“I’ve been in this
industry for just over five years now. I’ve been freelance for the past three
and then before that I was in a salon. I’m a beauty therapist so I do
everything from massage to waxing to nails. Generally my – well I say 9 to 5 –
but really my 9 [AM] – 9 [PM] job takes place at my clients’ homes. And then fashion
week is coming up so I will be quite busy with that. I haven’t had all of the
shows confirmed yet but normally it’s about 8 to 10 shows.
If you want to
strengthen your nails always, always, always keep them short even if you want
them to be long. I would always cut and file them weekly until they get to the
length that you want them to be. Because for me if you leave them and they’re
weak they’re just going to split further down the nail anyway. You are better
off keeping them short with a base on - preferably something to strengthen them - and that will keep them strong. If you keep doing that for a good couple of
weeks they then should be at the length you want them to be. And then also
moisturising. So put some cuticle oil on like Dior Crème Abricot which is a rich moisture cream basically – the
equivalent of an oil – and just massage that in. It’s the stimulation as well.
And preferably you should do that every night. I just keep it by my bed and do
it every night. You could use it during the day but for me it’s a bit rich so I
like it at night. You also can’t do it and then paint easily. That tub will
just last forever and you can put it on your lips also, it’s quite nice. But I
wouldn’t want to use it and then go out and try to do anything because you just
feel like you’ll stick to everything.
If you’re someone that
has manicures all the time or if you manicure your own nails all the time it is
good to have something on them because you’re strengthening them but at the
same time they’re not breathing. So if you are someone that loves loves loves
having their nails painted then what I would say is take it off one evening,
leave it off for the night and put your Abricot Crème or cuticle oil or
whatever it is you want, moisurise them over night, and then if you can’t leave
the house without a colour then put it on in the morning so at least they’re
having the night off. But ideally you want to give them more. But I know some
people can’t bear it. I think some people are lucky and they are given what
they’re given and naturally they’re going to have nice nails even if they abuse
them - that sounds a bit harsh - even if they don’t look after them. But I
think if you do have particularly weak nails or anything wrong with them and
you do really try and look after them then you will give them the break that
they need. Ideally if you manicure
your nails weekly and it lasted for five days and then take it off and leave it
off for two days and then do it again – I think that’s fine really. And for the
feet, you know some people just want to wear polish constantly all year round
but really you need to allow them to breath. And you also get discolouration.
Everyone should have a
good file with soft grit. So generally when you buy a nail filer it will tell
you what grit it is. So the grit will be something like 180 or 240 or even
lower. The higher it is the softer it is. So 240 is the softest but you should
know by feel. If you file your nails and it makes a really loud noise then I
think it’s too strong, too harsh for your nails. If you’ve got really strong
nails it’s not a problem but for most people you want something soft.
Also a good buffer. A
lot of people have ideas that buffing isn’t good. I think if you buff once a
month - you know you don’t need to do it all the time but just as and when they
need it. If they are discoloured
it will help get rid of the discolouration and if they are flaky it will get rid
of the top layers. But you don’t need to do it often. [Rumour has it the OPI buffer
is really good].
A good orange wood
stick to push back cuticles - or a hoof stick some people may call it – is another
good tool to have. You can get rubber hoof sticks. The rubber ones are probably
better to push back [cuticles]. I use a metal one personally but the rubber
ones are great because they’re hard at the end and with some Abricot Crème to
push back and then just moisturise really.
I think it’s also a
good idea to actually carry a file with you because how many times do you break
a nail when you’re out? You don’t have a file and you bite it or pick it off.
It sounds like the most basic of things – carrying a nail file with you. I
normally do have one with me but the times I don’t I get completely caught out
and I just think that is what everybody needs. And you can buy a file so
cheaply. I’ve even got one with a little case because it scratches everything
in your bag doesn’t it?
And people always ask
me do you need a base coat – you know why bother? They just see it as an unnecessary
thing but for me it protects your nails and it’s going to stop staining. So you
really can’t cheat [laughs]. If you were in a hurry and didn’t have time to do
four coats - the base, two colours and a top – if you apply one generous layer
of the colour I would still choose to do that and then a base and a top. So
you’re still getting the proper manicure. So the base is very important and the
top is very important to lock it in and to make it glossy. So you can’t really
compromise.
Dior currently doesn’t
have a hand moisturising cream. I don’t know but I think they might be
formulating one because I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t have a hand cream. They
have quite a nice range of their nail products – they don’t just sell colours,
they’ve got a couple of different base coats, two different top coats and the
Abricot Crème so I think it would be something that they would do. So watch
this space, maybe they are. I don’t know.”
- As revealed to Vanity Case
(Layla was a manicurist for Dior during the
launch of the company’s new autumn 2011 beauty range)
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