Sonia’s top 6 tips | How to look after nails

Nailberry began life as a premium nail salon in Chelsea where our founder Sonia witnessed first hand the damage clientele experienced as a result of semi-permanent gel manicures, pollution and lifestyle factors. As a result, she set about creating polishes and treatments that help overcome nail and cuticle concerns… and our award-winning L’Oxygéné and Apothecary collections were born.

Today, cracked cuticles and dehydrated or weak nails continue to trouble so many of us. So, as a fully qualified nail technician and with over a decade of experience in this field, we’ve picked Sonia’s brains on her top tips to restore beautifully healthy and conditioned nails and cuticles.

1. Avoid cutting cuticles. While this may look neater, cutting them can expose the nail bed to bacteria. Instead, soak hands, then gently push back cuticles with a damp wooden orange stick.

   
   
2. Keep cuticles moisturised. It’s my number one way to keep nails protected and in great condition. Massage Little Treasure Nourishing Cuticle Oil at night - this boosts blood flow, while the concentrated oil rejuvenates and protects.
   
   
3. If nails are very weak, cut, rather than file, them short. You only need to do this temporarily, but keeping them short will boost recovery time.
   
   
4. Use targeted nail treatments. Brittle, breaking nails will really benefit from using our award-winning The Cure Nail Hardener while another award winner, our Acai Nail Elixir, is a bestselling all-round booster that helps nourish, harden, protect, boost growth and conceal ridges.
 Apply a coat every three days for one week (then remove and repeat).
   
   
5. Take regular gel polish detoxes. This is essential as gel removal can weaken nails. It’s then tempting to reapply gel to make them feel stronger, which just creates a vicious circle. Switching to our breathable, 12-free and moisture permeable L’Oxygéné polishes means you can still wear nail colour during the detox, as it won’t dry out nails. Of course, if your nails are especially weak, then take a complete break and apply a targeted treatment.
   
   
6. Always use acetone-free polish remover. Acetone-based removers may be fast (and cheap) but they can really dry out and irritate nails, cuticles and the surrounding skin. Our Clean Bi-Phase Nail Colour Remover and Miracle Corrector Pen are acetone-free, and instead use a balance of organic solvents to remove polish quickly and kindly. In fact, Clean is enriched with AHAs and Muscat Rose Tree Oil, while our Pen is infused with Jojoba Oil, which helps nourish and revitalise the nail bed and skin around the nail.