Nailed It! AW-14/15

Stuck for nail inspiration? Want to hop on the current nail trend?
Lately I have been noticing a particular colour on just about everybody's nails - the palest nude shades all the way up to the browns and greys. The current nail varnish trend - which I have participated in - is becoming really popular, so I thought it would be a great idea to write a post on it and give you a few tips, as well as featuring a hand and nail care routine. Where I am in the UK, it's very cold and the bitter wind is not too kind to my hands at the moment.

It's funny, if somebody had said to me several months ago, "I'm going to paint my nails a nude pink/brown/grey/beige shade", I probably would have squirmed in horror; it sounds repulsive and how on Earth would it ever look good against ANYBODY'S skin tone?

My opinion has taken a complete turn now. Seeing these colours on various nails has made me realise how good they actually look!

Something I like to do every night at the moment is apply a moisturiser to my hands and nails, just to keep them soft, smooth and ready for the next day. I have recently rediscovered my Soap & Glory 'The Righteous Butter', a luxurious body butter with 'softening shea butter and aloe vera'. This butter is super thick and so, so creamy, not like some lotions that just dribble onto your hands a bit. The scent is light and delicately perfumed with hints of floral, and is one of Soap & Glory's signature ones - it matches all the scents from the 'Soapremes' set: 'Hand Food', 'Clean On Me' etc.

Then a couple of times a week I will smooth a nail treatment into my nails to keep them healthy. I am lucky because my nails are naturally very strong and white, and tend to grow long without snapping.

My nails after moisturising and cuticle-creaming, pre painting

I also don't really have cuticle problems and never really have to tend to them, however I still like to apply this tiny little pot of sweet, pink, vanilla goodness to help them along the way. For anyone interested, this a Superdrug product and is called 'Conditioning Cuticle Cream with Vitamin E'.

Now onto nail varnishes. The first thing you MUST do is apply a clear base coat so your nails aren't stained underneath the polish, and remember to apply a clear topcoat over the varnish once it is dry to seal in the colour, add shine and prevent them from chipping as soon. Today I am going to use one called 'Caviar' by NailsInc and apply that all over my nails.

Now, I have quite a few nail polishes that I would say fit into the current nude pink/brown/grey/beige theme. First I have a few colours that I got in a set a few years ago so I'm not sure where they are from and they don't have names, but one is a purpley brown, another a very sheer pink nude and the other a blue toned grey.

the purpley brown and blue toned grey

the purpley brown on my nails

I also have a few from NailsInc that I really like, one of them being a foil finish and called 'King's Road', which I think is a great name because the royalty of the King fits the silver metallic colour. This one is an exception as the colour is far from nude, but shimmery metals and holographic I have been noticing lately as well.

King's Road

I have a pink nude from NailsInc called 'St Ann's Lane' (I just love their names!) which is also really lovely and is great for transitioning into the spring months from winter.

Caviar, St Ann's Lane

I have swatched all the colours down below, and added a few extras...

From L>R: NailsInc - Caviar (which is showing up white but is there next to the brown one), brand I don't know - brown, brand I don't know - grey, NailsInc - St Ann's Lane, NailsInc - King's Road, brand I don't know - nude pink, Boots - Lovely Lilac (very old so you probably can't buy), came free with an issue of Company magazine - blue, brand I don't know - purple

I realise that not all of these quite fit the colour scheme I mentioned earlier, but they are still perfectly current colours to wear at the moment. If after this post you are still looking for the perfect colour, I suggest you visit the BarryM counter as they have a ton of shades and are really affordable. Their shade 'Lychee' is a highly raved about nude!

My final couple of tips would be to make sure you own some hand sanitizer; germs are everywhere and you want to keep your hands as fresh and clean as possible! I have Soap & Glory's 'Hand Maid' which smells super sweet, fruity and fresh.