My at-home-manicure top tips for neat and tidy nails all year through...

I've always loved having painted nails. I think it just looks really lovely and smart having your nails looking good and not chipped. I used to have Shellac but did find that it made my nails a little weaker and slightly damaged, so now I just take some ‘me’ time to give myself a manicure.

That said, I have been so busy with Ask Charlie lately that they have actually gotten to be quite unkept - so I thought now would be the perfect time to pop a blog post together about how I get them back to looking their best! I’ve had so many questions over the years about where I go to get my manicures…and I do them myself!

First and foremost, do make sure you are sitting somewhere that is safe from damage in case of any spillages! I always sit at my granite kitchen island, since it won’t mark if I knock a whole bottle of nail varnish remover over (it has happened!).

So I start by removing all of the old nail polish with a simple ‘strengthening’ remover from Boots.

Once I've removed all the old nail polish, I wash my hands in warm water and begin to push my cuticles back. I don't use a cuticle tool, I actually find that quite painful, so I just use my own thumbnail to very gently give them a little tidy.

Next up I use a multi-sided file to pay attention to each nail individually and see which needs what. One side shapes, one files, evens and smoothes, one buffs and one shines! I do tend not to use this to actually file my nails, more to just attend to any surfaces that may have split, or that have any uneven areas or ridges.

I find that painting my nails actually keeps them in better condition that then if I didn’t have any polish on. It also hides a multitude of sins if your nails are really damaged, luckily mine aren’t too bad at the moment!

It's also really important to not put any creams or greasy products onto your nails before you put your nail varnish on because it doesn't stick as well. If you feel they may still have a little greasy residue on them, give them another wipe over with the nail varnish remover to remove and ensure the varnish sticks as well as it can.

I use Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and top coat and I love it. Pop a quick layer of that on for your base coat. This doesn’t have to be precise!

Now move on to your colour! For this, I absolutely love Essie gels. Essie does do other polishes which are in a square bottle, but these are in a twisted bottle so easily recognisable. They are amazing and they last incredibly well. The shade I picked for this blog post was ‘Baubles Only’ - a great red! I love a good red at this time of year. In Summer I tend to go for brighter, more fun colours - but in the Spring this red just goes with everything.

Now the brilliant, brilliant thing about these polishes is that it doesn't matter if you get it onto the edges slightly because after you've washed your hands a few times it peels away and it looks like you have got a perfect manicure.

I can totally get away with doing it myself and also quite quickly because I normally don’t really have the time to be really precise! I just whack it on, it doesn't matter if we go over the edges and make a bit of a mess because it's very easy to get it off.

By the time you’ve finished painting your second hand, the first should be done enough for you to pop over the second coat.

I do always paint two coats, it does give a much better finish. You can get away with one with this polish in particular - but I do love the final look of two.

This Essie gel can be treated as a normal nail varnish - no need for lamps or nail varnish remover - it works with the standard kind!

Lastly, we have the Essie Gel Couture Top Coat - this sets it really quickly so you don’t have to wait for too long.

Within 15 minutes I can get in the car and go about my day!

Top tip! Don’t put rubber gloves on or take anything out of the washing machine with even slightly tacky nails! I've learnt the hard way...

Love,