Over time I have learned and experienced that the best thing you can do for your nails is to use nail care products from the same company. When I say nail care products I am thinking of cuticle remover, cuticle oil, hardener, base coat and, if possible, nail polish remover. Every time in the past when I combined cuticle oils, base coats or hardeners from different brands, my nails started to exfoliate and eventually broke.
Although it is hard to use always the same old products, especially now, when the market offers almost infinite options, just try it for a while and you won't regret it.
I have chosen a local brand, namely Farmec.
Before I start presenting them one by one, I want to show you my bare nails, before applying anything onto them:
And now let's see how to use these products :-) I have placed them in the order in which I usually use them. From left to right:
Cuticle Peeler. It comes in a nice little 15 ml tube, with a special applier.
Just apply it on your cuticles and before it dries completely (approx. 3 minutes, of course depending on how much you have applied) just take an orange stick and remove the product. While doing so you will see how your cuticle is also removed. Be careful though, the formula is very thin and you can easily apply as much onto your first nail as much would be enough for both hands! Apply it even if you don't see it necessary and you will be surprised to see what comes off your nails.
After I remove the cuticle peeler, I wash my nails using an ordinary tooth brush and my special, home made soap with avocado oil. This cleanses my nails perfectly and prepares them for the second product.
Vitamin B5 Lotion. This is the new formula of the Vitamin B5 Lotion.
The first one was more thin, had a powerful smell and was not that gentle with cuticles. Being so thin made the wrong impression that it just evaporates from he nails.
The new formula is more sticky and drys harder. The smell is not so disturbing and its more cuticle friendly. I apply it immediately after washing and drying my nails. I leave it on for 3 minutes and then apply the third product. It's important to know, that this product contains formaldehyde. If you are allergic to this substance, don't use the Vitamin B5 Lotion!
The new formula is more sticky and drys harder. The smell is not so disturbing and its more cuticle friendly. I apply it immediately after washing and drying my nails. I leave it on for 3 minutes and then apply the third product. It's important to know, that this product contains formaldehyde. If you are allergic to this substance, don't use the Vitamin B5 Lotion!
Cuticle Oil. You should always use a cuticle oil after using a formaldehyde based product. In this case it was the Vitamin B5 Lotion.
The Cuticle Oil contains Vitamin A, almond oil, olive oil, soy oil and lemon essential oil.
The Cuticle Oil contains Vitamin A, almond oil, olive oil, soy oil and lemon essential oil.
I apply it generously on my cuticles. Leave it there for 2 minutes and after that I massage it into my nails. Once it's totally absorbed by the nails you are ready to apply a base coat.
Base Coat - Fortifying Complex. This products also contains formaldehyde! I have noticed that my nails react well to formaldehyde based products (hardener and base coat). I am using it for a long period and I haven't noticed and side effects. I apply the base coat every single time I apply nail polish and I have never had a problem with yellow nails.
What I love about this base coat is that it dries extremely quickly! While I paint my right hand my left hand is already drying :-)
This blog post contains my own opinion, based on my personal experience with the presented products. This in not a payed post.