1 ONE-COAT WONDER
In a hurry? Chanel nail artist Betina
Goldstein, whose designer nail art has earned
her 380,000 Instagram followers and A-list
cool-girl clients including Zoë Kravitz and
Dakota Johnson, says the number one
hack for a speedy mani is using a highly
pigmented polish. “This way, you can do one
coat and you’re done,” she says. Her go-to?
“The brush of Essie’s Gel Couture
collection [£10 each] makes it easy to apply
and the formula is incredible, and I love
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat [£9].”Nailed it!
Invest in a proper nail file, use a base coat and
have a stash of teabags (yes, teabags) – here are
the A-list manicurists’ top tricks to know
Words Roisin Kelly2 SEASON THE
NAIL FILE
Wondering what on earth “seasoning” your
file means? No, we’re not talking about salt
and pepper. Seasoning is what you need to
do to avoid any accidental skin cutting
around the nail, says Michelle Humphrey,
who counts Adele and Keira Knightley among
her clients. It’s extra important if you have
shorter nails as you’re often filing over the
fingertip. “Brand new files may be too sharp,
so run a buffer or another file around the
edges of the nail file you’re using to soften
them,” she explains. Try Brushworks Pastel
Nail Buffing Block (£6 for two).3 THE TEABAG TRICK
News just in from the pros — you can do a
quick fix on a broken nail with a teabag.
Jenny Longworth, who created some of the
famous nail art seen on Harry Styles and
Rihanna, explains that the first step is to buff
the snag or break until it’s smooth, and then
“cut a small piece off the paper teabag, big
enough to cover the break” and set aside.
Then, Goldstein says, you should apply a
drop of nail glue, placing the teabag cutting
on top and holding it down with a toothpick
or nail tool, saturating it with more glue.
“Once it’s completely dry, buff until it’s even
with the nail,” she says. To finish, apply
polish on top or leave as is.4 BRUSH WITH
PURPOSE
Wondering why your nail polish always
ends up looking gloopy? You might be
overloading your brush. Simone Cummings,
the nail artist behind Emma Corrin’s
show-stopping razor-sharp nails at the
Emmys last year, advises only loading polish
onto the tip of the brush for the first layer,
then slowly fanning out in a flat motion,
allowing you to get closer to the cuticle. “For
each nail, start with the first stroke in the
middle, followed by each side.” You should
be making three to four strokes per nail —
any more results in streaks. “Always make
sure you cap the edge of the nail by lightly
brushing over the end on each layer, base,
colour and especially top coat,” she says.38 • The Sunday Times Style