A friend once said to me “One way to tell if a woman really takes care of herself is by looking at her hands”. Keeping nails neat and pristine is always on my top of priority lists, so it was with great excitement that I got to meet Mike, owner of Zeva Natural Nails. He demonstrated some of the Zeva products on a mutual friend Kate, and I was instantly impressed with the Zeva products!
First he applied the Cuticle Oil Pen to the cuticles to soften them. The cuticle pen is easy to use – just press the tip against the cuticles and it retracts to release an oil that is 100% natural. It contains 16 natural oils including tocotrienol, a super-potent form of Vitamin E, which is 40-60 times more potent in preventing free radical damage. It also helps to prevent nail breakage. Some of the other ingredients include jojoba seed oil, tea tree oil, wheat germ oil, sesame oil, grape seed oil and many more. The tip of the pen is strong enough to push back the cuticles as well. I keep this pen next to my bed and use it nightly. Although after the first couple of days it worked so well that I probably don’t need to continue to use it EVERY day. But I love the scent – a mixture of the tea tree oil and almond oil comes through and smells divine.
Once done conditioning the cuticles, its time to move on to the Zeva Austrian Crystal file (shown above). This file is shaped so it’s a little larger on one end than the other, but the overall shape follows the curve of the base of the nail. This is used for pushing back and removing excess cuticle. It’s made of pulverized Austrian crystal and pulverized ceramic. It’s surprisingly very smooth, and is also used file the nail. According to Mike, “the end of a fingernail will only be as smooth as the file you are using”. When using this file, you can go in both directions without damaging the nail. It gives the tips of your nails a smooth end so it “seals” them. This also helps to prevent breakage of the nail.
Next, Mike used the three buffing files on Kate’s nails. They’re clearly marked – #1 Cleaning, #2 Smoothing and #3 Finishing. # 1 Cleans and removes ridges on the nail giving it a nice surface to use #2, which smooths the nail’s surface out. #3 buffs the nails to a nice, clean shine. All three of these buffing files have a different texture to them, but were all softer than I had imagined them being. Kate’s nails looked amazing!
One last step that Mike did to Kate’s nails (hang nail was pre-manicure as Kate will attest to!) was to top them with the One Step French Manicure, which is shown on Kate’s finished nails. It gives a nice finished look to the nails with a high shine that is slightly pink. It’s not the typical dramatic pink/white French tip that many are accustomed to, but instead a very pretty “polished” pink flush look. The result is perfect for those who don’t want or like to use color on their nails, but yet want a nice looking manicure for their nails.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Zeva Natural Nails products! There are additional products to the line like Nail Nourishing Cream, Orange Blossum polish remover pads, Nail Guard and more. You can get the basic nail kit, which is shown above and includes the three buffing files, the Austrian Crystal File and the Cuticle Oil Pen all in a storage/travel case for only $45. You can get some serious savings doing your manicures at home this year! And, they don’t charge shipping on orders over $40. Love that!
Images: Zeva Natural Nails and Fab Over Forty. Product was received for testing and consideration of review.