Manicure - Top Tips for Healthy Nails

A manicure is a beauty treatment for your fingernails and hands. In its simplest form a manicure involves shaping and filing of the nails followed by the application of nail polish.

Other types of manicure may include specific treatments aimed at softening the hands and stimulating nail growth.

Getting to Know Your Nails

Your nails can tell a lot about your body's internal health. Healthy nails suggest a healthy body, while ridged; dented, unusually colored or shaped nails can be a sign of ill health.

Nails protect the sensitive skin of the fingertips and toes from injury and are made up of layers of protein called keratin.

Each nail comprises:-

o Nail plate - the visible hard portion you see

o Nail folds - the surrounding skin that frames the plate on three sides

o Nail bed - the skin beneath the nail plate

o Cuticle - the tissue that overlaps the nail plate at the base

o Matrix - the hidden area under the cuticle where growth takes place

o Lunula - the half moon shape at the base of the nail plate

Types of Manicure

There are various types of manicure available.

During a regular manicure, nails are first shaped, cuticle remover or conditioner applied and then the fingertips and hands placed in warm soapy water and left to soften for about ten minutes.

The hands are removed and dried before the cuticles are gently pushed back with an orange stick.

Nails are buffed from cuticle to tip and then lotion applied to the entire hand. Some manicurists will spend some time massages the lotion into the hands.

All traces of oils will be removed before applying polish. Polish will include a base coat followed by two or three coats of your chosen color, and then finished of with a top coat.

If having a French manicure, the tips of nail are painted white and when dry the entire nail is painted with translucent shell pink polish.

A French manicure is elegant and is suitable for both day and evening.

Paraffin Wax Manicure

Paraffin wax is warmed and the hands dipped repeatedly in the warmed liquid until a thick coating is formed. The hands are then wrapped in plastic film and covered with a towel to retain the warmth.

Hands remain wrapped for approximately 15 minutes. After the towel, plastic and paraffin wax is removed, the manicure continues in the normal way.

A paraffin wax manicure conditions and moisturizes the skin and is beneficial if your hands are sore, stressed or tired or of you just feel like being pampered.

Hot Oil Manicure

Hot oil is used to soften the cuticles before being cleaned and neatened. This treatment is popular with men seeking a manicure and is recommended if you have extremely dry hands or nails.

Attending a Manicure

When going for a manicure ensure that the working area is clean and that all tools are properly sanitized. New tools such as orange sticks, emery boards and clean towels should be used.

The use of un-sterilized tools can transmit viral infections.

Regular Manicure - Keeping Your Nails Healthy

Nails grow at the rate of about 0.05 to 1.2 millimeters per week and a regular manicure can keep your
nails in tip top condition.

Along with a regular manicure, a high protein diet can help your nails grow stronger and healthier.
Between visits to your manicurist you can ensure the health of your nails by:

o Keeping nails clean and dry - this helps to keep bacteria and other infectious organisms from collecting under the nail.

o Keeping the use of nail polish remover to a minimum as it can dry out your nails and cuticles.

A manicure is healthy and will make you look your best and remember most guys love great nails to

By Kelly Price

Eight Ways to Help You Keep Healthy Beautiful Nails

Although nails may seem to be unimportant growths in the body, these hard little things can actually determine the state of your health. Your fingernails and toenails can even reflect your personality and how much you value hygiene and cleanliness. But if you want to make your nails strong and beautiful, using strengthening products available in the market may not be the best thing to do. Below are some tips you can do to strengthen your nails and keep them healthy and beautiful.
1. Know That Water Is Bad For Your Nails
It is important for you to know that water is the number one nemesis of your nails. Thus, it would be better if you do not soak your nails in water for a long time. However, if you think that you will be doing activities that will require your nails to get soaked in water for a long time; you can wear rubber gloves or shoes to protect the nails in your hands and feet. If you cannot do that, be sure to eat healthy foods that are helpful in keeping your nails stronger.
2. Eat Well For Stronger Nails
Proteins are important in keeping your nails hard and strong. If you are vegetarian, just look for other sources of protein aside from meat and poultry. Sulfur is also helpful in keeping them beautiful and strong. Other types of food that you may want to include in your diet to boost the health of your nails are garlic, leafy greens and fruits.
3. Nails Should Not Be Used As Tools
Many think that nails are created to help people remove stickers from surfaces, get rid of stubborn grease and food particles in pots and pans, or open letters and cans. However, it is important to note that your nails are not meant to be used as tools. If you break or chip your nails, you will be more susceptible to diseases and infections, such as warts and nail fungus.
4. Keep An Emery Board At Hand At All Times
It may be a wise idea to keep an emery board available in areas where you spend a lot of time working. This way, you can easily smoothen nails when you see chips and cracks to prevent further damage. As mentioned earlier, even small breaks and cuts in your nails and skin can make you prone to several nail problems and conditions.
5. Never Bite Your Nails
Aside from being unsanitary, biting your nails is not a very good habit to keep. Will you trust a person who is chewing on his or her nails in front of you? No. Besides, nail biting can make nails ugly, uneven and too short.
6. Make Sure That Your Nails Are Short
Ideally, nails should be trimmed and cut regularly so their length is just a few centimeters longer than the base of your fingers. Keeping nails short can make it easier for you to clean and maintain them. If ever you plan to keep your nails long, make sure that you keep them clean regularly and strengthen them with oils and lotions whenever you can.
7. Always Wear Rubber Gloves
It would be a great idea to wear gloves every time you handle water, chemicals and cleaning products. The ingredients in soaps and other cleaning materials can be harmful not only to your nails, but also to your hands.
8. Medicate At First Sign Of Infection

Once you see that your nails may be suffering from infection like nail fungus, it would be ideal to use medication immediately. Most common nail problems spread to your other nails easily if not quickly eliminated. An all-natural anti-fungal system that is helpful in fighting nail fungus is Somasin.

Janet Martin

How to Choose the Right Color Nail Polish Based on Your Skin Tone

Just like any beauty style, there are a few basic principles that have to be followed. Similarly, when picking out nail polish colors, there are certain things to take into consideration. Nail polish colors are meant to flatter, or at least complement the skin tone of the wearer. Here's a simple guide to help you choose the right color according to your skin tone.
For Fair Skin
• Women who have fair or light skin can use most colors for their nails. However, there are still differences in fair-skinned women in undertone and shade. Women with skin that's too pale might want to avoid extremely dark colors since they will look much too eye-popping.
• Choose shades that flatter your fair skin, such as pink in either soft or bright shade, a light to medium shade of purple, and red.
• If you're going for a healthy, rosy look, use nail polish in shades of pink.
• Blue-based polish is usually recommended.
For Medium Skin Tone
• Being the middle color, medium tones can wear most shades.
• Medium tones will do well with nail arts since the different colors and prints blend well with their skin color making them look stylish. It is recommended to use nail art designs that have metallic shades.
• Using glitter polish will add a tanned look.
• Using vibrant colors like yellow, blue, orange, or pink will look impressive. Bright shades are the perfect color for this skin tone.
• To emphasize the neutral color of medium tones, you may use metallic and silver versions of a light blue color.
• Avoid navy blue, dark purple, and red.
Dark Skin Tone
• To emphasize the beauty of dark skin tones, nail polish with dark colors should be used. Colors like chocolate brown, dark green, red, or a nice burgundy match the rich color of dark-skinned women.
• Gold also looks good on dark skin making it easy for dark-skinned women to pull off a stylish look with gold polish.
• However, if you want to accentuate tanned skin, lighter shades may be used. Other colors that may work for dark skin are light brown and chocolate, pink, light blue, and purple. Since tan is a sun kissed color, gold nail polish should be avoided as it will blend completely with the overall color of the skin making it invisible. For tan complexion, go for colors found on the warm side of the color chart.
• Yellow-based colors come highly recommended for women who have dark skin tone.
The general rule when matching complexion or skin tone to colors for nail polish is quite simple: dark to dark and light to light. Light skin will look best with light to medium colors while dark skin will look better with medium to deep dark colors.

You won't find it hard to get a manicure in Milton Keynes as there are many Milton Keynes nails professionals available to help you with whatever you need to make your nails look good and feel good. For example, you can go to mobile nail technician Milton Keynes, if you need assistance with your nails. You may visit online business directories to find qualified manicure and pedicure services.

Peter Q Smith

7 Tips For A Better-Looking, Longer Lasting Manicure

This article isn't a step by step guide to the perfect manicure; rather it's a list of tips that will help your manicure look better.
Not only will following these tips help your manicure look more professional, we'll tell you how to get your polish to dry faster and last longer - and improve your nail's health to boot!
1. Remove All Old Polish And Clean Nails Well
Nails and hands should be very clean and dry. Even if there is no old polish on them, it's recommended to give them a quick wipe with a cotton ball soaked in polish remover. It removes any oils from the nail, so polish will adhere better.
2. Before You Apply Polish, Push Back Your Cuticles
Use an orange stick or cuticle stick to push back your cuticles before you put on your polish. It will allow you to apply polish further down the nail bed, extending the life of your manicure.
Also, do not cut your cuticles or remove them in any other way; they function as a barrier, keeping germs out away from the growing nail base.
3. Let Your Polish Dry Completely Between Coats
I know that it can be boring to sit and wait for nail polish to dry, but it's important to a good looking manicure. Apply polish in thin layers, and give each one at least 10 minutes to dry. It takes longer but creates chip resistance, and also avoids smearing or bubbling that can happen if you try to apply polish too soon over the last coat.
4. Use Three Strokes To Polish Your Nail
When applying polish, do one stroke straight up the middle, then one stroke up each side to cover the entire nail.
5. Take Care When Applying Polish Near The Cuticles
Make sure to use thin coats of polish so that it doesn't pool around the cuticle. Otherwise you end up with a lump from polish build up around the bottom edge of your nail, and that just doesn't look nice. Take your time and get it right.
6. Help Your Polish Dry Quickly
To speed dry your polish, let cold water from the tap run over them. Or hold them in a bowl of icy water (no actual ice, or you may ding the polish). Using a blow dryer on the cool setting can speed up the process too.
7. Keep Your Manicure Looking Fresh Longer By Applying Top Coat Every Day
After you've finished applying color, make sure to give you manicure a clear topcoat to protect it and add shine. Then, every day afterwards, apply another layer of top coat to keep your manicure looking good for much longer.

Marie_Sanchez