Nail Care Basics: Files, Oils and Hand Creams I Keep Within Reach

Nail Care Basics: Files, Oils and Hand Creams I Keep Within Reach

Good nail care is a small, boring routine that pays off, and it starts with the right file, a gentle cuticle tool and an oil you actually use. These are the tools, treatments and hand creams I would set out on the bathroom shelf, ending on the cream that finishes it all.

Dior has sold Crème Abricot, a little apricot colored pot of nail cream, since 1963, which tells you that nail care was a ritual long before it was a hashtag. The brand still describes it as a strengthening cream with apricot oil and seaweed extract, and it says to massage in a pea-sized dot, ideally in the evening. I love that instruction because it makes nail care sound like what it is: a few quiet minutes at night.

Before any of that, you need decent tools. The Revlon Bacteria Shield Glass Nail File is my pick to start with, and a glass file is a gentler idea than a coarse emery board. The Revlon Catch-All Nail Clipper is the plain, sensible clipper to pair with it. The Tweezerman Ultra Precision Cuticle Nipper and the Tweezerman Pushy & Nail Cleaner are the careful pair for tidying the edges, and one+other Cuticle Scissors do the same job when you want small, neat snips. The Olive & June Cuticle Buffer is a 3-in-1 that removes, pushes and buffs, and the one+other Nail Finishing Buffer is a 4-in-one block for the final smoothing. The Kiss Acrylic File is a coarse-to-medium grit single file, so it is the one I would use for shaping and keep away from my natural nails.

A quick test: run your fingertip along the free edge after filing. If it snags, go over it once more, always in one direction.

Big numbers collage for Nail Care: six products from Revlon, Tweezerman, L'Occitane and Olive & June, each set beside a large numeral
Nail Care

Files, buffers, clippers and cuticle tools

Oils and strengtheners for bare nails

Oils and strengtheners are where nail care turns into something you do every day. The L'Occitane Strengthening Shea Nail and Cuticle Oil is infused with 30 percent shea oil, apricot and almond oil to soften cuticles, which makes it the one I would start with. The OPI Nail & Cuticle Oil, an 8 mL bottle, does the same job in a bottle that is easy to keep by the bed. Dior Huile Abricot Nail & Cuticle Serum is the oil counterpart to the cream, and the two make a neat evening pair.

For the nail plate itself, OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener in the Original clear is the classic base layer, and Olive & June Nail Strengthener is another clear coat to try. Manucurist Active Smooth in 00 is a milky pinkish beige that the brand calls a ridge filler and strengthener, with collagen, peach extracts and AHAs. Manucurist Active Glow in Raspberry is a peachy pink with a glass-like shine, made with raspberry extract and sweet almond oil. Both are free of formaldehydes and hydroquinone, according to the brand.

How to use them: oil on clean, bare cuticles at night, then press it in with your thumb. Treatments go on dry nails and need a minute to set.

What I would skip: oil right before polish. It leaves a film, so save the oil for after the color is dry.

Cuticle oils and nail treatments

Hand creams to finish the routine

Hand cream is the finish, and it is the step most people skip until their knuckles complain. The L'Occitane Nourishing and Protective Shea Butter Hand Cream has 20 percent shea butter and a fresh, powdery scent, and the L'Occitane Intensive Hand Balm has 25 percent and is made for very dry hands, now formulated for ages three and up. Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream is a silky, antioxidant-rich cream with grape polyphenols, and Moroccanoil Hand Cream in Fragrance Originale adds argan oil and hyaluronic acid, with a scent of amber, magnolia and woods.

For a bag, Glossier Hand Cream in You comes in a palm-size pod with a click-to-close lid, and Rare Beauty Find Comfort Niacinamide Hydrating Hand Cream hydrates for up to 16 hours with a warm woody scent. CYKLAR Sacred Santal has urea, ectoin and squalane, and the brand says it restores moisture to dry hands and cuticles. The Vanilla + Almond Milk Hydrating Hand Cream is a 1.01 oz size that the brand says leaves hands soft, never greasy or sticky.

Pairing tip: massage the cream into each nail and cuticle, not just the backs of your hands.

What I would skip: a heavily scented cream right before you cook or eat. Keep the warm woody ones for bedtime.

Hand creams to finish

Building a routine you will keep

A routine only works if it is small enough to keep. Mine is three steps: file once a week, oil the cuticles at night, and keep a hand cream wherever I sit most, by the sink, in a bag and next to the bed. Shape with a gentle file, be careful with cuticle tools, and never cut live skin. If anything stings or looks red, stop and ask a professional. The rest is repetition, and the pot of cream or bottle of oil you actually reach for beats the fancier one in a drawer.