How To: Winterize Your Nails

January is definitely the worst month of the year.  I'm sorry to be a negative Nancy, but come on, it's true!  Even in South Carolina, the air is dry, it's colder, and everyone's a little sniffly and "blah" after the craziness and excitement of the holidays has worn off.

I don't know about you, but my nails seem to bear the brunt of January's wrath: there aren't any fun holiday parties to paint them for, they get super dry and cracked with the weather and all of that hand sanitizer, and I use them to scratch the price tags off all of those great new Christmas gifts.  Nails aren't exactly something that make the cut into New Year's Resolutions either.

Well, I think we should change all that.  I'm teaming up with Julep to share How To Winterize Your Nails.  To me, the first step in winterizing is all about keeping my nails (and hands - can't forget those cuticles) strong and smooth.  To do this, I use my perfect honey lemon nail and hand scrub made from simple ingredients.  It's the perfect start before all that clipping, shaping, nudging, and polishing.

Here's what you'll need: 1 tablespoon honey, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon, and 1 cup granulated sugar

To make it, just whisk together the honey and EVOO, then add the lemon and whisk again.  Finally, mix in the sugar and pour it into a jar with a lid.

When it's time to use the scrub, start with dry hands and remove all jewelry.  Rub about a teaspoon between your hands for 30 seconds and then rinse with water.  It will leave your hands feeling smooth and moisturized.

There are so many hand and nail benefits to each of the ingredients, especially to winterize:

• Olive oil: effective dry skin relief, diminishes the appearance of scars, reduces skin redness, and hydrates nails
• Honey: naturally antibacterial
• Lemon juice: removes dead skin and strengthens nails
• Sugar: natural humectant (helps keep in moisture) and exfoliates, giving hands a glowing and soft feel

Now, after you've scrubbed, you can continue on with Julep to winterize your nails:

Once nails and hands are winterized, you won't want to hide them in gloves anymore, so show them off with a fresh coat of polish.  Here are some of Julep's favorite winter colors.

Ilsa /// Sawyer /// Joanne /// Kiki /// Shari

Check out all of Julep's colors on their new nail polish color page, where you can see my winter favorites: Beverly and Misti!  Last, but not least, don't forget to check out Julep's blog for health and beauty tips, fun DIYs, and fantastic nail art ideas.

I hope you liked this collaboration with Julep.  Now I want to know: Do you winterize your nails?  What is your favorite winter nail polish color?