Rehab your nails: On the go cuticle care!

Well, fall is nearly upon us and that means winter is not far behind.  If you're anything like me (or you live anywhere that gets as cold as it does where I am!) then you know how terrible winter can be on your nails.  There are lots of ways to combat this, one of my favorites being paraffin dips, but aside from that one thing that can really help is keeping hands out of water.  Frequently wetting nails can actually weaken them so in the winter, waterless mani's are a great alternative to the traditional ones. Keeping your cuticles under control is especially important in the colder months when they can easily dry out and crack.  So today I'm going to tell you how you can do a quick 10 minute manicure with ZERO water!  This is so easy that those of you who work in offices can get away with doing it at your desk with minimal interruption to your workday!  I'm using mostly OPI products for this but generally speaking all you need is some lotion, a GEL cuticle remover, and a cuticle pusher.  I've added a file to the picture above and if your nails need reshaping it's a great time to throw that in but if you just need a quick cuticle pick me up you can skip that step.  So here's the how to:

Put the gel cuticle remover on cuticles and let it sit for three to five minutes.  The gel is important because this is a mani you can do on the go and having a liquid can be messy.  If you're sitting down to do this you're welcome to use a liquid BUT keep in mind that liquids don't stay on the nails as long either whereas gels are going to sit on the cuticle and penetrate them.  Since we're not using water to aid in softening them it's going to help a lot to have the gel. 

After it's set for a bit use your pusher to gently push back the cuticle.  If you're keeping up with regular mani's and cuticle care you should not have anything to nip off so this should be super simple and effective. I always keep nippers on me and if your cuticles are pretty bad you'll want to add them to this routine.  However, as you do it more you'll find you don't need them.

Step three is to add the lotion. Again if nails are very bad and you're doing this at home you can add some oil and let it penetrate three or four minutes and THEN add the lotion.  But if you're on the go just add the lotion and you're done!  Easy ten minute manicure that will keep your cuticles under control this winter!

What are your favorite products for winter?