I never paid much attention to the look of my hands … I actually used to treat my nails very badly – I used to eat them, scrap the polish off, bite my cuticles… I almost had an urge to destroy my lovely manicured hands at the first opportunity… Sounds a bit crazy, but if you are reading this, you probably know what I am talking about.

About two years ago, I met Manuela, my fellow Italian and now trusted nail beautician, at Kleo Beauty Salon in Putney. After looking at the state of my poor hands (my nails must have looked pretty horrific), she recommended a gel manicure – stronger nails = you can break your teeth if you try to eat them!

I had nothing to lose so I though ‘why not?’.

My choice was a French gel manicure as I wanted to keep a natural look and I didn’t want my nails to look too thick. Manuela was amazing at explaining every step of the process and answer all my questions and, 90 minutes later, I had brand new nails.

Between buffering and polishing, I noticed some nail samples by Manuela’s desk. I was intrigued so I asked Manuela to have a look – all of a sudden I discovered a new world – ‘nail art’, she proceeded to explain. I was impressed by the amount of skills required to draw free-hand such lovely miniatures and also very intrigued by them – a great way to add a fashionable and unique touch to my French manicure. So I asked Manuela to draw something she liked on my ring finger… et voila’… I became addicted to nail art!

I have added a gallery including some of the most recent nail arts, so take a look.

Oh, and I forgot to mention… I love blue (in case you didn’t notice)!