Days 14 & 15 at home mani's and pedi's

As the last weekend before Christmas approaches and many of you will be out partying and Christmas shopping, getting time to go to a salon for a manicure and pedicure will be near impossible and costly. Here is how to get salon results at home:


Manicure:

Firstly gather these things: A bowl with warm soapy water - ideally use a moisturizing liquid soap or bath foam, nail polish remover, cotton pads, a soft hand towel, a salon quality nail file (from most drugstores), a buffer, cuticle oil - Hand Perfection http://www.handperfection.com/ do a great one, hand cream - Carita Paris http://www.carita.com/ have a lovely one called Velvet Glove, an orange stick, a small angled eyeliner brush, base coat, nail polish and top coat - I love Rescue Beauty Lounges's http://www.rescuebeauty.com/ Tough Chic kit which has all these plus some really unusal colors, my favorite at the moment is Concrete, a pale grey which I've had loads of compliments on.

1. Start by removing an old polish you have on using good quailty remover and cotton pads.
2. Soak nails for a minute or two in the warm soapy water and dry gently with a towel.
3. Apply cuticle oil and let sink in for a few minutes. Using the orange stick gently push them back.
4. Dip again to remove excess oil and dry off.
5. Put a little hand cream on and massage in thoroughly avoiding your nails.
6. File nails into shape, for dark or unusal colors short and squared off looks best.
7. Buff lightly to get rid of any ridges and create a smooth surface for polish.
8. Apply the base coat and let dry for a minute.
9. Apply one coat of your preferred polish, let dry for a minute then apply a second.
10. Put on the top coat and let dry for a good ten minutes to avoid smudging.
11. Now dip the eyeliner brush in to remover and go around the edges of your nails and remove any excess without disturbing the polish.
    
    
    

Pedicure:


Using most of the above items plus a few extras: a bigger bowl of warm soapy water, an exfoliating sponge, kitchen towel (to divide toes) a foot file, nail trimmer, a pedicure cream DDF's http://www.ddfskincare.com/ Pedi-Cream is ideal.

1. Soak feet and scrub them with some extra soap and the sponge.
2. Dry off and file any rough skin with the foot file.
3. Apply the cuticle oil, let sink in then push the cuticles back as above.
4. Rinse off the excess oil and dry your feet.
5. Massage in the pedicure cream avoiding your toe nails.
6. Cut your nails if necessary and file into shape, do not round off as this can cause ingrown toe nails.
7. Divide your toes with strips of kitchen paper.
8. Paint on the base coat and let dry for a minute.
9. Add two coats of polish, leaving a minute between them.
10. Apply top coat and let dry properly.
11. Remove excess with the eyeliner brush.

Taking your time and doing all the steps above should leave you with a professional looking manicure and pedicure that will last you through the weekend if you are careful!

(Products provided by brands mentioned above)