If there is one thing I love to do, it's get handsy. Whether I'm shaking someone's hand or sticking two fingers up to some asshole (who deserves it, obvs), my hands and nails need to be on point. These are the products I use to make that happen...
First things first, I always make sure my hands are clean at all times. To do this, I keep the Merci Chérie Cherry Hand Cleansing Gel close by as London life loves to get me dirty. This small 30ml bottle is perfect for popping in even the smallest of handbags and its lovely scent makes it a pleasure to use. Unlike other hand sanitisers, Merci Chérie Cherry doesn't dry my skin which is why I love it so much.
For a deeper clean, I exfoliate my hands using the Sanctuary Hand & Cuticle Scrub twice a week. This gentle scrub lifts all the dirt and dead skin from my hands and cuticles, leaving my skin thoroughly cleansed and super soft. It also smells absolutely amazing, which is an added bonus.
Hand cream is an obvious essential for keeping my hands as soft as possible. My go-to cream is the Nails Inc. Thirsty Hands. This non-greasy hand cream help to hydrate and protect the skin. It has a lightweight, lotion-like consistency that fully absorbs the second its applied and, like the Sanctuary Hand & Cuticle Scrub, it also smells gorgeous. To give my hands an extra bit of TLC, I use the Crabtree & Evelyn La Source Overnight Hand Therapy twice a week. It is a recovery cream that delivers moisture and hydration to the hands whilst you sleep. It smells lovely and has a beautifully rich texture that feels uber pampering on the skin.
Now, as I have acrylic nails, it's important to keep my nails as healthy as possible and to do that a good oil is needed. I use the Nails Inc. Superfood Repair Oil on my cuticles each night and also apply it to the back of my nail tip, where my natural nail is exposed. Applying this repair oil each night keeps my nails as strong and as healthy as possible.
To file my nails I use the Elegant Touch Professional Nail File, as its fine grit and curves shape make filing quick and easy. As for nail colour, some of my favourite brands include OPI, Nails Inc and Morgan Taylor. This summer I've been obsessed with the OPI Fiji Summer Collection. It is a 12 shade collection that features some gorgeous vibrant colours, ranging from yellow and lilac to electric blue and grey. As with any OPI lacquer ever created, the Fiji polishes have a smooth consistency, are easy to apply, are highly pigmented and give a glossy finish.
The final product I use to keep my hands on point is a good top coat and it really gets no better than the Seche Vive Instant Gel Effect Top Coat. This beauty dries nail polish faster than anything I've used in the past and it provides a finish that is so glossy, it looks like the polish is still wet.