Lovely hands and beautiful nails will be front and centre on your wedding day, showcasing your rings or a bracelet or cuff, carrying a clutch, shaking hands with friends and holding hands with the one you love. Sometimes you ‘talk’ with your hands, and you certainly use them to express your affection.
Start Now, To Give Them Daily Attention
- Wash frequently, but never with hot water.
- Use a non-drying soap, such as Dove, Neutrogena or a liquid soap like Cetaphil.
- Rinse well and pat dry. Don’t rub.
- Use a hand cream rather than a lotion. It’s thicker and longer lasting.
- Avoid creams with fragrances.
Your nails can add that touch of glamour that puts your lovely hands over the top. You likely will have them professionally painted for your wedding day, but in the meantime:
- Use moisturizer on your nails as well as your skin.
- Occasionally, soak them in a warm essential oil. Never cut or push cuticles back aggressively.
- Use nail polish remover sparingly. The acetone can damage nails.
- To thoroughly clean nails, cut a lemon in half and twist around each nail.
- File nails to a rounded point. This helps preserve their strength.
Pamper Your Toes with a Perfect Pedicure
Here’s what you’ll need:
- foot bath with warm water
- nail file
- nail polish remover
- cotton pads
- cuticle remover, cuticle stick and pumice stone.
- To remove stains, Clorox or lemon juice.
- Saturate a cotton pad with polish remover and rub off the old polish. To remove any nail stains try mixing a tablespoon of Clorox in a cup of water or use an old toothbrush and lemon juice to clean the nail.
- Scrub off dead skin when feet are dry, not wet. To slough off rough spots, look for exfoliants with medium-size grains, like sugar or salt crystals (sugar is less irritating), and moisturizing agents such as jojoba or almond oil.
- Soak your feet in warm water. Throw in a few marbles, if you have them, and massage the bottoms of your feet.
- Dry feet and rub cuticle remover on cuticles of toes. Gently ease back your cuticles with a cuticle stick.
- Trim nails straight across and finish with a nail file to round edges.
- Moisturize and massage your feet – it will feel wonderful! Try a moisturizer with shea butter to lock in moisture.
- Now the nail polish: Add a base coat, two coats of coloured nail polish and finish with a high-shine topcoat.
Originally published in Today’s Bride magazine, Spring/Summer 2015.
