How To Winterize Your Nails - Julep Exclusive Guide

Hello Monday my pretty blog explorers! Hope the beginning of the week is treating you well. For a few, this is actually the first day back from a very long break, I can only imagine how long and tedious this day is. But fret not! Now that we are home, it's time to pamper ourselves with a nice calming manicure. Does that calm you or is it just me?

So a while back, I teased an exclusive tutorial from Julep but I never actually got around to it until today. I actually attempted the guide twice but I was not completely satisfied with the results so I ended up scrapping it. Since today is the first manicure related post of 2015, I figured it should be a great idea to finally get to it.

So to brief y'all what this is about, I was contacted by a rep of Julep about a month ago; I am amongst the few beauty bloggers chosen for this special project. For the record, this is NOT a sponsored post. I will indeed inform y'all if I ever do a sponsored post, I would not lie about that. This is just a campaign Julep has going on, on how to maintain our nails during the Winter time. I was sent this tutorial guide and was asked to create my own guide, with my own products using the tutorial. With that said, everything mentioned in this post are all bought by my own money and was NOT sent anything. This is also not a review post so I will not be talking about anything except for the steps.

 If you are interested to see what Julep and myself have in store for you, please click the link below to view more. Happy manicure. :)

 Above is the tutorial from Julep. I am told to not completely go by the tutorial but instead interpret the tutorial in my own style. So below are the steps on how I complete my manicure and how to keep them healthy over the freezing Winter months.

STEP 1:

That is my 2015 manicure; although this was not what I had on for New Years but nonetheless this was the first manicure I did in 2015. The colors are by Sinful Colors in Endless Blue and Blue By You. But anyways, I used my handy, dandy Sally Hansen Kwik Off nail polish remover to remove my nail color. The container has a sponge with three slits and is filled with nail polish remover so all I had to do was stick my fingers in, let sit for about a minute, give it a few twists and it cleans on everything on its own.

STEP 1.5:

This step is considered 1.5 because I don't always use this. I only use it when my nails are severely stained, usually after wearing dark nail colors like black or blue. Since only my middle finger is stained, I didn't feel like pulling this out and soaking all of my fingers in it. This is a powder, add a full scoop to warm water, watch it fuzz and bubble, stick your fingers in and viola, clean, unstained nails in 5 minutes. This can be found at any Sally's Beauty Supply. I got the big container which I believe is $15.

STEP 2:

After removing the nail colors and if I had, soaked them, it is time to clip them. I prefer short nails over the Winter, I have no idea why... Maybe it is the fact that I wear a lot of sweaters and/or materials that are easily caught with long nails.

After clipping the nails with a nail clipper, I used a course emery board on my nails. After I am content with the shape, I go in with the softer, finer board to finalize the nails.

STEP 3:

After the nails are all trimmed and filed, I use this very amazing cuticle cream by Burt's Bees. I gently massage the cream onto my cuticles before using a cuticle pusher to gently push the cuticle back. I cannot stress enough on the GENTLY part. I don't do it but if you have dead or hanging cuticles, give em a trim but do NOT over trim. That is just painful!

STEP 4:

This is probably the most vital step in any manicures I have done. NEVER, EVER skip out on the base coat. Base coat will not only strengthen your nails, they also help with the staining quite a bit.

STEP 5:

Sephora by OPI Nail Color in A True Romantic
Sephora by OPI Nail Color in Mr. Right Now
Julep Color Treat Nail Color in Love - Bombshell

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Smooth & Strong Base Coat
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Of course, the always fun part in the manicure, choosing the shades and thinking of cute ideas and designs. This week, I am keeping it simple, sheer with a POP!

STEP 6:

And finally, the last step before completion, the top coat. This step, I don't always do myself, but you should if you want your manicure to last all week. By last, I mean chip resistant and no fading but of course the fast drying when applied is always a plus too. Most of my nail colors do not require a top coat but for today, I went ahead and used it anyways. I am guaranteed a perfect manicure until next week.

For an extra oomph of moisture to the cuticle, I applied this e.l.f cuticle pen and massaged it in.

With that step, we have finished our manicure and with that, kept our nails healthy for the Winter. However, do not forget to use hand creams or lotions because you do not want your hands and/or skin to be sucked dry of moisture from the Winter weather.

I hope y'all enjoyed this post. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions or just wanted to say hi. Y'all have a great rest of the day now. Thank you for reading and thanks for visiting. Please come back soon. :)