How do you do a spa manicure or pedicure?

Painting our nails can be as simple or decadent as you want to make it, but such a small pleasure can go so far towards making us feel pampered and looked after, especially if we go the extra mile to give the sense of a spa manicure or pedicure at home.

Where a spa manicure or pedicure is different to that quick file and polish you might normally do, is the care that therapists take to make it a full experience. 

You need: 

• A high quality nail file
• Luxurious scrub
• Rich moisturising hand cream
• Cotton buds
• A base coat nail polish
• Your nail colour of choice

How to do your manicure or pedicure

You can adapt your manicure or pedicure as you want, but here’s our quick guide to treating those hands and feet with a little of the spa indulgence that we love so much.

• Prepare: Remove any traces of old nail polish
• Wash: Start with a good soak to cleanse, and soften skin and nails. Choose a beautiful smelling wash that turns this into an enjoyable part of the ritual. For example, we love Natural Spa Factory’s Fig and Vanilla Body Wash.
• Scrub: Next up use a scrub to exfoliate your hands or feet, buffing away dead skin and nourishing it with beautiful oils and ingredients. Take time to enjoy scents. For example, we love Temple Spa Sugar Buff, which includes hydrating olive and grape seed oil, fig, pomegranate and vitamin E, plus a relaxing cocktail of essential oils including lavender, patchouli, clove, grapefruit, eucalyptus and rosemary.
• Massage hands or feet with a nourishing cream, taking care to gently push cuticles into place with the cotton buds if needed. We love ESPA’s Bergamot and Jasmine Hand Lotion, which leaves skin delicately fragranced and beautifully soft.
• File: Clean and shape nails as you choose your nail file. 
• Paint: Apply your base coat, leaving a good five minutes for it to dry, and then apply two coats of polish, leaving it to dry for at least five minutes each time. Finally apply a top coat of clear polish for good measure. Vegan nail brands Nailberry and EVO are a real favourite right now. When the time is safe and right, you can also have a vegan manicure done professionally at Cloud Twelve in London.