I gave myself a "nail facial" today

As a beauty writer based in Florida, I basically miss out on all the fun launch events that New York-based freelancers and editors attend several times a week (if they so choose). One upside of the pandemic is that these get-togethers now take place on Zoom, which is great news for me. I attend a few a month, and there are always familiar faces—and even other women I’ve worked with for years, but never actually met in person. (Today I “met” my former Spotlyte editor for the first time, and a past NewBeauty colleague was there, too!)

The point of today’s Zoom was getting introduced to SpaRitual’s new Nail Wellness Collection, and we did nail facials! (There’s usually a fun hook.) These products are all about helping you get healthy, strong nails with natural ingredients, and after today’s treatment, I’m totally hooked—and have even more products on my desk. The beauty of this nail facial is that it only takes about five minutes, and your hands look refreshed and rejuvenated in a flash.

Step 1: Prep your hands with a body scrub. This helps exfoliate dry, dull skin—including your cuticles. 

Step 2: Apply a few drops of Farewell Vegan Nail Treatment to each nail and massage in. Truly designed with the health of your nails in mind, this fast-absorbing treatment features tea tree oil and witch hazel to soothe dry, irritated skin while staving off bacteria and fungus to make sure your nails are really clean before you apply polish.  

Step 3: The Nourish Nail Vegan Strengthener is the product I never knew I needed—especially over the past year of doing my own nails. Designed to be used every day as a two-week intensive treatment, it’s formulated with bamboo extract, algae and hemp oil to boost your nails’ elasticity and their overall condition. It also has the ever-so-slightest pink tint that gives it a leg up on completely clear polish. 

Step 4: Once your nails are dry, seal the deal (so to speak) with the Cuti-Cocktail Vegan Nail & Cuticle Oil. Aside from smelling amazing, it smoothes dry, jagged cuticles instantly—even if you can’t remember the last time you used a cuticle nipper.

Step 5: Finish with the so-good-its-sold-out Citrus Cardamom Hand Serum, which literally erased 10 years off the backs of my hands in seconds. I can thank Swiss apple stem cells and a blend of pumpkin fruit and licorice root extracts for this. 

After my quick, easy nail facial!

I can’t wait to try the new Nourishing Vegan Color polishes once I’m done with my two-week nail-strengthening treatment. Available in 72 shades (plus seasonal drops), they’re 13-free (the most “free” possible) and don’t require basecoat or topcoat, which gives me less of an excuse to not be wearing polish.

I’ve been aware of SpaRitual and founder Shel Pink’s “Slow Beauty” philosophy (she literally wrote the book on it) for quite some time, but I’ll admit this is the first time I’ve experienced SpaRitual’s products. And now that I have, the next thing on my list is making my own self-care kit—and you can, too! You get to choose three body products and three polishes of your choice and get 40% off the entire bunch. It’s a total no-brainer.