CARE OF HANDS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 328, 15 September 1932, Page 7

CARE OF HANDS

FINGER TREATMENT. GOOD-LOOKING NAILS. Whether one's fingers should bc painted with the tints of the rose or the emerald, the gilded image or the P'illar-box is a matter of personal taste or the fashion of the mom'ent, • and has nothing to do with this article. It is by no means impossible to treat our fingers at home so that th'ey invariahly look as if they had just emerged from the ministrations of an expert manicurist. Both the order and the details of the manicure are important. You file your nails before you do anything else, for the simple reason that the unsoftened nail behaves better under the file than the same nail , after it has been soalced in h'ot, soft i water. I A Common J^ault. i Good-looking nails are more depen- i dent upon this proeess of filing than J very many people seeni to realise. It | is not so niuch a question of shape but of the point from whieh the shaping begins. I Some finger-tips, and the hands belonging to them, are improved by the suggestion of a point to the nails, though this niust obviously never degenerate into the effect of a talon. Others look better oval or round. The fault with such a large numher is that they have been filed too sharply at the sides; so that instead of a graeious white semi-circle, oval, or ! graudated point at the end of each j finger, the white rims merge sharply into the pink centre of the nails long before they should. This is bad, not only aesthetically, but practically, because it makes the nails mnch more susceptible to grime. ■ Borax for Softening. i The remedy is to let the nails grow much longer at the sides, so that the point at which you begin to file them is much higher at each side than it was before. Any vai'nish' on the nails must next be removed with cotton wool and a varnish remover — or acetone, which is just as effective at about a quarter of the price. After the nails have been shaped, they must be soaked. Fairly warm water, a lather of mild soap and a softening of borax or a product which contains borax, make the best solution. Bath salts contain soda, and are therefoxie had for the delicate cuticle. Some people apply a cuticle remover after this proeess, but others find that cuticle cream is enough. The hoof-shap'ed end of the orangei wood stick is the best tool to use for pushing down the aspiring cuticle; its tip should remove any surplus cuticle. Steel instruments should be avoided. A second short soaking removes superfluous cream or cuticle remover. The tip of an orange stick veiled in cotton wool and dipped in peroxide cleans and whitens under the tip of the nail, and those clever little strips of cotton tissue impregnated with whitening stulf are invaluable in the case of transparent nails which show the pink skin heneath too clearly. Be Sparing with Friction. Some people polish the nails with a buffer, whether they .are to be varnished or not. In any case, the friction should not last too long or be applied too quickly. The varnish is applied quickly and carefully, and it is best to wipe the tip and see that none of the varnish has encroached upon the half-moon before dealing with the next finger. j Two coats give a smoother and more lasting finish than one. The first i must be completely dry before the j second is attempted.