This is a review of the 7 way curved block which is a nail file and buffer that I bought recently from Boots. I was fed up of my nails splitting and wanted to smooth out some of them to stop me from being tempted to pick at them. My nails are nice and long at the moment having had some gel overlays on them for the past month and I wanted to file them and have them looking nice.

Use with caution
I was a little wary about over buffing nails as essentially you are wearing away the surface and thinning the nails out. Some people buff their nails to make them shiny but my purpose was to work at some problem areas and try and minimise nail peeling.

Description
The actual nail file is just over eight inches in length and slightly curved. How wrong does that sound!

There are seven parts to it as follows:
1. A course Grit file to shape the nail (this is half the length of the file) in dark blue
2. Medium grit to file nail (half the length) in lighter blue
3. Fine Grit to neaten edges of nail (full length) in peach
4. Even out ridges on nail surface (half length) green
5. Smooth nail (half length) mid blue
6. Buff nail (half length) purple
7. Shine nail (half length) deep pink

The design of the nail is ingenious and really incorporates everything you need in a file and buffer but it is still a nice handbag size so you can file and buff on the go in case you have a nail emergency.

In use
I found the file to be the perfect grip size and it could tackle all the jobs I wanted it to from smoothing out imperfections on the nail surface to filing away length or evening out little bits on the nail. I was careful to not over buff the nail but the ones which needed most attention did end up really smooth and shiny.

Price and availability
As this is a Boots product, they are only available on their website or in store (where I bought mine) priced £3.50 and if you have a Boots Advantage Card you can collect points with your purchase too. There were a few other similar products on sale but I was keen to try the curved version.

My thoughts
I found the curve on the file really helped the action of buffing the nail and it was easy to use. The first buffing motion (side 4) is a little bit rough but not as much as an emery board, and after first use, there was a bit of powdery white nail on the surface of the file so I wondered about the shelf life of the file, (you need it to stay a bit rough for it to work) as this is the section I will probably use most but it seemed to renew itself in my bag and looks brand new again now. I always carry a nail file in my bag, usually a glass file as I find these easier to use but I think the three levels of grit on the curved file give me more options whilst on the go so I could be converted!

Final word
For the money, I think this is a great nail product which combines a lot of actions on the one board. The added advantage of the curved file helps make the job easier. I am pleased that I bought this file and it will probably get a lot of use over the coming months.

PS. Just as an aside, I hate it when people ask to borrow an emery board as it is such a personal item. You wouldn't share your toothbrush with a work colleague would you? Maybe it's just me being weird but I hate other people using my file so I either fib and say I don't have one or if I like the person, and I have one on me I give them one of those mini files you get in the match book type packaging and tell them to keep it! Yes I know I am weird, this one didn't even make it into my recent "five reasons I think I'm strange review"... lol.