Beauty Reporter: Beauty 101 Card.(nail care)

Beauty Reporter: Beauty 101 Card

Cheat Sheet

1 With a nonacetone remover, clean polish from nails. 2 File nails in one direction until they are flush with the tips of the toes. Gently round them at the corners. 3 Soak feet up to the ankles in a bowl filled with one part whole milk, two parts warm water, and three drops of olive oil or any essential oil. 4 Clean the nails with a soft nail brush. 5 After ten minutes, remove feet from the bowl and pat with a towel. 6 Smooth rough skin by running a foot file or pumice stone over the sole, ball, and sides using long strokes -- and shorter ones on the bottoms of the big toes and over stubborn calluses. Repeat on the other foot. 7 Exfoliate the soles, ankles, calves, and tops of both feet with an alpha hydroxy scrub. 8 Rinse, pat dry, then massage feet and calves with body oil. Microwave a damp towel for one to two minutes on 50 percent power, and wrap around feet. 9 After three minutes, remove the towel and rub a rich moisturizer over feet and calves. 10 Use an orange stick to push back cuticles gently. 11 When feet are dry, clean nails with polish remover. Brush on a basecoat and nail polish of your choice.

Beauty Reporter: Beauty 101 Card

Toolbox

* To remove all traces of polish, use a formula without acetone, like Cutex Essential Care Pads Advanced Nail Polish Remover Non-Acetone (1) (cutexnails.com). * File the nails in one direction using a fine-grain surface, such as the Crystal File by Essie (2), which is especially durable. Keep it clean by rinsing with regular soap and water after each use (essie.com). * To sweep away dirt from the nails while feet are soaking, use the softest possible brush, such as the one from Crabtree & Evelyn (5) (crabtree-evelyn.com). * After soaking the feet, smooth them while they're still damp with a metal foot file, like Diamancel #11 Diamond Foot Buffer (3). Resist filing too deeply, or use a pumice stone or pumice soap instead, which are both gentler. Wash tools after use with soap and water (Diamancel, blissworld.com). * Exfoliating gloves, like those from Earth Therapeutics (4), slough off dead skin without a lot of effort (earththerapeutics.com). * Rather than trimming cuticles, carefully push them back with an orange stick after soaking the skin. Tweezerman Professional Manicure Sticks (6) come with both a slanted and a pointed end (tweezerman.com).

Beauty Reporter: Beauty 101 Card