Hand and Nail Care 2025

Hello everyone! Today I wanted to do a up to date hand and nail care blog post. It has been years since I did an update and there has been some changes in the hand and nail care that I have been using. I thought it would be a great time to do this seeing how the winter/ cold months are here and that is when we all get dry cracked hands and no one wants that. 

Above is an over view of the products that I use, it really is not that much now day I just like to keep it simple, kind of other then using two different cuticle oils and balms. 

Let's take a closer look at each item and some details. 

First we will start off with an oldie but a goodie, or a classic. The CND Solar Oil I have been using this for many years I think since 2017. When I was in nail tech school my teacher told me about this cuticle oil, that it is very good, it will keep your nails from peeling, and keep your cuticles nice and moisturized. When I first started using this I do agree that my nail did not peel at all, then over the years for some reason they stated to peel, just a little at the tips of the nails again. 

I still use cuticle oil twice a day in the morning and at night on the cuticles and under the nails, and on the weekend sometimes for a little extra moisture I use cuticle oil three time, work tend to dry out my hand, so on the weekend I try to give them a little more TLC. 

One of the main ingredients is Jojoba Oil and Sweet Almond oil (shown in the photo above) which is suppose to be good for keeping your nails/ cuticles moisturized.

CND Solar Oil Ulta for $15.25 USD for 0.5Oz  

Next we have another cuticle oil that I have been trying out this year (I started to try this one back in February.) Using two cuticle is not necessary, I just use two because I wanted to give this one a try. As you can see from the photo above this is a Hawaiian brand that was really the main reason I wanted to give this a try. 

This cuticle oil is has very simple ingredients Jojoba, two Hawaiian oils; Kukui Nut and Mono'i Oil, along with Vitamin E oil. This also in my option is more of a dryer oil then CND's. This oil does moisturize will and also has no scent (my oil had no scent, the website says it is suppose to, maybe they forgot that in the one I got?)

As stared above I have been trying this cuticle oil since February, I do like it but I don't love it as much and CND Solar Oil. I was kind of thinking and hoping that the Kapa Nui oil had a Hawaiian scent to it, but the bottle I have has no smell to it. I am unsure if I would repurchase this cuticle oil or just stick to my beloved CND Solar Oil.

Kapa Nui 100-organic-cuticle-oil Kapa Nui.com for $13.50 or $16.00 USD for 0.5Oz

Just a side note I do really like the flat brush that it comes with it makes it easy to get under the nails. 

Third we have another cuticle item the Unicorn Magic- Lemon Deluxe Cuticle Rescue. If you have been following/ reading this blog for some time you will know this the trials and tribulations 
that I have had with finding a replacement for my beloved Nail Butter (me being overly dramatic) and after that long journey, I can say I think I found a cuticle balm that I love again.

Unicorn Magic- Lemon Deluxe Cuticle Rescue has a very similar texture to Nail Butter a very whipped texture it is lemon scented, on the website their is a lot of scent that you can pick from, I choose to pick that same scent as Nail Butter. 

As for ingredients (shown above) it has a lot of good organic ingredients, the two ingredients that I found were similar where the lanolin (which comes from sheep's wool) and bees wax. If you don't like products with animal by products their is a vegan option as well.

Unicorn Magic is from a small shop on Etsy, which is great to support a small business. The owner Sarah makes a lot of body care that seem to be very good. the two items that I tried I really love and highly recommend this shop! 

Unicorn Magic- Lemon Deluxe Cuticle Rescue They have a few different scents in this formula and sizes. 0.5oz $8.50, 1oz $12.50, and 2oz $20.

I personally this that the 0.5oz is fine, due to the organic ingredients this only has a shelf life of one year and a little goes a long way, you only need a small amount on each nail. At first I did use this two times a day morning and night, then after a month I just use this a night. 

Next we have another alternative the Unicorn Magic- Aloha- Deluxe Vegan Cuticle. This one doesn't have a whipped texture it has more of a balm texture like the Burts Bee's Cuticle Balm, it still has the organic ingredients just not as many as the deluxe one. The Vegan option comes in a lot of different scents and unscented. I just had to pick the Aloha scent, this has a fruity scent to it, actually not what I expected I figured it would have a coconut scent, this still does have a nice scent to it. 

Between the two formulas if your cuticles are very dry I would go with the Deluxe Cuticle Rescue it seems to be the best for that. They are both very good and I would recommend either one. 

I use this one just on the weekends as a second scent option and once again to give it a try, you do not need both.  

Unicorn Magic- deluxe-vegan-cuticle-balm They have a lot of different scents in the formula. Same price and sizes as the deluxe, this one has a 4oz option for $26.

Now on to the lotions for the hands, we have the Aveeno Daily Moisturizing body lotion. This is a very basic body lotion that I love to use on my hands. It has prebiotic oats that are good for moisturizing the skin. I think this lotion is a little thick and sticky, which I don't mind on the hand I just don't care for it on the body. I use this lotion year round on my hand in the morning and I feel like it does a good job with helping your hand not be dry. Also with this being fragrance free and have the oats in it I think this is great for sensitive skin, like mine. 

You can find this at any store that sells Aveeno, I got this at Target. 

Lastly for the hands we have a winter staple the Aveeno Baby Balm. I have been using this for a some years now and I feel like this is a must if your hands are very dry in the winter. This is a very thick nighttime balm that is a little greasy but that is ok because you put this on at night. This is great for people with sensitive skin because it is meant for babies, really anyone can use this balm it doesn't matter. 

You can find this anywhere that sells Aveeno. I got this size at Walmart.  

This last item is just an extra item that I only use the weekends after I take off my nail polish and I would say is not a must the Dove Hot Cocoa Swirl Body Scrub. I have been using different kind of scrubs on my hands for years and due to my skin being very sensitive more so then ever, I came across this scent last year and I wanted to give it a try. This scrub smells so good like chocolate, it is a very gentle scrub, and on the label says that 1/4 moisturizing cream. 

As stated above I don't think this is a must use item just and extra thing to do once a week. I do feel like the Dove Hot Cocoa Swirl Body Scrub has made a difference in the softness of my hands. 

As of doing this post the Hot Cocoa Swirl scent is available at Target, this is a seasonal scent so you can only find this around Christmas time.  

Dove Hot Cocoa Swirl Body Scrub Target for $7.99.

Well this has been a long post, I hope it has been informative and will help you with your dry hands and cuticle this winter and beyond.

See you next time for more nail fun! 

Autumn Colors- Fall Nail Design

Hello everyone! Today on the blog we will be creating a very simple fall nail design, with a fall colored gradient and some black colored leaves and branches, a long with a touch of gold glitter. 

Here are the polishes and nail art tools used to create this fall nail design-

Top and base coat- CND Stickey Base Coat and CND Super Shiney Top Coat.

Polishes- Orly- Melting Point- Erupt To No Good, OPI Lisbon- Now Museum Now You Don't, and Holo Taco- 1st Anniversary- Gold Flakie. 

Acyclic paint- Black 

Other- Water for cleaning nail art brushes, makeup sponge for gradients, and liquid latex for easy clean up around the nails.

Apply a top coat to clean dry nails, let that dry.

Polish all of the nails with a shimmer orange (Orly- Erupt To No Good.)

Let that dry. 

Fall Colored Gradient:

First we will start off with a gradient on all of the nails and we will also be doing nail art on all of the nails as well. 

First we need to apply a liquid around the fingers to help with clean up and to make doing gradients much easier. 

For the gradient part take a makeup sponge and polish a brick red polish on the sponge (OPI- Now Museum Now You Don't) and slightly over lapping the polish with the same color that we used as our base color the shimmer orange (Orly- Erupt To No Good.) The brick red should be near the tips of the nails.

Then dab the sponge on to each nail, you will need to repeat this step at least three times to be opaque.  

Once you have finished your gradient peel off your liquid latex with some tweezers. 

For an added touch polish a gold flakie polish over the nails, apply one coat for a subtle gold sparkle. 

Leaves and Branches Design on all of the Nails: 

On all of the nails we will be creating a simple nail design of leaves and branches. Take a thin striper brush with black paint on it and staring near the cuticle, on a corner of the nail, make a long straight line, on the end of the long line that you just made make a leaf shape, then on each side of the long line make a few shorter line and make a leaf shape at the end of those lines. 

On most of the nails I made four of these, also on some of the nails I just made a leaf shape. On almost all of the nails I created two of these design, the only nail that I did one is the pinky nail. 

Once your design is fall ready apply a top coat to seal in your design and add a nice shine to your nails, along with helping them last. 

Hope all of you enjoyed this simple fall nail design and are having a good fall!

Here is the practice version.

See you next time for more nail fun! 

Happy Halloween- Nail Design

Hello everyone! Happy Halloween! I was planning on do this post a few days before Halloween, as you can see that did not happen, I am posting this on Halloween, which is ok too. It has just been a long tiring week and I did not get a chance to finish this post before Halloween. Anyways 

today on the blog we will be creating a cute Halloween design with pumpkins and a ghost. 

Here are the polishes and nail art tools used to create this Halloween nail design:

Base and top coat- Orly- Bonder Base Coat (been trying another base coat) and CND Super Shiney Top Coat.

Polishes- Holo Taco- Rainbow Collection-Orange Drink, Holo Taco- Electric Holo Collection- Hot - Wire Pink, Holo Taco- Rainbow Collection- Purple Slushie, Holo Taco- Electric Holo Collection- Electrostatic, and Holo Taco- Electric Holo Collection- Circuit Breaker.

Acyclic paint- black, white, green, yellow, and red (to make orange)

Nail art brushes- thin striper and detail brush.  

Other- makeup sponge for gradients, and water to clean off nail art brushes. 

Apply a top coat to clean dry nails, let that dry. 

Polishes- 

Thumb, ring and pinky finger nails- Orange holographic polish ( the base color for the thumb and pinky nails.)

Index nail- Silver holographic polish. 

Middle finger nail- Black holographic polish.

Gradient on the Thumb and Pinky Finger Nails- 

First we will start off with gradient on the thumb and pinky finger nails. On the pinky finger nail we will not be have nail art over the gradient, just on the thumb nail. 

First we need to apply a liquid around the fingers to help with clean up and to make doing gradients much easier. 

For the gradient part take a makeup sponge and polish a purple holographic polish (Holo Taco- Purple Slushie) and slightly over lapping the polish a pink holographic polish (Holo Taco- Hot Wire Pink), then once agin slightly over lapping the polish, with the same color you used as your base color the orange holographic polish (Holo Taco- Orange Drink.)

Then dab the sponge on to each nail, you will need to repeat this step at least two times to be opaque.  

Once you have finished your gradient peel off your liquid latex with some tweezers. 

Pumpkin on the Thumb Nail-

Once you are finished with the gradient on the pumpkin. First take a thin detail brush with white paint on it, (we will first make the outline/ shape of the pumpkin with white) to make your pumpkin make an apple like shape in the middle of the nail, fill that in a few times to be opaque. We are first making an outline of the pumpkin in white, that way it will show more over our gradient.

Once your white outline has dried take an orange or mix red and yellow to make an orange, and fill in your white pumpkin shape at lest three times to be opaque, let that dry. 

For your pumpkin's face make three triangles, first the one in the middle for the nose and then two above that for the eyes, then fill that in with black paint.

For the pumpkins smile, make a curved line under the triangle nose, then at the top of the curved line make a straight line on each side making a small square for the tooth, then fill in the smile with black paint. 

For the final touch, make a green stem at the top of the pumpkins head and then two curved lines for the vines. 

Pumpkin on the Ring Finger Nail-

On to the pumpkin on the ring finger nail, we will be using the whole nail of the pumpkin and just making a face on the nail. First take a thin striper brush with black paint on it and make a triangle in the middle of the nail for the nose (I accidentally made the nose to big), then make two triangles above the nose for the eyes, fill in the triangles with black paint. 

For the pumpkins smile, make a curved line under the triangle nose, then at the top of the curved line make a straight line on each side making a small square for the tooth, then fill in the smile with black paint. This tooth I made a little bigger. 

Ghost on the Middle Finger Nail- 

Lastly we will be making a little ghost on the middle finger nail. Take a thin detail brush with white paint on it make a circle for the head, then two oval shapes for the arms, and then make a two curved line for his body to where it make a tale near the tip of the nail. Then fill in your ghost a lest three times to opaque. 

For the ghost eyes and mouth, take a medium size dotting tool with black paint on and and make two dots for the eyes and then a lager dot for the mouth, you can always use a paint brush to make the mouth a little bigger. 

Once your nails are ready for tricks or treats apply a top coat to seal in your design and to help it last through all of the candy eating that you will be doing. 

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween and of course hope all of you enjoyed this cute Halloween nail design! 

See you next time for more nail fun! 

Ocean Gradient- Blue Gradient Nails

Hello everyone! Today on the blog I felt like do another gradient, that is kind of summer like an ocean colored gradient. The polishes from the Starrily Northern Light collection were just calling to me to create an ocean like gradient, with a touch of gold glitter in the gradient, or that I just thought it would look pretty. Since trying the a liquid latex around my finger for gradients, it has been so much easier to do and I feel like I have gotten much better at gradients, if you are not allergic to latex and are having trouble with gradients this is a great way to improve on them, it's a game changer. 

Also if you if you have seen my other post this color combo might look a little familiar, I did create a tropical design this summer with a similar color palette, the dark blue was near the cuticle and the light was near the tips of the nails. If you missed that post and would like to check that out here is the link ocean-view-tropical-nail-design

Anyways back to the creating the nail gradient. Here are the polishes and nail art tools used to create this ocean gradient.

Base and Top coat- Not shown, I have been trying out the Orly Bonder Base, 

The CND Stickey base has been a go to for many years. Top coat- CND Super Shiney Top Coat.

Polishes- Starrily- Northen Lights- Polar Lights- Magnetic, Starrily- Northen Lights- Polar Lights- Magnetic, and Starrily- Northen Lights- Golden Starlight. 

Other- Makeup sponge for gradients and Liquid latex. 

Apply a top coat to clean dry nails, let that dry.

Polish all the nails with a light blue/ shimmer (Starrily- Polar Lights)

Let that dry.

Once your base polish has dried, we can create the gradient. First we need to apply a liquid around the fingers to help with clean up and to make doing gradients much easier. 

For the gradient part take a makeup sponge and first polish your dark blue (Starritly- Oceanic Moonlight) and then slightly over lapping the polish the same color you used as your base color the light blue/ green (Starrily- Polar Lights.)

Then dab the sponge on to each nail, you will need to repeat this step at least two times to be opaque.  

Once you have finished your gradient peel off your liquid latex with some tweezers. 

For an added touch you can apply a gold reflective polish (Starrily- Golden Starlight.) This polish I did only apply one coat, which made it all little to subtle and I wish I would have a least applied two coat so it would be more visible. Above is a photo that I got the gold to show at  a certain angle. 

Once you are happy with your ocean gradient, apply a top coat to add a shine and to help your nails last.

Hope all of you enjoy this ocean blue gradient nails.

See you next time for more nail fun! 

Colors of Paradise- Tropical Sunset Nail Design

Hello everyone! Today on the blog we will be creating one more tropical design for the summer season, see how Monday September 22 is the first day of fall. We will be creating a beautiful sunset with five different colored polishes for the sky. 

Here are the polishes and nail art tools used to create this sunset tropical nail design- 

Base and Topcoat- CND Stickey Base Coat and CND Super Shiney Top Coat.

Polishes- ILNP- Under the Sea Collection- Sandbar Magnetic Polish, Color Club- It's a Sauna Out Here- Mood Changing, OPI Hawaii- Is Mai Tai Croooked, Zoya- Splash- Kristie, Zoya- Splash- Jessica, OPI- Hello Kitty- My Pal Joey, and Holo Taco-Vacation collection-Beach Please. 

Acrylic Paint- Black, white, and yellow.

Nail art brushes- Thin detail and striper brush.

Other- Water to clean off your nail art brushes, makeup sponge, and liquid latex to make clean up easier.

Apply a base coat to clean dry nails, let that dry.

Polish-

Thumb, middle and ring- a sand like color (ILNP- Sandbar.)

Index and pinky- cream color pink (Zoya- Kristie.)

Let that dry. 

 Pink and Purple Gradient on the Index and Pinky Nails- 

First we will start off with the easy part the simple gradient on the index and pinky nail. For the two colored gradient take a purple and pink, polish the purple first on to a makeup sponge and then the pink. Then dab the sponge on to the nails, you will need to do this a few times to be opaque. 

Once your gradient is opaque enough apply a top coat right away to help the gradient to look more blended. 

Tropical Sunset Gradient on the Thumb, Middle and Ring Finger Nails-  

For the sunset gradient we will be using a lot of colors this time, the sunset will be created on the thumb, middle, and ring finger nails. 

For the gradient part, we will be using a lot of colors so make sure to polish each color thin on to the sponge. First take a makeup sponge and polish your a bright pink (Color Club- It's a Sauna Out Here) if your nails are long all the colors should show on the nails, for me on the middle and ring this color did not show up, it only showed on the thumb nail. 

Next polish a light orange (OPI Hawaii- Is Mai Tai Croooked), a pink (Zoya- Kristie), a purple (Zoya- Jessica) This will be the colors of the sky, then add a blue (OPI- My Pal Joey), lastly (ILNP- Sandbar.) Also make sure the polishes slightly over lapping. 

Then dab the sponge on to each nail, you will need to repeat the last step for each nail, also you will need to go over the nails at least three times to be opaque. 

For an added touch for the sand, take a clean sponge and dap a glitter sand colored polish on where the sand should be (Holo Taco- Beach Please.)

Once you have finished your gradient peel off your liquid latex with some tweezers. 

Then apply a topcoat to smooth and blend your gradient together. 

Sunset on the Middle Finger Nail: 

For the sunset on the middle finger nail, take a thin striper brush with white paint on it and make a thin line where the purple and blue for the ocean meet. Then take a thin detail brush with white paint first (this helps for the yellow to stand out) and make half circle on the white line in the middle. Once the white paint has dried paint yellow right over the white for the sun. 

For some small waved make two small wavy line on the blue part of the nail. 

Palm trees on the Ring Finger Nail:

On the ring finger nail make two palm trees one tall on the right side and on that is a little bit shorter on the left side. Then take your striper brush with white paint on it and make a few wavy for some ocean waves.  

Palm Trees on the Thumb Nail- 

On the thumb nail make three palm trees, two tall palm trees on the sides of the nail and a small one under the larger one, on the right side.

Once again for an added touch make a few wavy lines in the water for some small waves.

Once your tropical nail design is sunset ready apply a top coat to seal in your design and help it last through all of your sunsets.

Here is the practice version. 

Hope all of you enjoyed this beautiful tropical sunset nail design!

See you next time for more nail fun!