Nail It! The Lazy Girl’s Guide To Putting Spring Into Your Cuticles

Hands and feet, like the neck and the contour of the eyes, provide clues as to your biological age and lifestyle choices.  In this blog, I explore how to care for the delicate skin of the hands and feet and how we can beautify them by using nail colours that celebrate our brown skin tones.

To have truly beautiful hands and feet, requires incorporating simple daily and weekly beauty treatments that take moments to apply, and over time they will accumulate into smooth skin that will fill us with confidence to wear stunning rings and beautiful sandals.  The key themes are:

1. Exfoliate
2. Moisturise
3. Manicure and Pedicure.

Exfoliate

Exfoliation, which is the removal of dead skin cells using physical or chemical means, is important for the hands and feet, because the thin skin dulls under the sun, and is quick to show lines.  I exfoliate my hands twice a week, and my feet weekly, to keep them smooth.

In my previous blog, I extolled the virtues of the Vivier Vitamin C Scrub, a Canadian product.  I love that it can be used head to toe, which includes the heads and feet, so you do not need several scrubs populating your bathroom vanity.  The vitamin C brightens the skin, and the scent reminds me of freshly squeezed orange juice which lifts the mood on a dreary Monday morning.  The granules are miniscule, so when you massage the hands and feet, all you need is 1 -2 millilitres mixed with a few droplets of water to create a paste that reaches the cervices between the fingers and toes and removes the dead skin with no scratches. I like rubbing the product using circular motions, on the fingers and toes, because you work the granules into the skin rather than dragging the skin. The product washes away, revealing fresh skin.

Chickpea Considerations

Many South Asian households extol the virtues of using chickpea flour mixed with water, as a budget-friendly paste to exfoliate the skin.  The caveat with this classic recipe is that the flour can become quite thick and when you rinse your hands and feet, the paste can clog the pipes.  Consequently, the money that you saved by not buying an exfoliator that is designed to be rinsed away is spent on hiring a plumber to unclog the pipes and on draining fluid to clear them on a frequent basis.

I suggest that if you use chickpea paste, that you rinse your hands feet in a large plastic container, such as a large plastic bowl that you can buy from the dollar store.  Once your hands and feet are clean, pour the water into a large sieve (which you can find at the dollar store), so that the water goes down the drain and the clumps of chickpea flour paste remain in the sieve and can be disposed of in the compost bin.

Extra Love For The Tender Tootsies

The feet are subject to daily pressure because we stuff them into footwear and engage in sports, and this results in patches of thickened skin on our heels and toes which protect these areas.  The extra skin is not smooth and can impede slipping into sandals and tighter shoes.  To remove this excess skin, I spray my feet using a liquid exfoliator and once my feet are dry, I use a foot scraper to slough off the skin.  I have used the Deborah Lippmann Get Off – Foot Exfoliator for years, because its combination of lactic and glycolic acids breaks through the skin on my yoga hardened feet.

I am equal parts amazed and exasperated when I see how much ‘snow’ my feet produce when I pass my trusty Revlon Pedi-Expert on the thick areas. Once I have completed this sloughing exercise, I like to massage my feet using the Vivier Vitamin C Scrub, using circular motions, to remove any straggling bits of skin, to achieve smooth feet.

Moisturise

The thin skin on the hands and feet means that they do not have the oil glands to keep them lubricated, and hence we must compensate by using quality creams for the hands, cuticles and feet. I am a fastidious hand washer and always carry back up soap in my handbag because even though I am no Lady MacBeth, I want to be clean, feel clean and minimise the chances of getting ill. Handwashing several times a day is part of my beauty and health routine.

A drawback to washing my hands frequently is that my skin gets so dry, that it looks ashen, and I sometimes get little, painful cuts.  Over the years, I have developed a four-pronged approach to hand skin care that ensures that my brown skin looks smooth, and particularly the cuticles, because when they are dry, they are snow white and do not contrast beautifully against my nailbeds.

Nightly, I massage in a rich, treatment hand cream, whereby I apply 2-3 droplets on the back of each hand and mix the product into my skin by using long strokes that travel the planes of each hand, to encourage blood flow in each finger until the nail beds.  I am impressed with the Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv Intensive Hand Crème, because its rich texture drenches my parched skin, and the mix of glycerine, meadowfoam seed oil, coconut derived fatty alcohols,  green tea leaf extract and linolic acid, soothe my skin.

I leave my hands slightly creamy and then massage in the legendary OG Dior Crème Abricot, a cuticle cream which spawned a thousand pretenders but no true heir to the throne.  This product which has soothed cuticles since 1963, uses apricot oil and seaweed extract to soothe cuticles and strengthen nails.  Once every part of each hand and nail is covered in creamy goodness, I don a pair of cotton gloves (you can buy an inexpensive pair from the dollar store) and sit for an hour prior to bed allowing the products to absorb.

To keep my feet soft, and to prolong the exfoliation work that I accomplish weekly, prior to my hand care routine described hereinabove, nightly, I massage in a rich foot cream.  I apply a dollop at the centre of the heel and then using strong strokes I spread the product throughout the feet, (heel and top), making sure to leave a thin layer unabsorbed.  An example of a soothing foot cream that harnesses the power of argan oil (a rich hydrator) and neem (an anti-inflammatory ingredient),  is the Earth to Body Skin Nutrition Argan Neem Foot Cream, an indie Canadian brand, which moisturises the feet and calms the stress stored in them.  I apply a pair of cotton socks (you can find an inexpensive pair at the dollar store), and remove them when I remove the gloves.  My feet are set for the next day.

During the day I maintain the moisturising routine for the hands by applying a lighter textured hand cream such as Ranavat Sacred Rose Hand Cream, which is made in India using roses from Pushkar and sesame oil.  The latter, in Ayurveda, is renowned for its ability to nourish the skin.  I massage 1 millilitre of product per hand using the same method described above, and this disciplined approach means that papercuts are a thing of the past, and I never grimace at the dry lines on my hands because they are smooth and plump.

Manicure & Pedicure

Everyone knows the basics of the mani – pedi: remove the old varnish, shape the nails, apply base coat, colour and then topcoat.  Rather than reviewing the trite, this section of the blog focusses on how we can combine our smooth, moisturised hands and feed, and dark cuticles with nail colour and shape to create beautiful hands and feet.

Growing up, I was embarrassed by my cuticles because they were noticeably darker than the rest of my fingers.  I was conscious about wearing mushroom shades and pastel ones, because their innate cool tones made the cuticles on both my hands and feet stand out, and I did not like it.

My cuticles are not going anywhere, and I am now okay with that because I understand that my cuticles are part of my nail look, rather than the frame of nail polish.  The shift in perspective allows me to use the concept of colour blocking on my nails, so that I can be creative with the simple use of colour without spending a lot of money on nail art.

In terms of nail shape, I recommend embracing the nineties and opt a squoval shape, because it is universally flattering for all finger shapes; is easy to maintain; and   the nineties rock.  A squoval shape is a nail that is shaped like a square with softened edges and is only a tad longer than the nail bed.  It is ideal if you are sporty or type a lot, as the length is not battered during your activities. The softened edges add a touch of femininity, and you can always easily fix the shape at home with a just a few strokes of a file.

I have enjoyed OPI nail colour products since the nineties, and am thrilled that it launched the RapidDry™ Quick Dry Mail Polish collection which offers impatient women like me a product that dries in 60 seconds, lasts for 5 days and is vegan.  The variety of shades in this efficient line of products means that every shade of brown is well-served and if you want to wear brown polish but fear that it will look dull, please read on to learn how to use dark cuticles to your advantage.

Brown Cuticles Are Beautiful With Brown Nails

The key is to visually split the nail horizontally, such that the eye sees three stripes of colour: the cuticle, a strip of light or contrasting colour, and then a stripe of a brown colour.  For example, I apply one coat of Cheers no Smears, a soft peachy shade with a touch of glitter on the full nail. I pick this neutral because the glitter attracts light to the area and opens the nail area, and the peach is feminine.

After 5 minutes, I carefully apply a French manicure nail guide, such as the one from Orly, at about the midsection of the nail.

I then apply a single coat of Awe of a Sudden, a creamy brown with a pink shimmer on the lower half of the nail until the tip.  I love this shade because its soft shimmer makes an otherwise intense brown shade playful and adds brightness to my brown skin.  After 5 minutes, I lift away the guides, apply a topcoat and my nails are arty.

The principles for the manicure apply with equal vigour to the pedicures.  The nail beds are smaller on the toes, so you can apply the stripe approach to the larger toenails and then for the baby toes use brown nail polish.  I also like to use a painter’s thin brush and decorate my toenails with dots, so that I can use contrasting colours and bring playfulness to the feet.

Nail Polish Is For Everyone

Amongst the South Asian population, there are Muslim members who follow the interpretation of Islam, that if you wear regular nail polish and then do prayers, the abulition is incomplete because the water did not touch the nails.  786 Cosmetics offers a solution, because its nail polishes are breathable, i.e. the water permeable formula, which permits Muslims who observe the interpretation to have a fabulous manicure while observing their prayer rituals.

Aside from its amazing formula, the spring collection, contains a breathtaking array of pastel shades such as Tyre (lilac) , Sorrento (butter yellow) and Havana (light mint), that evoke fields of spring flowers and flattering brown skin tones.  The shades possess depth, instead of being mere interpretations of white with a hint of colour.  The vividness will make brown skin pop beautifully.

Hands & Feet – An Easy Feat

The above steps are not complex, but the trick will be to remember them.  I suggest adding one step at a time and give yourself a week to adjust to the new habit.  The beauty of hands and feet is that the skin will plump up under all the attention and you will see an immediate improvement which bodes well to making these self-care habits permanent.

Regarding the nail shape and polish aspects, I kept the tips deliberately simple, because with gleaming, smooth brown skin, there is less need for intricate nail work to beautify the hands and feet.  Moreover, with budgets being under strain nowadays, simple DIY nail work is a great way to save on money, whilst engaging in self-care.

Featured Image Credit: DmitriyTitov