Leave it to the experts

Last night I had my monthly trawl of Sophy Robson's blog. I love it so much I like to save it up (anyone else do that with their favourite bloggers?)

I'd watched her how to videos before, but this time I paid pull attention to the Chanel nails tutorial, looking for some tips, and boy, was I blessed!



Here's what I learned:

• Don't put too much pressure on the brush. I think my three coats obsession is a result of my pressing too hard and making polish streaky, rather than the formula being disappointing. If you think about it, two slightly thicker, more even coats is better than three thin ones, right?
• Watch how she applies, paying attention to how much is on the brush, then painting the nail bed before sweeping the polish along the nail. My three-lines method seems positively slapdash in comparison.
• Nail dehydrator? I'd never even heard of the stuff! But now I've been paid I'll be investing on some ASAP.

So, inspired by Olivia Palermo's signature red nails I tested my new skills with Essie Red Nouveau.

Much neater than my usual efforts, much better coverage than I generally get with three coats, and altogether more impressive results. I'll never be a nail goddess like Sophy, but in 10 minutes, I think I improved my efforts by 50 per cent.