Manicure Monday: Julep's Winterize Your Nails

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my money except Mont Bleu, Julep, Stilazzi, and Aveeno. I am not affiliated with the companies except Aveeno (I am ambassador) nor getting paid to advertise the products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

This Manicure Monday is a special post. Other than taking part in "Julep's Winterize Your Nails," it's my weekly nail routine. It's a highly requested question I get asked a lot by people.

Step 1:

Every week I cut my nails. I cannot grow them out. They bother me when they get to a certain point. It might be the years of playing piano and playing with your fingernails. I actually cut my nails with a toe nail clipper from Tweezerman. Since they're straight edge instead of the curve (for nails), it's just easy to clip once and move to the next finger. The first two nails on the left are clipped and the other two nails on the right aren't. I wanted to show you a before and after.

Step 2:

After I clip my nails, I file the corners so it isn't sharp. I personally prefer glass nails files. They're a lot easier to use and does a cleaner job. Mine is from Mont Blue. You can read my review on this glass file.

Step 3:

I clean my cuticles with Julep Essential Cuticle Oil using Stilazzi Cuticle Pusher. It makes a smoother base to paint around the cuticles. Once the cuticles look nice, I massage the area with my fingers. Then I wash my hands. You don't want the oil left on your nails. The oil will prevent the polish to stick onto the nail beds. You can also use alcohol (not the drinking one) to remove the oil left on the nails.

Step 4:

I don't recommend you buff your nails every week. It'll make your nails weaker and in my opinion, it's not the most healthiest. If you do buff your nails, I recommend once a month. I didn't buff this time around but I wanted to show you. I used a 4-Step Nail Buffer that I got at a nail supply store.

Step 5:

I end the nail routines with a nail strengthener. Since I have extremely weak nails, I need to strengthen it some way or another. I use OPI Nail Envy.

Since I'm taking part in their winter project, I wanted to show you their Trending Winter Colors. You can also check out their nail polish collection.

Here's my nail of the week. I applied Formula X For Sephora Base Coat, 2 coats of Julep in Stevie, and then topped it off with Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Topcoat.

Since this is about winterizing your nails, I do this every winter. I make sure I moisturize every single time I wash my hands, as well as, the last thing I apply before heading to bed. I make sure my hands and nails are always soak with lotion. Hydration is key!

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my money except Mont Bleu, Julep, Stilazzi, and Aveeno. I am not affiliated with the companies except Aveeno (I am ambassador) nor getting paid to advertise the products. This post is written with my honest opinion.