I love hands. I think hands are very sexy. And I believe that any hand can be pretty—you don’t have to have a perfect nail bed or long fingers... You just have to take care of what you have. And it's not even about being extra. (I love bare nails!) Proper cuticle care and nail-shaping can be as basic as maintenance routines get. Recently, I damaged my nails by having my manicure done in questionable places. I noticed when the shape of my nail started to change. Then the nail plate separated, and they stopped looking good without polish. Getting back to normal takes time (and a lot of at-home manicures). But in the process, I've found some really excellent—and gentle!—products to get my hands back to beautiful.

Nail polish remover is an important start. I love this OZN one—it has almost no smell and is very oily and moisturizing. I don’t want to apply anything on my nails after I use it, which is an awesome result for a nail polish remover.

Cuticle care! This is the most important part and will take over several paragraphs. I am addicted to a cuticle pusher. I use it daily. Dr. Haushka is an upgrade: a pusher with oil! I love carrying it with me, that's how good it is. The old-school pusher with oil gives a better result than either on their own. Sally Hansen Balm comes out in an emergency. I only reach for it from time to time.

Beyond the Cuticle Pen, I am addicted to droppers and am using my facial/body oils for nails. If you're buying it for another part of your body, may as well use it on your hands too, right? Currently, F.Miller Face Oil is my favorite; I try to apply it daily and massage it well. I keep a bottle by my work desk to never forget.

Queen of my nail care kit is this Dior Nail Cream. I didn’t like it at first...it's thick and sticky but, oh, is it hydrating. I feel amazing when I use it. Very chic! I keep it at home as I can’t touch anything for a minute after applying it. It is a very spa-like ritual.

My good friend gave me the 7:15 roller from Uka a long time ago and it's since become my little talisman. I feel like I use it to de-stress rather them moisturize. I love the scent and it’s a very nice little object to own. Wanting to use something is almost as good as needing to use something.

The Byredo and Frederic Malle hand creams are the prettiest and the best smelling hand things that I own. I love having them where I can see them. To be frank, I am very easy with hand creams. I can use almost anything—I don’t mind putting body cream or face cream on my hands. SPF comes out when I'm planning on spending a day in the sun, but I'm open to reviewing that and integrating it more frequently. Don’t forget to exfoliate your skin from time to time (for this I also use my facial exfoliators) to make sure creams are better absorbed. Fun fact: The more water I drink, the less creams and oils I use.

—Yana Sheptovetskaya

For more of Yana's hands, click here.