apply too much, it will make your hand fairly greasy (you can also buy this at Walgreens)

Peach cuticle oil - I bought this in a beauty supply and cannot wait to finish it so I can by an almond scent oil :)

Burt's Bees Lemon Cuticle oil - it is part of my routine but I'm not too impressed by it.  I'm also waiting to finish it.

Julep's cuticle oil - I love this oil and it smells like Jasmines and will work wonders on dry cuticles.  I got this in my October mystery box.

Chap stick - this is pretty much self-explanatory.

Body:  I currently don't have a favorite body lotion, I grab whatever says "for dry skin" on the label and smells good and voila!  (In picture is "Love Spell" by Victoria's Secret)

Cuticle care:  My Sunday routine

Cuticle remover:  currently I'm using d'Rose Creamy Cuticle Remover which I'm so not impressed and desperately enough I will not wait to finish it, instead I plan on buying Sally Hansen's Gel Cuticle Remover which I've heard is the bomb and works in less than 15 seconds.   I bought this in a beauty supply.

Cuticle pusher/remover (end) and nipper:  I try to gently scrape my nail to remove dead cuticle and gently push them back while I still have on the cuticle remover cream.   When I'm done I like to carefully cut the excess cuticles with the cuticle nipper.   Some people prefer not even cut it and I've tried that but this is what works for me and my cuticles have not peeled in a long time.  I bought the cuticle pusher/remover (end) in a beauty supply, you can find the cuticle nipper in any drugstore.

Glass file:  I use it when my nails are dry; some people say that if you file your nails while they're wet you're prone to splits.  I like to shape them square, if you don't know your shape just Google different nail shapes and decide which one suites you better.  I bought this in Walgreens.

If my nails are fairly yellow I also try to whiten them mixing a tablespoon of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and brush my nails over and under with an old tooth brush that is assigned only for this and leave it on for at least 10 minutes. (not pictured)

For swatches:

Non-Acetone nail polish remover or strengthening

            *  Note:  I wrongfully bought a 100% Acetone nail polish remover and it dried real badly my nails and fingers.  When this occurred since I could no longer return it I just added a couple of drops of cuticle oil and it worked wonders!  Obviously it will leave your nails and cuticles greasy but hey, better than super dry and *cracked* skin.  It will definitely remove your nail polish faster while preventing dryness.    Be attentive because the oil will usually run out faster than the acetone, as you will need to add more eventually. (not pictured)

Essie Millionails - I like to use this as my base coat if I will keep the design on.  It is glossy and prevents splits. (not pictured)

Formula 2 - this also worked for me as base coat and it actually hardened my nails, I strongly recommend it.  You can buy this in Walgreens, it is a bit expensive I think it costs me like $18. (not pictured)

Elmer's Glue - I actually bought a nail polish bottle on a beauty supply and filled it up with this glue.  I use this as base coat when I will be using nail polishes with glitter (which they are usually a pain in the butt to remove), this will make the nail polish to come off on one piece without the need of nail polish remover. You can buy this in any drugstore. (not pictured)

NutraNail Natural All Growth Serum - I'm starting to use this around my nails and cuticles just because it won't make the surroundings look greasy or wet for the photo.  I bought this in Amazon.

Photo of my naked nails just after doing a routine whitening session!

Naked nails

Vitamins:  I try to take every other week a daily dose of Vitamin B-12, Vitamin E, and Biotin.  This routine will not let my body get used to the vitamins and will start the week with a kick-start.  I actually find the B-12 excellent to make the nails and hair grow faster, I highly recommend it.

I think that is all, I have literally squeezed my brain out remembering all this.  I hope that you liked this post and find it useful.  If you have any questions please contact me!  XOXO