Give your nails a pre-summer breather. Take polish off with an acetone-free nail lacquer remover like Fresh Therapies then rub in a really good treatment cream (like Mavala’s Nutritive Nail Cream below) and/or a nail treatment oil (Fresh Therapies do an oil, too).
As a nightly treatment, pure argan oil will keep nails healthy – it’s brilliant for cuticles, too. London-Morocco brand Wildwoodgroves.com do some amazing pure argan oils and argan+flower oil blends.
They’re all Fair-traded and a mini 15ml bottle will last a pretty long time. Argan can really help calm and sort any dry patches or mini-eczema flare ups when other things like cortizone creams haven’t really performed. Sophie Dahl is a fan of their Lavender Argan (good for cuts and scrapes and it might help if you are prone to nail infections).
Check out Wild Wood’s Argan Hand Therapies, including their cooling, soothing French lavender and German blue chamomile Baby Blend here
SO! All hail new season nails, here’s what new this summer…
ABOVE and below:
Leighton Denny’s Welcome To The Funfair collection is new for Spring/Summer 2015, more at Leightondenny.com
Swiss brand Mavala – WINNER, BEST NAIL BRAND 2015 in March’s Beauty Shortlist Awards, is my personal pick if you’re after a one-stop. go-to brand for any and all nail problems, from delicate and ridged nails to nails that need emergency whitening – here’s the Barrier Base Coat, Hardener and Nutritive Nail Cream for delicate or damaged nails:
Hate the smell of acetone nail polish remover? Goodbye!!
Fresh Therapies have expanded their range since we first found about them a few years ago and their toxin-free nail polish remover is still as good as it was when we tested it back then. New (since then) though, are these handy nail wipe sachets. Pack a couple for holidays and you can leave the remover bottle at home. Made for trains, planes and little beauty hounds (and no carpet spillage stains).
One sachet should work for a full set of nails
The original
Oops! Back to Mavala quickly – their glossy, long wear Garden Party pinks are new for SS15.
A quick Mavala shout out for my favourite summer pool pedicure shade, New Delhi, with Bilbao probably a pretty close second. New Delhi is a creme formula – I add a protective top coat then add a super-brilliant coat for extra anti-chip proofing for beach walks.
All hail the Mavala minis, big enough to last, small enough to take up zero hand luggage space.
Mavalous minis
What’s the cure for the summer blues? Orange. And 5-free nail brand Kure Bazaar just landed at Fortnum & Mason’s divine new 2nd floor Beauty Hall.
If you haven’t used Kure Bazaar before, check these out. The shades are ridiculously pretty and full of subtle “pantone” variations – more so, probably, than most of the nail brands out there, plus the formulas are very good.
And OK science buffs, how about this? Kure’s formulas are 85% natural origin based on wood pulp, wheat, cotton, potatoes and corn “to preserve the vitality of nails respecting their natural cycle of regeneration.” Expect more free-from nail brands to pop up soon.
Non-toxic is the (only) way forward.
Kure for a lonely heart… Amore?
Cool at the pool shade and new in at Fortnum’s is Or Rose, a metallic gold with a rose tint. Two glasses of wine and a Salade Nicoise, s’il vous plait.
Finally, these fragranced UKA nail oils look interesting (not tried them yet). Have you? Created by Japanese nail artist Kiho Watanabe, they’re available in different oil blends and they’re NEW in at Fortnum’s new 2nd Floor BEAUTY FLOOR.
Geranium, orange and jasmine, one of the argan-based Japanese UKA blends at Fortnum & Mason £20/each