Colours that cool your nails

Beauty care and trends are related to changing seasons. And, there is nothing like a change, to make us feel good about ourselves. One of the easiest ways to express the changing season is through our choice of colours. It’s not just with the clothes we wear, but also the colours we choose for our lips, eyes and nails. During monsoon, we go for light, serene, pastel colours. We try to be as subtle as possible in our choice of clothes. The same goes for the nails too. We can select colours that are icy, cool and trendy.  
No matter what the season, hand, foot and nail care are most important. It shows that attention has been to details. Beauty is a total impact. There is no point wearing a glamorous outfit, if the hands, feet and nails reflect neglect and lack of care. Chipped nails and nail polish can really mar the entire effect. 

Protection of hands and nails is so important, specially during the monsoons, when fungal infection can set in. Detergents can also lead to itchy and rashy conditions. Wear rubber gloves for your washing chores. Surgical gloves are easily available at a chemist shop and can serve the purpose. Massage a cream after your washing tasks, working it into the skin. This takes only a few minutes of your time. You should also massage cream on the nails and the skin around the nails. 

Pink is in
As far as nail colours are concerned, pink is ideal for humid weather. Shimmer is very much in, so you can go for silver shimmer for the day and gold for the night. Lately dark colours have been in, especially black, but I feel that subtle colours are more suitable now. If you do go for bright and bold colours, keep the rest of your look simple. In fact, simplicity is the keyword for this season. You can also add a very glossy topcoat on bold and dark colours.

You can also go for icy colours like pink, mauve or ivory and then dress them up with nail art. Or, go for shades of brown, like coffee, bronze, copper, or sea shell and then add on glitter.

Why not try contrasting nail colours? Apply narrow strips of one colour on either side of each nail, with a contrasting strip of colour down the centre. Maybe, you can even try three narrow strips of different colours on each nail. You can also apply a light colour, wait till it is dry and then put little dots of bright colours. For a gala evening, go for gold or silver varnish, or try one of those colours with glittering stars.

Ideal manicure
French Manicure is ideal for the hands, during this season. One can achieve the “cool” look so easily. In French Manicure, the nails are usually pale pink or colourless, with white painted tips. The square tip was popular, but the oval tip is back in favour. You can get a professional nail stylist to do them up with false tips in acrylic.

Your nails should be long enough to try the French Manicure. First, using cotton wool soaked in polish remover, wipe off old nail polish and soak the hands in warm water, as one does for any manicure. Push back cuticles. Clean under the nails. Using nail clippers or scissors cut the nails evenly and straight across, if you want the square look. If you want rounded edges, use the emery board to round off the edges, filing only in one direction. Apply cream and massage it into the skin of the hands and fingers, specially the cuticles. Wipe off with a moist towel.

Now, paint only the tip of the nail with stark white nail polish. Apply it straight across. If you go for the squarish look, just painting across the tip will do. If you have rounded edges, you will have to follow the shape. Try painting the underside of the nail with white too. This will help to emphasise the tips. Allow the polish to dry and paint a second coat on the tips. Then using sheer transparent polish or a very pale pink colour, paint the entire nail. Allow it to dry and paint a second coat. Once every coat has dried, you can use a colourless, transparent polish as a topcoat on the entire nail. This helps to protect the manicure.