Geometric Speckled Eggs

Some days you get halfway through a post and realise you've inadvertently created a pretty cool design. Today's mani was one of those times! This post has a few more images than usual as I've included the bonus half way through photos along with the final design - I still can't decide which I actually prefer!

The design I was after was crisp triangles outlined in black, on a white background, filled with polka dots. I then had a rummage through my Models Own draw and came across last years Speckled Eggs collection which I adore - so replaced the polka dots with speckles instead. 

Emma's Hand Care Routine

My hands are pretty dry at the best of times so I really need to take care in winter to prevent crusty cuticles and flaking nails. If you've seen any of my Then and Now posts you'll see what my cuticles looked like in my pre-blogging days and they were not a pretty sight. If I'm not careful that's what they would end up looking like at all times. So for the colder days I tend to follow these steps: 

1. Exfoliate I use L'Occitane's One Minute Hand Scrub for a good exfoliation. It seems pretty abrasive as you're doing it but the results are amazing. After one minute with this scrub my hands feel smooth and any white flakes around my cuticles disappear. I'm addicted! I use this about twice a week. 

2. Cuticles After scrubbing my hands and nails I use good old Lemony Flutter from Lush for an intense dose of moisture on my cuticles. The moisturising effect of this doesn't seem to last all that long but I find with regular use the overall condition of the skin around my nails does improve quite significantly. A little goes a long way which means the pot lasts for ages. 

3. Moisturise For my hands I use all manner of creams but my current fave is from the Body Shop and is a real oldie but goodie. I remember when this first came out and laughing with all my friends about Body Shop selling weed-based products but being instantly addicted. The smell isn't for everyone but the benefits from the cream out way the smell if you aren't a fan (I am so it's fine). 

4. File My life was revolutionised when someone told me to use a glass nail file. I purchased a crappy one from somewhere and found that it was waaaay better than the stupid emery boards I was using which split my nails like no one's business but it still wasn't great. Then I bought this bad boy from Nails Inc and I have never looked back. I must have got this about 5 years ago now and it still does the job. A little run under cold water every now and then keeps it in top shape. Not a split in sight! 

5. Strengthen I very rarely use Nail Envy to it's full potential as I am constantly applying and removing nail polish. However, on the rare occasions that I manage to apply it daily the improvement in my nail strength is insane. I may have to do a post on this at some point this year as the difference is truly astounding. The price of this product is quite steep but I find it lasts for ages and is genuinely the only product I have tried that has vastly improved the strength of my nails. Well worth it!

6. On The Go When I'm out and about I find I need to keep my cuticles in particular well nourished. For that I take with me Superdrug's cuticle oil. It comes in a handy pen with a brush applicator. I recently purchased a slightly more expensive oil pen but find this one works better for me. I also apply this sometimes before I take blog pics as it's a quick fix for healthier looking nails. 

How do you take care of your hands and nails in during winter? Do you have any miracle products that we should try?

Hugs

Greenberry & Gold

Splatter nails. A bit of a dark art and an extremely messy process but if you can get it right the result is gorgeous! I've done splatter nails once before but they were on a test wheel because I just couldn't cope with all that mess on my fingers. I figured that as we've come so far since then, it was time for another go!

Nail Care: Tea Bag Nail Patching Technique

I have thin, bendy and breakage prone nails. Not ideal for a nail blogger, but I've started looking after my nails a lot better in an attempt to avoid damage. A few weeks ago I noticed a tear on one of my nails, almost half the way down, well into the nail bed and too big to file out. Not only was it going to ruin my nail designs if the tear got any larger but it was also going to hurt a hell of a lot! In desperation I took to Twitter to ask for advice from other bloggers and uncovered a brilliant solution - teabags!

Raindrops On Roses

Soooo this mani didn't turn out quite how I expected. The polka dots were supposed to be raindrops but my nail art pen was a bit too fat to create nice drops and I couldn't really be bothered to get to work with a brush. So I'm afraid you'll have to put up with spots! I wanted raindrops as the inspo for this came from watching The Sound of Music and the classic tune 'My Favourite Things'. 

Red Nose Day - Take 2!

Last week we showed you Emma's super cute Red Nose Day nail art, created in partnership with Rimmel London. Today it's my turn!

The idea was for Emma to design a creative mani and for me to do something slightly more simple, however, I got a little carried away. Emma included five of the red nose faces but luckily for me she didn't draw my favourite one - Astrosnort! He's just so cute and I can't help thinking he looks a little shocked like he's thinking 'Err excuse me, I don't know how to be an astronaut, help!' I couldn't resist building on this idea and recreating a few mini Astrosnorts floating around in space looking helpless. The idea backfired a little though as now I feel really sorry for them...
 

Then and Now: Lilac Aztec

Jo and I love to look back at some of our old designs and see how far we have come. We've done a few Then and Now posts. You can check some out here, here, or here. The thing that always makes me cringe/die inside is the condition of my nails and cuticles. I clearly had no concept of how to care for my hands! The picture below actually makes me feel a bit ill just looking at my dry skin!