How To - Taking Care Of Your Hands

Who doesn't adore beautiful hands? I think nobody. While a salon manicure is always nice -- it's easy to get smooth, beautiful hands at home by following some simple steps and using the right products to keep your hands looking soft and youthful.

 Follow these tips once a week and your hands will look gorgeous 24-7.

Step 1: Trim your nails

First, remove any old nail polish you might have on. Next, despite what your manicurist does at the salon -- do not soak your nails in water before cutting them. In fact, don't soak your nails at all. Doing so will cause them to soften and expand, which makes them fragile and may cause you to cut off more than you intended. Trim your nails using nail clippers -- cutting them straight across (if you like a rounder nail shape, you can create that in the next step).

Step 2: Smooth your nails

Whether you prefer a square or round nail shape, smooth out your tips using a fine (around 240 grit) flat nail file -- and only file in one direction, don't use a back and forth seesaw motion. It can cause fragile nails to split or peel.

Step 3: Exfoliate your hands

Massage your hands with any exfoliating product to remove dead skin cells and soften your skin. Gently rinse your hands with lukewarm water.

Step 4: Moisturize

After rinsing your hands, towel dry them and immediately massage lotion into them to lock in moisture and to soothe them. Then apply cuticle cream or oil to hydrate and protect the delicate skin around your nails.

Step 5: Push back your cuticles

After applying cuticle cream to your nails, gently push the dry skin back towards your nail base using a metal cuticle pusher. Wipe away any bits of skin that may have flaked off in the process. If you have any hangnails, trim them using a cuticle clipper, but do not cut your cuticles (the skin around your nail bed) -- it will only cause them to grow back faster and thicker.

Step 6: Prep nails for polish (if you plan to paint them)

Once your nails are ready to be painted, the last step is to remove any traces of oil or moisturizer from them. Simply dip a cotton ball or pad into nail polish remover and swipe it across your nails to clean them off.

Step 7: Apply polish (optional)

If you intend to wear color on your nails, first apply a base coat and let it dry for two to three minutes. Then apply two coats of color and allow that to dry for another 5 minutes before applying a top coat to seal in the color and add shine.

Step 8: Apply sunblock

The final touch to beautifying your hands is to apply a lotion that also contains SPF. Your hands are exposed to the sun almost as much as your face, so the best way to keep them looking youthful is to protect them from the scorches of the sun.

So these are the simple steps to lovely, beautiful hands. Hope you found this post fulfilling. Keep me updated and stay pretty.