We spend so much time thinking about our legs, bums and tums pre-holiday that we often neglect our hands and feet. Susannah Taylor has the ultimate guide to beautifying your tips and toes at home
If you’re anything like me, then you may not think about the hard skin on the soles of your feet or the colour of your fingernails until the day before you leave for holiday and by then, it’s too late to book in anywhere for a mani /pedi. This year, it’s my aim to look after my hands and feet (especially my feet) all summer long, so whatever sandal I slip on they will do it justice.
Here are 6 products you should always have on hand at home for a salon-perfect mani and pedi without leaving your house.
1) REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish
£32, Buy online
Hands and feet will both benefit from a real going over with an exfoliating scrub. It gets rid of the dirt in your pores and also any self tan that might have been applied recently. This scrub is my favourite of all time as it not only smells of divine roses but leaves skin like a baby’s.
2) This Works Perfect Hands Intense Moisture
£18, Buy online
Here at GTG we are always on the look out for hand creams that don’t leave our hands like an oil slick, leaving you unable to open your front door. This one works hard and fast to instantly hydrate the skin, whilst also setting to work on pigmentation and skintone. We also know that it works a treat at softening hard, haggard heels. Apply overnight for an intense moisture hit.
3) Vinylux CND Weekly Top Coat
£9.95, Buy online
The difference between an average DIY manicure and an amazing one is the top coat. A great one will give your nails the look of a salon manicure from home. This one is the daddy of all top coats - designed to work in conjunction with CND Vinylux Weekly Polish, the varnish that stays chip free for seven days - it leaves nails with a dazzling megawatt shine that also keeps varnish in perfect nick for over a week.
4) Essie Nail Polish
£10.94, Buy online
It’s very hard for any other nail brand to beat the all-round quality of Essie. With over 300 shades to choose from with incredible and hilarious names, if there isn’t one that tickles your fancy from the core collection, then each season the new shades are always colour perfection. Never streaky or gloopy, the quality is unsurpassed and would beat any other nail polishes hands down in a chip-free contest. Basically your best bet for holiday colour.
5) Solar Oil
£12.95, Buy online
Packed with moisturising ingredients such as jojoba and almond oil, this cult nail oil is created to nourish deep into the skin around the nail bed. Apply around nails nightly for harder, faster growing talons, or apply to bare nails during a DIY manicure or pedicure to enable you to push cuticles back cleanly and easily.
6) Leighton Denny Precision Corrector and Brush
£11, Buy online
You can tell Leighton Denny’s products are created by a nail expert. This product is the exact replica of the brush corrector that professional manicurists use. Dip the pointed brush in the Corrector fluid to tidy up around nails and remove any DIY splodges.