Roxanne Campbell’s Guide To The Perfect At-Home Manicure
Like with many of our regular beauty treatments, the weekly or fortnightly trip to the nail salon is cancelled or rather postponed until further notice. As we adjust to the new normal we are all taking on the personal grooming tasks that we would normally entrust to a professional. Whether it’s caring for your hair at home, or shaping your eyebrows it can be a struggle to achieve salon-results at home but like with most new skills, it takes time, practice and patience.
Mastering the perfect mani is no exception a little practice and following a good method will not only leave your hands feel pampered but you’ll have the satisfaction of immaculately groomed nails in no time. And that’s where we come in, we’ve enlisted the help of multi-award-winning Manicurist and Entrepreneur, Roxanne Campbell. Roxanne has worked with celebrities including Alicia Keys, Adele, Jourdan Dunn, and Winnie Harlow, teamed up with prestigious fashion designers for fashion shows in New York, London and Paris and has worked on major fashion campaigns and editorial spreads with Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar to name a few. Roxanne also worked on the London 2012 Olympic Games, creating nails for the Athletes competing, finds time to teach Nail Technology and is also the founder of her own nail polish brand Roxanne Campbell London. Her products are cruelty-free and toxic-free, have a rich quality and are formulated to be long lasting.
Here, Roxanne guides us through her method for executing the perfect mani, you are in very safe hands.
The Tools You’ll Need:
Cuticle pushes
Cuticle nippers
Nail clippers
Round cotton pads
Orangewood stick
Nail file
White block
Kitchen roll
Towel x2
Table lamp (or a well-lit area to work)
The Products You’ll need:
Nail polish remover
Cuticle remover
Cuticle oil
Hand cream
RC Base Coat
RC Nail Lacquer
RC Top Coat
O.P.I Corrector Pen
Find a comfortable work area to do your manicure. I would recommend using an ironing board because you could adjust it to your preferred height. Alternatively, you could use the corner of a dining table. Place one of the hand towels on the work area to protect your furniture. Roll up the other hand towel (like a Roly Poly Cake) to use as your armrest. Get a bowl of hot water the temperature will be perfect by the time you finish prepping your nails.
Wash your hands with an antibacterial soap and dry well with a towel before you start.
STEP 1. CUT & File
Remove all traces of nail polish. Use your nail clippers to trim the nails down shorter if necessary.
File your natural nails with a nail file going in one direction to prevent your nails from peeling. Do not seesaw as in going back and forth with your nail file. This could make your nails break or split. My favourite nail file is from The Edge Black Beauty 240/240 medium grit.
STEP 2. Cuticle TREATMENT
It is important to use a cuticle remover during your manicure this is one of the most important steps in ensuring a clean professional manicure. I like to use Butter London Melt Away Cuticle Exfoliator this product softens your cuticles and makes it easier for you to push back.
Apply a small amount of Butter London Melt Away Cuticle Exfoliator onto the cuticle area; massage the cuticle area in circular movements.
Place your hand into the bowl of warm water that you prepared earlier; the temperature should be perfect. Leave your hands and nails to soak for 5 minutes. Take your hand out of the manicure bowl after 5 minutes.
Dry your hand with a towel (gently pat your fingernails with the towel you do not want them to be completely dry).
Then gently push back cuticles using your cuticle pusher nip away any hangnails if necessary, using your cuticle nippers. Do not attempt to cut your cuticles yourself this should be done by professionals only. When I say cuticle, I mean cuticles and not the proximal nail fold. This is living skin if cut then you could get an infection. Clean underneath your nails using your manicure tool or orangewood Stick.
STEP 3. Buff & MOISTURISE
Gently buff the nail plate to smooth out the nail using a white block. Alternatively, you could use a two-way buffer from The Edge if you want to create a natural shine.
Apply a generous amount of Cuticle Oil from a brand named Dadi Oil. Massage the cuticle in circular movements. This step is important as you want to make sure that your cuticle and nails are moisturised really well to help promote a healthy nail growth.
STEP 4. EXFOLIATE & Massage
Repeat steps 1-3 on the other hand
Use one tablespoon of CND Sugar Vanilla Scrub. Rub and massage into your hands for about 50-60 seconds. It is good to exfoliate your hands as it removes all the dead skin cells leaving your hands feeling soft.
Rinse your hands in your bathroom sink using warm water. Dry your hands really well with a towel.
Apply your hand cream of choice to your hands, I like CND Vanilla lotion. Massage one hand at a time for three minutes each.
STEP 5 . Clean & PREP before Polish
Wipe your nail plate with nail polish remover using your round cotton pad. To remove any access product this tip will help your polish last longer.
STEP 6. POLISH
Apply one thin coat of RC Base Coat. Turn your brush so that you paint neatly around the corners. You do not want to flood the cuticles with the polish.
Apply two coats of the desired colour by Roxanne Campbell Nail Lacquer allow 60 seconds to dry between each coat. Do not over-flood your brush with too much product. This could cause your polish to get thick and gloopy. If you have hardly any polish on your brush, it will make it more difficult for you to paint, because you will be dragging the polish instead of letting it glide. So, use the right amount of product not too much and not too little.
Apply one coat of RC Top Coat. To protect your polish, help it last longer and promote a high shine.
Use a corrector pen to clean up your mistakes. For example, accidentally painting your skin by mistake. I use the O.P.I Corrector Pen all you need to do is fill the pen with nail polish remover. Alternatively, dip the tip of the pen into nail polish remover.
Use a spray like CND Solar Spray (if you’re short for time) to help your nails dry faster or wait for 10-15 minutes for your nails to be touch dry. Then your luxury manicure is complete.
Follow: @roxannecampbell