If you’re not one of those who likes to keep their feet summer-perfect all the year round just in case they win that trip to Hawaii (and after all who would have the time to do all that beach shopping and wait for their nails to dry as well) then this is absolutely the moment to take action.
If you’re anything like me you simply don’t have the time to rush off for that luxury pedicure every couple of weeks. Invest in a few good tools, some great nail products (and a steady hand) and quite frankly you don’t need to, and a home pedicure is much easier to maintain on a long term basis. Chipped nails and tired polish are totally not acceptable. You have to take your boots off sometime......
Look Fantastic has an excellent selection of nail files, buffers, foot files and other nail care products, and although there are lots on the market, The Sanctuary Spa Salt Scrub (from Boots) is one of the best available for keeping feet seriously soft. It also has a lovely light fragrance and is very reasonably priced.
Once you’ve soaked, scrubbed, filed, buffed and moisturised (which it’s a good idea to do every week), try Jessica Nails’ Rejuvenation Basecoat and then pick from their incredible range of colours. I’ve tried a lot of polish brands and have found Jessica and OPI to be the longest lasting - that’s just my preference. At Look Fantastic you can choose from Jessica, Leighton Denny, OPI, Essie and Nails Inc, to name but a few.
The all time best quick dry is Seche Vite, voted by In style as one of their Best Beauty Buys and which I would never be without. Make sure you buy two bottles, just in case you, like me, have a daughter who has designs on yours. I haven’t yet worked out why daughters are incapable of every putting borrowed items back. If you’ve found the answer please do let me know…………..
The best nail varnish remover from those I've tried is OPI Expert Touch and you can buy a big bottle at Amazon which will last you for ever. Don't buy the cheap stuff, it's frustrating to use as it takes for ever. And the best nail files are by Tweezerman - buy them in a pack of three.
Finally to speed up the whole process - scrub, shape, base coat, colour, topcoat - comes Orly's wonderful Flash Dry, which you put on just after your Sech Vite.
Obviously don't go putting on your trainers immediately and expecting your perfect pedi to remain intact. But the days of waiting for hours for nail polish to dry are well and truly over.
