HOW I KEEP MY NATURAL NAILS TIDY & FRESH, USING NAVY NAIL TOOLS

 

SELF CARE EDIT: NATURAL NAIL MANICURE

We work with our hands a lot, so caring for your hands & nails is really important. I suffer with dry hands & the often, irritating hangnails, which I have to nip off otherwise would tempt me to pick. A No! No! I think by nailing the best nail care, really makes a huge difference to the look of your hands.

I am loving the natural, short nail, minimal look, which is my preferred nail style. I stumbled across the nail manucurist queen Harriet Westmoreland's Instagram page, who does fabulous nail looks & features natural, short nails. Check her out & admire the beautiful nail looks. 

Through Harriet, I learnt that nail prep is key to the maintenance of, tidy, pretty nails. She swears by completing this using NAVY nail tools, which are used in the professional beauty industry. I was intrigued, looked into NAVY, a family run business, really like their story & decided to invest in some of their nail tools to try out & my I'm glad I did !

I have three NAVY nail tools; Doris, Ethel & Martha. I will go into each one in a little bit more detail. 

DORIS

Doris is a manicure tool with curved contour edges, perfect for removing dead skin off the nail plate & it is excellently hand crafted & does remove dead skin off very easily. I like how she is double ended, as you can see one end is smaller, which is brilliant & useful to get close to the edges of your nail. I love this better than my cheaper, traditional nail pusher which I have been using for years. 

ETHEL 

Is also double ended, but with flat, straight blades, which is perfect to get into different angles to lift off & remove the dead skin off the nail. With this manicure tool, you have to be careful when using as it is incredibly sharp. 

I wasn't sure if I needed Ethel if have Doris, but I am glad I purchased her as well, because Ethel really lifts of the dead skin residue effortlessly, without applying pressure, after Doris's work. 

MARTHA

Martha is a nail paddle, she has small spoon & she is good to remove, plus clean round crevices of the nail by scooping up all the dead skin. I also love using her to clean under my nail too. 

PREP STEPS

I use Doris first by placing the edge of Doris & glide over the nail plate lifting off the dead skin residue. Secondly, I then use Ethel to lift & remove the dead skin. Then using Martha to scoop away residue, makes it easy for nipping off the dead skin with a cuticle nipper. Using Martha again, to clean under my nails. If need to trip nails down, I would use my nail clippers & next file to shape my nails. But if I am happy with the length, I would skip trimming down nails. I would then wash my hands & then finish off with a massage of NAVY cuticle balm & enjoy the divine scent. 

All of NAVY's nail tools are aesthetically pleasing. They are British hand crafted in a beautiful rich gold & with a unique titanium coating to ensure optimum hygiene which is extremely important especially as we are going through a pandemic, it is reassuring to know. Obviously, you have to ensure you clean your nail tools after each use. They are crafted to excellent quality, sleek design & are comfortable to work with in your hands. I love how they are hand crafted to last & serve for many years, as they even offer a service where to can send to them to sharpen them, which is brilliant to see a business so passionate about reducing waste, protecting our environment by creating top quality tools. 

NAVY's nail tools have a higher price tag than high street, but I do think they are worth the investment, as they do help me achieve beautiful, tidy prepped nails. I can't wait for Katey a super fine cuticle nipper to arrive & join rest of the dream team nail gang, which will replace the nipper I have now. Katey will be a major welcome upgrade. 

CREDIT:

Harriet Westmoreland Instagram photos