Face of the Week - Ellis Faas

This was a very simple, and exceedingly quick look I created in about three minutes flat this morning.  After applying foundation (Rimmel Stay Matte in 200 Soft Beige), I used E105 on the eyes, darker on the mobile lid, and sheered out with the fingers towards the brow-bone. Eyes were finished with Clarins Wonder Perfect.  Then I used S302 on the cheekbones - I love the subtle flush of sheerly shimmering colour you get with this! - and finished with L307 on the lips, which is a lovely, and surprisingly wearable, coral shade.

I won't lie, there is a learning curve to using the Ellis Faas products, the applicators can be temperamental until you get used to them (not helped by the fact that I think the nozzles on my blush are all blocked bar one) but they're worth it as the eye and cheek products barely budge during the day.  The hard part is actually not applying too much!  This look was a lot brighter and more glow-y in the flesh.  I loved it, as it was natural and not too much for a day in the office.

Do you have any Ellis Faas?  Is it a brand you'll be checking out when it arrives in Liberty next month?

Reader Request - Dry Skin Tips

 I get a couple of requests from readers now and again (Whoo! People actually read this!)  and I thought I would start answering the questions here if they're beauty-related enough.

I think everybody is suffering from dry skin to a greater or lesser degree at the moment, thanks to the dreadful weather, here's how I deal with mine.

Firstly:

Exfoliate! 

I've found, over the years, that the key to dealing with dry and flaky patches is to ensure you have an exfoliation routine.  There's no need to go overboard, but when you're cleaning your face in the morning, you'll find the addition of a muslin cloth, and some hot water (as detailed here) to your normal cleanser and using that to remove it will help you get rid of your flaky patches, and keep on top of them on a daily basis.  I get my muslin cloths from Mothercare and find that a dozen cut into quarters is more or less a year's supply!  Not bad for about £6.

then

Moisturise!

Please, try not to leave the house without moisurising the skin that's exposed to the elements, hands, lips, face and neck.  You can use a heavy moisturiser if you've found one that suits, or you can supplement your normal one with either a facial oil or serum underneath.  Currently I'm using Neal's Yard Frankincense cream, with Elemental Herbology cell food underneath, which I find have helped my skin not to dry out so much at all this winter, a result I'm happy with!  Also, it's not caused zits, which can happen if your moisturiser is too oily for your skin.


Don't Overcleanse!

Now, I know I said exfoliation was the key to getting rid of dry patches, but that doesn't mean that you should be using harsh cleansers as well!  Check the ingredients list of your cleanser and if it contains "foaming agents" such as sodium laureth (or lauryl) sulfate, then it could well be the product that you're using that's making your skin feel dry.  I find using a cleansing oil helps me avoid most foaming nasties, and also means I can avoid preservatives too.  I'm using Nude Cleansing oil at the moment, which, after a period of adjustment I now really love!

Use a balm!

And not just on your lips.  I find the more natural balms are great for using as night-creams, (Badger Balm in particular is great for this, and if Sisley weren't so expensive, I'd be splashing that around my face with a lot more abandon too), after cleansing.  During the day I also use them around my nose, on my lips, around my cuticles, anywhere where the skin is dry and/or exposed to the elements, particularly if it's cold and windy.

That's basically it - to be honest, my routine doesn't vary that much year round, I might swap to a lighter moisturiser (Organic Surge is pretty good) and cleansing oil (I swap to Origins minty and lovely Liquid Crystal, now sadly discontinued, but I have a stash that I'm eking out), in warmer times but it's essentially the same winter or summer - and this is just what I've found that works for me. If you have any other tips that might help, I'd love to hear them.

YouTubers for Haiti

I've had a few problems this week (ill-health, bad planning and terrible weather related) so there's no makeover. Instead, I'd like you all to go to this link here and give a little cash to DEC in order to help out the people in Haiti who have real problems at the moment.  If you'd prefer to help out Doctors Without Borders, you can click here  I'll be making my donation later today, it'd be wonderful if some of you gave too, if you haven't already.

Beauty blogging isn't at all important, but it's wonderful to see some of us doing good things.

Thank you.

Here is the nude ...

One thing I don't actually find as universally appealing as we're told is the "nude lip" look that's so popular these days.  I've noticed in my trawls around a lot of magazines, books and blogs that a lot of women appear to be scared of colour on their lips, and I'm wondering why that is?  Get your lip colour right, I always think and you don't actually need other makeup!

Don't get me wrong, when the concealer-lip look is done well, as above, I think it's superbly flattering, but get the colour slightly wrong and you can look like a zombie.  Or worse:

It's one of those looks that I, personally, think is easier to get wrong than it is to get right.  What do you think?

Nails - my new obsession!

If you follow me on Twitter I think you'll have noticed that my latest obsession is my nails!  And, I'm also obsessed with nail varnish at the moment too ... but not just any polish, I'm mainly obsessed with holographic ones ...

This is the collection I have of them so far.  I blame Mizzworthy, if she hadn't tied me down and forced me to buy  introduced me to the OPI Designer Series Celebration polish (2nd from the left there) then I wouldn't have this lemming for holographic polishes, because I wouldn't have known they existed!

My nails are currently painted with OPI Extravagance (3rd from the right) which is a gorgeous purple with red, yellow, orange and green holographic glitter:

 

Love the depth of colour in this polish, and also love that it's quite subtle from a distance:

I've tried China Glaze and OPI holo's so far, but I'm REALLY looking forward to Nubar releasing their holo-polishes at the end of January ... they'll be available from Beauty Shed, and I'll be picking up at least a couple ...I found the swatches here, and I can't wait!

Organic Wednesday - Voya

Q: Why is the beach wet?

A: Because the sea weed!

Look, it's the first Organic Wednesday since Christmas, that's my only excuse for the terrible joke, I think I accidentally memorised my nephew's 101 Terrible Jokes book over the break! Luckily, this week's products aren't terrible, and I just hope Voya - a family run Irish company who specialise in luxurious seaweed based products - will forgive me ...

Have three products to talk to you about, conditioner, shower gel and a body lotion, and I have a guest blogger again, but first, a little bit about the company:

About Voya

Based in Strandhill, Ireland, the company runs one of the few remaining seaweed spas in Ireland, and they have a great love of organics, they've spend a lot of time over the last ten years or so developing their product range, for example, it took them six years to figure out the process of drying seaweed in a manner that merely puts it into "stasis" rather than killing it off entirely, as they say:

"Seaweed (an algae) dries when the tide goes out, and to prevent it from dying and keep its cell structures intact, it has developed a natural defence against this: slowly reducing its water content and entering a period of stasis or dormancy. Because of our ability to replicate this, we don’t have to treat our seaweed with harmful preservatives, and so the full recuperative power of wild seaweed is brought to you in each product."

Their products are entirely organic, and the company's philosophy is this:

"Inspired by the breathtaking natural beauty around us and the long-standing traditions of the area, VOYA has adopted organic and sustainable ways of creating our products. We use only sustainable harvesting practices to ensure that we don’t damage the delicate coastal environment that provides us with our certified organic seaweed. We then combine this with the best organic ingredients from around the world to bring you a unique seaweed bath experience and a range of products that not only heal the body but leave the skin silky smooth."


The Products

Forget Me Knot hair conditioner 

Because of my recent keratin treatment, hair products aren't something I'm experimenting too much with at the moment, so I invited another blogger (and my lovely housemate)  McTofu to try this one out for me.

Voya say:

"Forget Me Knot uses an express delivery formula that includes our organic seaweed and both vitamin B5 and vitamin E to add moisture, shine and protect hair from environmental damage. An effective conditioner with essential oils and natural active ingredients to help repair, protect, de-tangle and replenish the hair. As our organic formulations don't use harsh chemicals, you can use this product daily."

McTofu says:

"One advantage of living with a beauty blogger is that quite often some lovely products come my way. One such product is Voya ‘Forget Me Knot’ organic conditioner. Made from hand harvested seaweed, I was expecting it to smell of the sea, but no, it had a pleasant spicy, woody smell. Now, I’m a gal that is used to sweet smelling hair products, so I was not overly impressed with the scent when I squeezed a 50p sized blob onto my hand.

It spread through my hair evenly enough and I left it on for my usual time of about 3mins. It rinsed through easily and when dry, my hair seemed to comb through well without too much trouble from tangles. Once dry, I didn't notice that my hair was any glossier or smoother as it promised on the pack, however the scent really grew on me throughout the day. Voya Forget Me Knot is a nice product but it is slightly out of my price range for an every day conditioner, I liked it but don’t think it is a product that I would buy for myself."

 Get Lippie says:

The instructions for this product say to leave the conditioner in place for 15 minutes, another housemate has tried this product too, and really liked it, and she also commented on the unusual and pleasant smell.  Both testers have coloured and porous hair, the conditioner (which I'd actually consider more of a mask than a daily use product, owing to the long time it's recommended to leave it in place) is very thick, rich and seems to be really suitable for dry, coloured and/or processed hair.

Now onto (reviewed together underneath images):

Squeaky Clean body wash

 Voya says: 

"...Infused with the natural purifying properties of wild organic seaweed, sourced from Ireland’s untamed Atlantic coastline. Squeaky Clean captures the energy of this coastal environment in an invigorating body wash that will stimulate both your skin and senses. Our mild but effective organic foaming body wash contains essential oils and naturally-derived cleansing and conditioning agents to help soften the skin and leave it feeling clean, fresh and revived. The active seaweed extracts help to relieve muscle stress and fatigue. Use while showering for a real organic indulgence that will leave your skin refreshed and gently cleansed..."

And:

Softly Does It body lotion

Voya says:

"When it comes to taking care of your skin, our silky blend of wild seaweed extracts and organic essential oils provides a completely natural, deep moisturising experience that can help prevent signs of ageing and cellulite as well as improve skin tone and elasticity. Blended with basil and lime, patchouli, clove, mandarin and lemon organic essential oils, Softly Does It is best when massaged into your skin after showering or bathing, and offers a real organic indulgence that will keep your skin moisturised and feeling luxuriously smooth."

Get Lippie says:

I tried these, and I really liked them.  The shower gel is a clear gel-product, it doesn't lather overmuch (due no doubt to the lack of SLS and other nasties) but leaves you feeling fresh and clean and delicately scented with the unusual, but very lovely, mixture of sweet basil and clove that the entire range has.  It doesn't appear to leave my skin dry, and I'm not flaky after using it.

The body lotion is a medium-weight cream that I found took a fair bit of rubbing to absorb, but it's not a chore to use.  The scent does last, but not in an overpowering kind of way, so I don't think you'd have too much trouble with clashing smells if you use this. The softening effect is lovely, and appears to last for a while.  They're definitely products I'll continue to use!

Voya products are available from http://www.voya.ie/default.aspx and start at around nine euro.  The range includes skincare, bodycare and haircare products as well as candles and teas ... Seaweed teas sound kind of interesting, don't you think?

The small print: The products were provided free for review purposes.  All reviews remain impartial regardless of the source.

Not, quite, beauty products ...

... but still beautiful.

I love candles, I was lucky enough to be made a gift recently of some from Jonathan Ward ones recently.  I have them in Nightingale's Jasmine, which is a delicious scent that makes the entire bedroom smell wonderful - whether you've lit them or not! They're paraffin-free, and made from an organic wax base.  There is a special offer on several of the candles at the moment where you can get two for the price of one!  If you like candles, you'll love these.

Another range of home-scents that I like is from Kenneth Turner who also makes body products.  I, in particular adore the scent of Blue Tangerine, which has to be one of the sexiest scents I've ever noticed in a candle.

Or a shower gel. Or body lotion.  Or air freshener.  Or hand cream ... I buy this stuff by the bucket load, the range isn't organic, and it doesn't promise anything amazing will happen if you use the products, but, the scent!  Oh, how I love it.  I have a tube of the handcream in my office, and I adore it. If the reed diffuser was in stock on the website, I'd have them all over the house! Even though reed diffusers strike me as the middle class alternative to Airwick these days ...  The range has an orangey-minty smell, but so much more that paltry description implies, deep, sexy and clean.

Finally, I had a chance to pop over to ARK Skincare on Kensington Church Street recently, and have a sniff of their "Loving" range of spa products, unlike many spa scents, this one is warm and spicy, and wonderfully cosy, it strikes me that it's a perfect scent for these wintry days.  This scent is available in everything from reed diffusers to a very luxurious-looking bath oil that I'm dying to try:

I'll be popping back to ARK soon, they have an offer on at their Kensington Church Street  store at the moment, where if you book a facial you get one free, the staff are super-friendly so I'm looking forward to trying their services out!  In the meantime, if anyone wants to get me anything for Valentines day (and before you all groan, there are Creme Eggs in the shops at the moment, and that's not till April!) I'll be happy with anything from this page here  hint, hint.

How do you keep your home smelling sweet?

MORE bargains! Stila

After my last (dreadful) experience with Stila, I was in two minds whether to pick up any more, but these were such a bargain that I thought even if they're awful, it's not too much of a loss.  I picked up four loose shadows and a smudge post in Jade for just £10! Thank goodness for the random bargains you can find in TJ Hughes ... Then I discovered that I'd actually bought two shadows which were the same colour, but hey ho ... look out for it in a giveaway soon!

Onto the swatches etc, first the loose shadows:

I have numbers 7, 3 and 12, as you can see they're all very shimmery, 7 is a nice metallic taupe, 3 is a very pretty lilac, and 12 is a soft copper.  Here's how they look on the skin:

 

 

As you can see, they swatch pretty sheer, but the colour pay-off is still better than last time. These have been swatched dry over bare skin, I expect if swatched wet, or over a primer they'd be a lot more vivid.

Here's the smudge pot, I like this mossy green a great deal, and I'm a bit annoyed they didn't have any other colours that I could find:

 

The colour pay-off in this is excellent, and it blends well.  I'm really looking forward to getting on with some FotD's with these.

Whee! Squared ...

150 followers, wow!  As a little gesture of thanks, I'll put together a giveaway for you soon ....

You're all great, thank you so much! Incidentally, if you have a blog and I'm not following you already, leave me a comment on this post, and I'll get around to updating my blogroll very soon!

Makeover: Helen

Ah ... back in the makeover swing of things after the Christmas break, it's nice to have them back!

Please welcome Helen, here she is giving it her best "Prisoner Cell Block H" pose:

Helen wanted a very simple, daytime look that she could easily replicate herself, that would make her look more "polished".  We picked some nice, neutral shades to suit her skin-tone, and that would be easy to apply in a rush.

As always, we started with the base, we thought that using a tinted moisturiser would be the best thing, so we wouldn't have to "mess about" with moisturiser and foundation and powder.  I used Benefit You Rebel in light, with a little light concealor under Helen's eyes to even out the little dark circles she has there:

This left us with a nice, sheeny glow.  Then we moved onto the eyemakeup. We had picked out the Paul & Joe eyeshadow I bought recently in 95, which is a lovely rose-gold shade, as we thought it went very well with Helen's eyes:

As you can see from the picture above, it's very natural-looking.   I applied it in an almond shape all over the eyelid, up to the brow-bone, then replicated it on the other eye:

 

 

 

Helen seemed quite impressed!  In order to emphasise the  blueness of Helen's eyes, I used a Chanel chocolate-brown eyeliner on the top lid, and added a tiny amount of Clinique liner in charcoal under the bottom lashes.

Once I'd finished off the eyes with a smudge of Clarins Wonder Perfect (currently my HG mascara) on the lashes, I applied a dab of Cargo Illuminator in Wind to Helen's amazing cheekbones:

Then I realised it needed a bit more blending in, so taking a soft fluffy brush, I did just that!  To give a llittle sheen to Helen's lips, I applied a layer of Clarins Joli Rouge in fig, which is a lovely soft reddish shade, with a lot of illuminating particles:

 

 

I think she liked it!

Here's the before and after:

It's a very simple look, with a minimum of fuss and products used, but I think it polished Helen up a  treat.  What do you think?

Review - By Terry Or De Rose Baume

Oh, this looked like a little pot of gorgeous in the store:

It smells delicious, looks pretty, and makes all kinds of wonderful claims on the packaging, so I bought it.  Oh, when will I learn?  This is the limited edition version of the fast-becoming-a-cult product By Terry Baume de Rose, which, according to Space NK (yes, them again) is a "Rejuvenating, reparative, strengthening, nourishing and anti-ageing" wonder product that works on lips, cuticles and, well, practically anywhere else you want to put it.  So, a bit like 8 Hour Cream then, only without that gross "liniment" smell that can sometimes be so off-putting.

I got some SpaceNK vouchers just before Christmas, and I splurged on a pot.  This costs £45!  Now, I'm no stranger to expensive lip balms (my Holy Grail lipbalm remains Sisley Nutritiv, and that's £33 a pop!), but this shocked even me.  I guess it's because that lovely sparkly effect you can see in the second picture there is made by lots of flakes of pure 24k rose gold.  But ... even so.

And actually, it's those rose-gold flakes that make this product a bit of a duffer, if you ask me.  Now, the thing I like about pot-balms (as opposed to sticks) is that they tend to be more versatile, meaning you can use them in places you wouldn't dream of putting more traditional balms.  I use 8hr cream (and my Badger Balms) like some people use Vaseline. I stick it on scrapes, cuts, burns, zits, cuticles, in my hair, around my eyes, and on the odd occasion, I've even been known to use it as a lip product.  But this stuff is GLITTERY.  Really, very GLITTERY. And that glitter gets EVERYWHERE.  And it's scratchy glitter too.  Urgh.

Don't get me wrong, as a lip product it's ... well, it's okay. It's not as moisturising as some other balms (Sisley, Badger Balm, and 8 Hour Cream all knock it into a cocked hat for that), but it's not a dreadful one either.  It is better than many Nivea or Blistex products, for example.  But my problem is that damn glitter!  You can't use the balm on your cuticles unless you want to shed glitter onto any porous material you come into contact throughout the day, and you can't put it anywhere on your face - except your lips - unless you want to look like you like you let a 3yr old with ADHD and a Barbie obsession put on your makeup.  Apparently, the balm (sorry, baume) is meant to give you a sheeny glow, but glitter is not glow, and I wish cosmetic firms would stop mistaking the two.  It's a shame really, as I own a couple of By Terry products, mainly eyeshadows, and they're very good.

It does, however, make an excellent base for lipstick, but at £45 a pop, I won't be re-purchasing.  Ever.

Saturday Link Love!

Well, it's Saturday at Get Lippie (I'm hoping it's Saturday where you are too, I'm losing track of what day it is at the moment, still not entirely back in the swing of  things after being ill over Christmas!) and that's the day I show you some great posts from about the Beauty Blog Link Love network.  Please check them out!

theNotice is hosting a New Year's giveaway with lots of discontinued or hard-to-find items, and everyone has three chances to win!

Priminition, an expose on primers - over at Jeweled Thumb

A go-to  neutral purple-beige look from Maggie at The Polka-Dotted Apple!

Krasey Beauty warms it up for winter with a golden makeup look using Chanel's Spring 2010 collection

This week at I Heart Cosmetics Sarah has been loving  Mac's warm and cozy collection 

Vex in the City explains why Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream is all she needs to beat her winter blues

Amy over at Yoetke Beauty Blog is taking L'Oreal's 4-Week Lashboost Challenge!

Arianne can't stop raving about her holy grail foundation (OMG!) on Glitter Geek.

Lisa Kate has some Sparkle Approved Mineral Makeup Companies to share with you!

LiAnn asks what beauty products you tried that made you say "meh" 

Retrodiva wants to know what your signature fragrance is! 

Jellyminx Thinks swatches Sleek Eyeshadow palettes 

Hot Beauty Health share some sexy haircolor ideas to start the new year off fresh!

Over at Lipglossiping this week, Charlotte contemplates life with triangle hair.

This week at Get Lippie, Louise tries out a Scarlet Johanssen-style makeover.

 
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  I'm going to be spending mine writing blog posts and finally doing those FotDs I've been promising you ... what're you up to?

Help, I need somebody!

So, Get Lippie is about to stage her second round of makeovers, would you like to be involved?  Send an email to louise@getlippie.com explaining what your particular beauty concern is - just a sentence will do! - and I'll see if I can help.  Lucky volunteers will be featured on the blog.

Applicants must be over 18, be available in (or be willing to travel to) makeover sessions in Central London which will be held on various Sundays during January, February and March 2010. They must also be willing to be have their makeover session featured on the blog - camera-shy people don't worry, everyone hates having their photograph taken at first! If you've already responded on Twitter then don't worry, I'll be in touch soon!

Thanks for reading, Get Lippie wouldn't exist without you.

L

x

The small print: Sessions are on a volunteer basis only, no recompense can be made, nor will any financial arrangement be entered into.

Nail of the Day - Chanel Kaleidescope

This shimmering metallic taupe/pewter was a limited edition from Chanel in 2008, the above pic shows two coats over a Seche base and with a Seche Vite top coat. Application is smooth with no streaking, but as it's a metallic you do tend to get visible brush marks.






As for the colour - I'm not sure I like it, there were lots of raves about it at the time, but I think it's actually a really difficult colour to wear as it highlights any pink you might have whatsoever in your fingers, and
makes it look like you have a nasty case of dishpan hands. At least, that's how I feel about it. This is only the second time I've tried it, and it's doubtful there will be a third.

What do you think?

More Sale Bargains - Paul & Joe Eyeshadows

I think I may have gone a little sale-crazy over Christmas, but there were some amazing bargains around!  I was in Fenwicks last week, and picked up four Paul and Joe eyeshadows for about five pounds each!  I love the packaging, they remind me of chocolate coins!  

Here's the colours I picked (with flash and without):

 

From left to right, there are shades 94 (gorgeous velvety purple), 003 (peachy gold), 95 (rose gold/taupe shade) and 93 (mossy golden green).  The shadows feel buttery soft on the skin, but I've not worn them on my eyes yet, as I've been ill, and wearing make up has been the last thing on my mind recently!

Here's how they swatched on my skin:

Please excuse the broken fingernail on my ring finger there, I had a little altercation with a tin can over Christmas, and it's only just growing back!  All these colours have a very metallic finish, and this is how they looked after one swipe on the pan.  Am really liking the look of 95 there, I'm really looking forward to using these babies!

Lipstick Queen Fifteen (okay, Ten) Minutes of Fame ...

I was at the Space NK Sale the other day, and I managed to pick up these babies:

and

And all for £22!  That's 10 Lipstick Queen lipglosses, that normally retail at £13.30 each.  Okay,they're only 2/3s the size of the full size product, but when that difference works out at 0.2gms, that not such a big deal, still a bargain!  Poppy King is kind of a heroine of mine, so I was delighted to be able to pick up more of her products, I don't think there's a duff one in the range, I love my saints and sinners lippies too.

The Berries set contains glosses 2, 5, 11, 14 and 15, which are described on the website as: Watermelon Pink, Pale Peach, Vibrant Purple, Gorgeous Grape and Sexy Wine.  Here's how they swatch on the skin:

 

 

My personal favourite from this pack is number 15, which is a gorgeous sheer red, and not as blue as the "wine" description makes it sound:

The Nudes set contains 1, 3, 4, 12 and 13, which the website describes as: Pale Ballet Pink, Smooth Apricot, Pale Peach, Deep Rose and Pretty Raspberry.  Here's how they swatch on the skin:

 

 

My favourite one of this pack is number 12, here's how it looks in wear:

Lipstick Queen Fifteen Minutes of Fame glosses are unscented, non-sticky and shimmer-free, which makes a nice change.  I find them lovely and emollient, and highly pigmented, and - for a gloss - fairly longlasting.  Go snap some up!

Lipstick Queen glosses are available from Space NK branches nationwide.

Wonder Product - Mavala Nail Systems

 

I don't give things wonder product status very often - I'm fickle, and I get bored of products very, very easily.  Certainly, if I can't see results from a product within a short time, then I stop using them, and, expecially when it comes to my nails, I'm lazy, so if I have to use a product, say, more than a couple of times a week, then I'm prone to forgetting about it altogether ....

However, the trio of products you see above, well, I love them! And they've made such a difference to my nails in a very short time, it's almost unbelievable.

Here's how my nails looked about two months ago:

And here's how my nails look after six weeks of treatment with the Mavala nail system:

Can you see the difference? (and yes, I know this is a picture of my other hand, looooong story!) best of all, my nails are STRONG now, and don't peel, flake or just plain snap at the drop of a hat.  I'm totally in love with having nails, and I've been asked a couple of times if I've had acrylics done!

Here's how the system works:

It's a three part system - but you can mix and match how many of them you need, or want to use, this is just the products I've found that work for me in combination, you don't have to use all three if you think you don't need them.

Firstly on a daily basis you use the Nailactan Nutritive Nail cream, just massage a tiny amount into your cuticles, and this keeps the nails moisturised, and prevents dryness and brittleness.  I'll be honest here and admit I don't always use this every day, but I do use it two, maybe three times a week, and it's very good at getting rid of dry, raggedy cuticles.

Secondly, you use this stuff (and if you only get one product, this is the one I can't recommend highly enough) Mavala Scientifique Nail Hardener:

It's a very thin liquid that you paint just on the very tip of your nails - twice a week to start with, falling to once a week, or once a fortnight once your nails are up to strength - and it penetrates to bond the nail plates together and make them stronger.  This tiny bottle - and it is tiny -  is an entire year's supply, but I've been using it for six weeks now, and as you can see, I've barely made a dent in the contents!

This formula does contain formaldehyde, and as such, you have to be careful with how you use it - it hardens everything, including skin, so I'd recommend that you read the instructions very carefully before you use it.  I've had no problems with it, but it is a bit whiffy, (it reminds me of sage and onion for some reason) so make sure you don't use it in too enclosed a space.

Then, before painting my nails I use the base-coat system:

Bottle number one contains nylon strands in a strengthening base, to further support the strength of your natural nails.  Once this coat is dry, you add a coat (or two) of bottle number two, which will fill in all the ridges left by the strands and leave you with a glossy base to apply polish over.  I've found that using these as a base both strengthens my nails and hugely improves the wear of my polishes.

Mavala introduced Scientifique to the UK in 1959, and they say that it's never been bettered. I think I have to agree with them.  What do you use on your nails?

Mavala products are available at independent pharmacists nationwide, but I've found all these products in my local Debenhams.  Products cost from around £3.75 for the varnishes, to around £10 for the treatment products.

The small print - these products were provided for review purposes, but all reviews are honest regardless of the source.