Pic credit: All things rainy 

With the rising cost of living, looking after your nails at home makes even more sense. Oli Antunes shares her tips for achieving a professional result at home.

What are your top three non-negotiable tips for caring for nails? 

1. Cuticle oil is paramount – apply it nightly whether nails have been polished or not. If you have more than one bottle, keep one in your handbag, or on your desk and on your bedside table.
2. Use sunscreen on the backs of your hands daily, especially if driving on a daily basis.
3. Don’t bite your nails, or even the skin around them. It’s not hygienic and the skin can get painful. This affects the condition of your nails, so they don’t grow to full potential, and biting makes them split and doesn’t look tidy.

Regularly applying cuticle oil to cuticles makes your nails more flexible and therefore less prone to breakage or splitting - Oli Antunes

What’s a good at-home nail and hand care routine?

Keep nails tidy by filing them so they don’t catch onto things and split and break. I love Mavala manicure pills to soak nails – it cleans the surface of the nails and makes them look brighter, and the white whiter, and the water softens the cuticles making them easier to push back. Use the soak before polish. I do love to use a specific hand mask when I can – it makes the hands really, beautifully soft. I always nourish nails and cuticles with cuticle oil and use a hand cream at night and during the day.

What are your tips for creating a glossy, long-lasting manicure? 

The prep is the most important thing before polish.

• Neatly file nails in whatever shape you desire.
• Lightly buff off the ridges if you have them.
• Wipe with acetone-free polish remover so it doesn’t dry out the nail plate. It removes oils on the nail.
• ALWAYS use base coat – it will help the polish adhere better to the nail and it gives longevity to your manicure.
• When painting the polish, use two coats, always start in the middle and fan the brush out. Don’t paint with the brush, paint with the polish. Don’t over flood the brush, instead always wipe off one side, and half of the other side, then paint with that side. This reduces making the coat streaky.
• Start in the middle, fanning brush lightly, then finish off with each side as close as possible to the cuticle.
• Wait at least 2-3 minutes between coats, then apply another coat.
• Finish with a top coat – this helps the colour last longer and gives a high shine.
• Refresh your manicure after a couple of days by adding another coat of top coat.
• If you have to walk out the door, use the Mavala Oil Seal Dryer which makes the cuticle look nourished, makes the polish dry quickly, and also dries quickly itself.

Pic credit: Saskia Fenwick

What’s your can’t-live-without nail saviour?

I have recommended Mavala Scientifique K+ to all my clients! It penetrates your nails to strengthen and bond the nail plates back together so they look natural and healthy and it gives nails that have been bitten added strength. I can’t recommend it enough, and all my clients now use it.

Use it two to three times a week for four weeks to really bring back nails to an amazing condition.