With Mother’s Day approaching, Hello magazine asked me to write about what beauty tricks I learned from my mother. Even though it’s 50 years since she passed away, I knew instantly what to write about.
One of my lasting memories of my mother is her beautiful hands. I only have a few youthful impressions of her as she died when I was in my teens, but I’ll never forget her incredibly well-manicured, and exquisite hands.
She had long, perfectly shaped nails (all natural) at the end of her graceful, slim fingers.
It became my lifelong ambition to have hands just like my mothers
But sadly, I didn’t inherit her genes when it comes to hands. My fingers are shorter and stubby and my nails are a disaster. They break and split and if one of them manages to grow to a decent length, the others fail to do so.
For years, every time one of my nails broke, I somehow felt I was letting her down
She spent hours looking after her hands, always moisturising and even wearing gloves to protect them. When one of her nails broke (an astonishingly rare occurrence), it was a major event, with everyone rallying round to comfort her.
After years of trying and failing to emulate her incredible hands and nails, I realised it was not to be and I would have to make the most of what I had. I now keep my nails short and even cut them down if they start to get too long. I keep them tidy and always have them painted.
It gives me great joy to see the flashes of colour on the tips of my fingers
I go for very different colours and steer away from the traditional reds and pinks that she favoured. I love pale blues and greens which I find uplifting. This winter I discovered a wonderful khaki green by Rimmel ( Crazy about Cargo) that has got me lots of compliments.
People often remark on my nail colour choices
I feel she would be proud of me keeping up the tradition of well-manicured hands, even if I’ve created my own version of it, with the shape and colours that resonate with who I am.
