Tips & Advice: Mature Manicure and Ageing Skin

Brittle nails, joint deformities and fragile furrows may be a selection of the unsightly effects associated with the ageing process, but a mature manicure doesn't have to end in disaster. Here are my top tips for maintaining beautiful hands and nails throughout your older years:

• If the nails are brittle with age, reduce length via an emery board as opposed to nail clippers or scissors - the latter both have the tendency to split and shatter a brittle nail plate.
• If the nails are furrowed with age, filing must be performed using a fine emery board in order to prevent damaging the fragile free edge furrows create. Gentle buffing and a ridge-filling base coat may then be used to reduce the visibility of unsightly furrows.
• As the nails become increasingly thicker and more brittle with age, ensuring that the natural nails remain short will minimise the risk of unnecessary damage to the nail plate.
• Incorporating chamois leather buffing into your regular nail care regime will help to stimulate the slow nail growth and poor circulation associated with the ageing process.
• Ensure that the cuticles remain soft and pliable via the daily application of cuticle oil and regular warm oil treatments - this will minimise the risk of developing pterygium, a nail disorder often associated with older clients with poor circulation.
• Avoid massaging the hands during arthritic flares - massaging the hands during periods of internal inflammation can worsen painful and swollen joints.
• Opt for a professional paraffin wax treatment if you suffer from poor circulation and/or dry and chapped hands and feet. This particular treatment will also help to relieve the pain caused by arthritis and rheumatism.
• Avoid the application of light, soft, muted pinky-browns which will do nothing to lift the muddy looking skin tone associated with older age, and dark browns and purples which will emphasize lines and wrinkles. Instead, opt for a dusky pink (more pink than dusky) shade of enamel that will add warmth to aged hands - older skins require more colour, not less.
• Draw attention away from arthritic joint deformities via well manicured nails and the application of a bright varnish - this will draw attention to the nails, as opposed to the hands.