Beauty Reporter: Beauty 101 Card.

Beauty Reporter: Beauty 101 Card

Cheat Sheet

1 Soak fingertips for three minutes in warm, soapy water to soften cuticles, then gently push them back with a damp washcloth. (Do not cut the cuticles.) 2 Use a fine-grain emery board to shorten nails (clip them if they're half an inch past fingertips), then file them into a soft square shape with rounded corners. 3 To remove ridges, run a buffing file or block back and forth over nails, but only until the nail surface looks matte. Polish won't stick as well to a shiny surface. 4 Wrap cotton around the tip of an orangewood stick, dip it into polish remover, then rub it over nails to remove any remaining polish and moisture. 5 Apply a ridge-filling basecoat to nails from base to tip, and allow one to two minutes to dry. 6 To avoid drips and streaks, scrape one side of the polish brush against the bottle as you pull it out. 7 Brush on polish in thin coats: one up the center and one on either side of that. Use a full stroke, from base to tip, for each strip. Let dry for a minute before repeating. 8 For the shiniest finish, use a standard topcoat, not a fast-drying one (the solvents in the latter may prevent polish from looking as shiny as possible). Wait at least two minutes for polish to dry thoroughly.

Beauty Reporter: Beauty 101 Card

Toolbox

* A body scrub with microbeads and a moisturizing base, such as L'Oreal Body Expertise Exfotonic Exfoliator (1), helps soften and loosen peeling cuticles before you push them back (lorealparisusa.com). * A polish remover with acetone will dissolve dark-colored enamel in a few swipes; choose one that also contains ingredients that prevent dryness, such as the vitamin E in Cutex Quick & Gentle Nail Polish Remover in Nourishing Formula (5). Apply the remover with a lint-free cosmetic pad, such as Essie Nail Pads (4), to prevent fuzz from clinging (cutexnails.com; essie.com). * Metallic polish catches the light, magnifying every bump. Smooth away surface roughness with a buffer, such as the Tweezerman File, Buff & Shine (2), then shape tips with a fine-grain file, such as the Essie Crystal Nail File (3). Finish with a ridge-filling basecoat; Orly Ridgefiller (6) contains talc to help polish stay put (tweezerman.com; essie.com; orlybeauty.com). * A regular topcoat, such as Barielle Therapy Nail Thickening Solution Strengthening Top Coat (7), creates the glossiest effect (barielle.com). * A couple of times a week, apply Sally Hansen Beyond Perfect Healing Cuticle Oil (8); its lavender and grape-seed oils hydrate and soothe ragged cuticles without feeling greasy (sallyhansen.com).

Beauty Reporter: Beauty 101 Card