I used to get manicure pedicure done at the salon once a month but the manicure never lasted more than a week. Then I started doing it once a week at home and now don't need to go to a salon for it. Money saved... atleast 1000 bucks per month saved. 

Below is the step by step instruction with product details. I chalk out an hour for this over the weekend. 

1) Fill a bucket with hot water... not too hot... enough to be able to dip your feet comfortably in it. I have bought a round, wide bucket specially for this. 

2) Add a foot soak. There such few options in India of this. I generally use Body Shop's Peppermint Reviving foot soak but am looking for cheaper options now. MRP of this is Rs 895. Add a few crystals of the soak in the water and dip the feet in it. And also the hands. 

 3) After 10-15 mins, use a nail cutter to cut nails on toes and fingers. Then I use the attachment below to remove all the dirt from the side of my nails. It is a very helpful tool and effectively removes dirt and dead skin. I use this for my fingernails also.

4) Use a pumice stone or foot scrub like below to remove dead skin from the feet. Scrub well specially on the sides of the feet.

5) Apply a foot scrub to the feet and hands. I use Body Shop's Peppermint Smoothing Pumice Foot scrub priced at Rs 595. It is quite good and a little quantity goes a long way. Scrub well. 

 6) Use the smoothing foot scrub like below to clean the feet and hands. I have the one from OVS and have also used from Oriflame. Any brand should be good. Wash the feet and hands after using this and wipe them with a clean cloth.

7) Use a cuticle remover. I don't have too many cuticles but this does help in cleaning the nails. I use it only on my fingernails and not on toes. Sally Hansen cuticle remover priced at Rs 650 (I think). This bottle should last a year if used once a week. A little goes a long way. 

Apply the gel on the sides of the nails and leave on for 15 seconds. Don't keep it for very long else it will dry off making it difficult to push back.

Use a cuticle pusher to push back the gel towards the nails. Cuticles are effectively removed. Cuticle stick from Colorbar (don't remember the price).

Shown below are pushed back cuticles. Wash the nails in soapy water and wipe with a clean cloth. I clean them off with the water with foot soak.

 8) Apply foot cream and massage feet. I am using Lush fair trade foot lotion which has peppermint and feels very relaxing. Priced at Rs 970 and should easily last a year.

Apply hand cream and massage. I am using Body Shop's Vanilla Bliss. It is limited edition priced at Rs 495. I think I bought it for 50% off. Love it. The fragrance is my favorite... it is thick enough to moisturise but gets absorbed easily.

9) Use a buffer to smoothen and give nails a shine. I use Colorbar's pack of 3 nail buffers priced at Rs 350. The colored side removes ridges and the white side gives my nails a shine.

10) And now the nails are ready for a paint. The base is Sally Hansen miracle cure. I don't think this does anything special and I am trying to finish it off.

And the nails are ready for the paint. I keep my nails short and use a filer only if required.

I use a darker, neutral colour for my feet so that it does need to be changed too often. I have applied Bourjois grey nail paint on my feet.

And a bright fuschia - OPI Dim Sum Plum on my fingernails.

And last... but not the least... Inglot drying drops. The cap is a dropper. 1 drop is enough for 1 nail. This is ok types... nothing great. I went to Inglot looking for a nice drying coat and the SA recommended this. Not too happy with it.

Its done... Leaving the 2nd toe blank is not a trend... the nails have broken off and I don't want to paint baby nails. That is the picture of my happy feet.
I will tell you a secret... I hate my feet specially the toes. They are so ugly. Sigh!!!

Those are happy fingernails...

I picked up this unique nail paint from the Delhi airport for Rs 450 by Sally Hansen. It has a nice texture and I love it. 

 Last month's Vellvette bag had LA Splash nail paint applied below:

My hubby was not home this weekend and I had ample time to myself.

This is what I did. It was time consuming because I planned to do only half the nail and then decided to cover the whole nail with spots.

How to do it:
- Apply base coat. I used Sally Hansen's miracle cure
- Apply base nail paint. I used Colorbar's white shade first but the nail paint has dried. I removed it and then used Inglot's white shade
- Use a toothpick to make dots. I did not have any (keep forgetting to buy them)... used the brush from Inglot's nail art pen.
- I made the dots with different shades of nail paints - all Inglot
- Apply Inglot gel top coat

I have/am going to finish so many products this month that I decided to blog about them.

1) Nivea lemon and oil body wash: MRP Rs 165 for 250 ml. I bought this for my brother when he had come to stay for a few days. I would never have tried it otherwise. After he left, I used it to finish it off. A good product. It smells of lemon (obviously) and lathers well. It also consists of small yellow beads giving it an attractive look. The bottle is travel friendly and the flip cap does not open up while travelling.
Will I re-purchase? Yes. Why not.

2) The Nature's Co Peppermint face wash: MRP Rs 325 for 125 ml. I bought this when Vellvette sent me a coupon for a spa at their store. I visited their store in R City, Ghatkopar. This was a forced purchase. Details here. Anyway, I have been using it for the past few months. The face wash is for oily skin. It is slow to lather specially if face is already oily and smells like spirit... you know, the product which doctors use to disinfect before giving an injection. Yuck!!! On applying, it tingles in a good way. After washing the skin does not feel squeaky clean... it does not feel dirty but I don't get the squeaky sound which is a test of cleanliness. This may not be a bad thing but I am so used to judging cleanliness by this that I prefer it that way. The face wash is ok. Nothing great. And the price is a hindrance for me.
Will I re-purchase? No.

3) Baby Lips Coral Crush: MRP Rs 125. The Maybelline Baby Lips lip balms do stand out in the market. I have bought one in every shade. Finally, I finished 1 lip balm and can now open a new pack. They make my lips smooth and keep them moisturized. They did not work when my lips became very dry and damaged but I think that was an extreme reaction to some lipstick. For regular usage, they are good but if you are looking for specific care/concern this may not be the ideal product.
Will I re-purchase? Of course.

4) Clinique Clarifying Lotion : MRP Rs 1400 for 200 ml. This toner has lasted me for around 2 months. The brand does have a bigger bottle which is cheaper but would be difficult to carry while travelling. This bottle is sturdy and travel friendly. I wish they had 100 ml bottles to carry while travelling. The SA at the store told me it is a clarifying lotion. It tones but also removes dead skin cells. I wish I could see the effect on my skin. Earlier, I used Vichy Normaderm toner. I don't think Clinique lotion has made any significant difference to my skin. It did not stop breakouts (I get 1 pimple every month). I soak a cotton with the lotion and dab onto my face. The product tingles a little and may burn if there is a cut on skin. Also, it has a lot of alcohol and smells like it. I am so confused... the SA at Clinique tells me that alcohol is good for skin while the one at Keihl's tells me that it is not good for sensitive skin. Arrgh!!! I am still trying to figure it out.
Will I re-purchase? No. I will be trying Keihls caldula toner next.

5) Garnier deo Absolute Dry: This is my favorite antiperspirant. MRP Rs 150 for 150 ml. It is a little expensive compared to other deos in the market but I love it. Earlier, my underarms would smell and the deodorant (Fa, Charlie, Reebok) would add to the smell and make it worse. Plus, they started making my underarms dark. Oh, how I hated those days. Then, I discovered Garnier deos. I do not smell at all now. The deos does not smell too great but it is not bad. The point is that it does its job well. It does not darken my underarms and I am so glad.
Will I re-purchase? Yes. I have been using this for years and have not even tried any other deo.

6) Bourjois magic nail polish remover: MRP Rs 400 (I think, it has been months since I bought this). This nail polish remover reduced my nail care time drastically. No more turning off the fan... soaking cotton... closing the lid fast so that the remover does not disappear... rubbing.. rubbing... and then repeating for each nail. You just have to dip your nail and turn 1-2 times and ta da... nail polish gone. It has a very sweet fragrance which gets on my nails. I don't always like the fragrance. The liquid is non sticky. I have been using it for months and it got ruined when I used it to remove glitter nail paints. Now, I am using it to remove only glitter nail paints and Colorbar ultimate nail polish remover (similar one minus the smell) for regular nail paints.
Will I re-purchase? Maybe not. I think the Colorbar one is better ... it does not have the fragrance.

7) The Body Shop Satsuma Body Mist: MRP Rs 745 for 100 ml. It smells just the way I like it... like fruits. I prefer fruity fragrance to anything else. It has lasted me months. I apply it on my body after a bath and it smells good. On the downside, it is a mist so cannot be applied on clothes. Plus the lasting power is low. You can smell it as soon as I apply it but not later.
Will I re-purchase? I don't know. I am using the Victoria's Secret body mist and it lasts slightly longer.

8) Sally Hansen Insta Brite: Rs 775 for 13.3 ml. Yep, it is damn expensive. I bought it 'coz my nails were yellowing due to excessive use of nail polish. I thought this would help. But nope. It is the biggest disappointment. I apply it before nail polish but it is transparent and does not whiten the nails or cover up the yellowing at all. Hate it. Have used it as base coat to finish it off.
Will I re-purchase? No. I am trying out Inglot nail whitener.

9) Colorbar nail polish remover. MRP Rs 125 for 110 ml. I am a fan of this product and this brand. This is the best nail polish remover I have used. It beats Lakme also. It removes nail paints quickly. The bottle is plastic and travel friendly. It is also acetone free.
Will I re-purchase? Yes. Have started using the next bottle.

10) Kerastase Elixir Ultime: MRP Rs 2300 for 125 ml. It is very expensive but I bought it at a discount. Love this product. It smells of coconut which I do not like but the fragrance does not linger. 2 pumps are required to cover the entire hair. It gives a healthy shine and reduces frizz. I use it on towel dried hair and apply more on the ends than on roots. If used too much, it may make the hair look oily but does not feel sticky at all. If there is one product you can splurge on, this should be it.
Will I re-purchase? Yes. I already have a back up bottle.

11) Chanel Inimitable Intense mascara: My sister sent me this sample along with other goodies from USA. It has lasted me months. I love it. It gives volume and length to lashes. I would love to buy the full product if I already didn't have so many mascaras. Someday... when I finish off my current stash.

This is what I tried today.

How to do it:

What you need:

- Base coat. I used Sally Hansen miracle cure... got it in the Vellvette Bag
- Grey nail paint. Inglot
- Dark blackish blue nail paint. Deborah Milano
- Glitter nail. L'Oreal grey glitter
- Top coat. Sally Hansen insta dry nail paint

Step 1) Apply base coat
Step 2) Apply grey nail paint

Step 3) Apply blackish blue nail paint on the top half of the nails

Step 4) Apply glitter nail paint on the darker colour

Step 5) Apply top coat

I was bored with my nails and wanted to try a nail art. I decided to try blue on blue with an ear bud (I do not have any toothpicks at home).
The result was a little messy and not uniform but looked like a baandhani design.

How to do it?

1) Apply base coat. I used Sally Hansan's miracle cure I received in my Vellvette box
2) Apply a dark blue colour nail paint. I used Inglot... love the colour.
3) Use Colorbar's light blue nail paint for making the dots. I dipped the ear bud in the nail paint and made the dots
4) Apply top coat. I used Sally Hansen's insta dry top coat

Takes 15 minutes.

I have joined a new job and am back at Delhi. Yeah... lots of shopping except I don't feel like it.

Anyway, I have been very lazy and pushed myself to try a new nail art. Since it is my first week at work I don't want to try something drastic and wanted something subtle.

This is what I did- glossy tips on matte nails.

Nail paints used- base coat (Sally Hansen nail whitener- do not like it... trying to finish it off), Maybelline Colorama black nail polish, Inglot matte top coat, Inglot nail art pen in black (you can use a regular black paint also but the thick brush will be tricky to use).

 How to:
- Apply base. Apply black nail paint
- Let it dry. Top with a matte coat
- Let it dry.
- Carefully apply black nail paint on tips
- Do not use any top coat else the matte effect will be gone

This is a very subtle nail art and noticeable only at close quarters.