How to choose a hand/body cream

The most important thing here is the scent, is it pleasing to your nose? Your choices are limitless. You can have the calming scent of lavender or the stimulating scent of mint; you can even smell like freshly baked cookies if you like. There are scent-free lotions available too for the more sensitive nose.

Once you’ve chosen the scent be sure to look at the ingredient list and make sure it does NOT contain mineral oil. Certain companies use mineral oil as a filler ingredient. What it does is sits on your skin, never actually penetrating. At first it feels moist but as soon as it rubs off you feel dry again and then you, do just what the company wants you to do, re-apply and use the lotion more quickly.

So you now have a mineral oil-free lotion, next step use it! Do whatever it takes for you to remind yourself to use it. Some suggestions are:

ü Put a bottle on your desk at work
ü Put a small tube in your purse
ü Put a small tube in your car
ü Put a bottle next to the sink to apply after doing dishes
ü Put a bottle in your bathroom to apply after washing your hands
ü Put a bottle on your nightstand, this is the most important application!

Using a heavier lotion in the winter will help prevent chapping and those painful cracks. My favorite heavy cream is Glysolid. At first it feels sticky but soon your skin is just soft as a baby’s bottom. Glysolid also makes a refreshing menthol lotion that is cooling in the summer and great for pregnant and menopausal women.

Nail Talk

Have you ever wondered if you and your manicurist speak the same language, and I don’t mean Vietnamese? When your manicurist asks you, “What shape do you want your nails?” You say, “Ah, oval” and when you end up with a pointed nail you wonder why they’re not oval. By the way, oval is pointed. Or you say that you want a pink but the color looks a lot like red.

Hear are some words that may help you get what you really want from your time with your manicurist.
{Diagram of fingernail}
At the base of the nail is a cuticle
The pink part of your fingernail is called the nail bed
The white part of your nail that goes over the nail bed is called the free edge

{Diagram of shapes}

Implements are also called tools
Natural nails are nails without acrylic, fiberglass, etc.