D&G nail varnish - perfect for a pedicure

Gosh the colours that make up the D&G nail varnish palette are rich and vibrant and gloriously indulgent. Twenty-eight nail varnish shades in all they glide into place and give sheer vibrant colour to your nails and toes. I have Lover which is a true red and I have just painted my toenails ready for peep-toe sandals this week. Well I can pretend it's summer can't I?

Believe it or not, that isn't fake tan on my feet but the colour I picked up in Cornwall - must fake tan my toes I reckon. Great colour, great coverage and a full range of fantastic colours to get toes and fingers zinging this summer.

D&G nail varnish, around £18.50.

Sheswai Lacquer for perfect nails

I have finally managed to grow my nails a bit so rather than hide my hands I've been giving varnishes a bit of a blast recently. But to my dismay my collection that has been festering in my drawer for months due to non-use (and out of the clutches of daughters) are all thick and gunky and not really on trend either. They might as well have had the use of them. So I took my begging bowl in hand to deputy ed of Beautyandthedirt who always has lots of samples lurking on her desk, to be recommended a new lacquer that I could play with...

She recommended that I check out Sheswai Lacquer from the USA and gave me a sample to try out. I know that committed beauty bloggers have been writing about this brand for a couple of years now but it is new to me and I really like both the colour range and the ethos. It also goes on well with two coats giving really good coverage and drying time being about average. Nice deep colour, nice packaging - what's not to like?

Sheswai Lacquer doesn't contain toulene, formaldehyde or DBPs. It has cool packaging and the caps are made from sustainable wood with the logo, which represents a golden tree and bird representing 'the freedom and playful nature of California which inspires us'.

I have found them for £12.50 on Mise beauty.

Brilliant Spring/Summer nail colours from Max Factor

Baby it's cold outside - and I mean cold. Plus I can't see past the snow, but I am thinking about Spring and nothing conjures up Spring colours like vibrant pinks. So I am now looking forward to being able to wear this brilliantly Springlike collection from Max Factor!

Newest shades for Spring/Summer 2013 from Max Factor.

These Glossfinity nail polish shades are just £4.99 on the Boots website and are hard wearing with really true , multi-toned colours that shimmer. I shall be getting down to Boots and getting my hands on at least two of them...

It's Nail Art Nail Tattoo love!

How cute is this little heart? Believe it or not the whole manicure was done last Saturday and is still absolutely perfect, which for me if some sort of record! I have a tiny heart on each little finger and each thumb because I am too long in the tooth for a full set. But I can get away with a little detail and you all can too because these tiny stick on tattoo's make nail art easy even for the extremely cack-handed like me!

All you need to do is paint your nail with a neutral colour that's not too dark otherwise it won't show up. Allow the coat (or two coats if you'd prefer) to completely dry, then carefully position the tattoo. Finish with a coat of top-coat.

Check out Nail Art Nail Tattoo's for a full range of gorgeous little designs from birds and hearts to crosses and stars they cost a mere £5.99 for 60 tattoo's available at Skinartuk.com.

Dr Lewinn's Renunail, for hands that do dishes

I'd like to think it's purely the fault of the central heating at this time of year, but really my nails are in a pretty poor state because of sheer neglect. I never wear gloves for cooking, washing up, cleaning... the list is endless. I also spend my life at a computer keyboard which really doesn't help. So my nails are thin and weak and don't just break when they get to a certain length, they shatter!

Determined to do something about this so I can have lovely hands (well as lovely as possible) for Christmas and New Year I got myself a bottle of Dr Lewinn's Renunail nail strengthener. This treatment protects your nails from things like harsh detergents and soaps which dry out nails and therefore is a real boon in the battle against flaking, peeling and chipping.

The full treatment is 25 days but after a week I saw a difference for just a couple of minutes a day and am still living in hope that my nails will be near on perfect by Christmas.

It's easy to use. Day one you apply two coats avoiding the cuticle area, then you apply a fresh coat for the next 5 days. On the 7th day you remove with nail varnish remover and repeat the process again until the full 25 days are up. You do have to let your nails rest for 1-2 weeks between each 25 day cycle and they do recommend using Renunail Nourishing Oil into cuticles when each application is dry. I used a different oil and it seemed to do the trick.

Renunail is £17.50 for 30ml.