Ladies, take a moment to look at your hands. Considering that we never hide our hands, do they truly represent how you want the world to view you? Not sure what I mean? How would you feel being served food by someone with dirty fingernails. Exactly!
While I don’t suggest talons, I do suggest keeping your hands clean, soft and well-manicured at all times. It’s easier than it sounds:
- After each time you wash your hands, use hand lotion (unless you’re handling food immediately afterward).
- Keep an emery board in your purse for quickly fixing a nail.
- If you’re hard on your nail polish, consider going naked, wearing clear polish or resigning yourself to frequent touch-ups.
If you decide that you prefer to go to a salon rather than doing your nails at home – bring your own tools! No, this isn’t a suggestion, it’s mandatory. That blue liquid isn’t going to keep you from getting someone else’s nail fungus and it doesn’t matter how high end a salon is, hygiene is your responsibility.
Don’t know how to do a manicure, here’s a quick and dirty primer:
- Remove all previous nail polish.
- Shape nails with emery board into a squared-off oval shape with all nail approximately the same length (go with your shortest nail – they’ll grow out together).
- Wash hands and push back cuticles gently.
- Apply base coat, then two to three coats of polish followed by a top coat. Wait 5 minutes in-between coats.
- Clean up edges carefully. Give your nails a good hour or two to dry before you attempt anything fancy with your hands.
