If you are considering treating yourself to a beauty salon manicure - and why shouldn't you! - the following are the details of what you can expect to receive from a professional manicurist. Your manicure might not follow this procedure exactly, but it should be very similar. So there shouldn't be any surprises. So just go and relax and enjoy it!

Here it is - how to give a manicure - in 12 luxurious steps:

1. Remove the old nail varnish by wiping with a piece of cotton wool soaked in varnish remover. Once all the varnish has gone, rinse the fingers with clean water.

2. File the nails into the correct shape and buff to remove any little imperfections and rough edges.

3. Dampen the hands a little with water and apply a gentle exfoliator, using a massaging action. Then rinse the hands thoroughly and dry.

4. Soak the hands in soapy water, using a moisturizing cream moisturizing soap, not an astringent. Leave them in the water for about ten minutes.

5. Apply moisturizing cream to the cuticles.

6. Push back the cuticles using a hoof stick (usually a plastic stick with a rubber tip, specially designed for moulding cuticles).

7. Gently massage the cuticles and the whole hand with moisturizing hand cream until it is totally absorbed.

8. Remove excess dead skin around the cuticles and trim any hang-nails using special very tiny, but sharp, nippers.

9. Buff the nails to remove all ridges, imperfections and any unevenness.

10. Apply a rich moisturizing cream to the hands, wrists and lower arms, using a massaging action until the cream is thoroughly absorbed.

11. Then immerse the hands in a Vitamin E rich paraffin bath. This is used to open the pores and let the heat and moisture be thoroughly absorbed. This is done several times, with a short delay between each immersion, allowing the wax to build up in several layers. Once sufficient wax has built up, the hands are wrapped in some thin plastic film or plastic bags and placed into insulating mitts made from towel. After approximately ten minutes the mits and plastic are removed and the wax peeled away. The hands will be beautifully soft.

12. Finally, nail varnish is applied in the form of a base coat, then two layers of your color of choice, and a finishing protective top coat.

That's it. All over! Another perfect, luxuriating, relaxing and beautifying manicure, making you feel good all over.

You can find more information on manicure types by Bianca Tavares in her regular contributions at Makeup Girl