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Are you stuck at home and not sure exactly how to do your own nails? Have you always wanted to get that salon-perfect shine from your nails but have fallen sadly short when you do it yourself? Have you wanted that glossy gel look but don’t want to bother with UV lights and all the expenses that come with gel nails?
Then look no further, you are in the right place, and you are going to love this tutorial.
Follow these quick and easy steps and you will have professional looking nails in no time.
Worried that your nails aren’t in good shape? Don’t! If mine can clean up, I have no doubt yours will look even better.
I have brittle and discolored nails that really look quite awful without polish. But with polish, you would never know it.
Following these simple steps I am confident you will be able to achieve gorgeous nails all by yourself.
What You Will Need:
- Cotton Rounds or Balls
- Nail Polish Remover
- Cuticle Pusher & Trimmer
- Nail Clippers
- Nail File
- Base Coat
- Quick Drying Top Coat
- Nail Polish of your choice
- Orange Sticks (optional)
- Mango Mend Cuticle Cream (optional) – this stuff is Ah–maa-zing. It will make your cuticles smile. 😀
Step 1: Clean Your Nails Really Well
To prepare your nails for polish, you want to make sure you are putting in the time to get the old stuff off. Use a strengthening nail polish remover and apply a cotton ball or cotton round to each nail for a few seconds on a first pass, then go back over again on as many passes as you need to get all the polish off.
Step 2: Give Your Cuticles Some Love
If you have cuticles in really bad shape, consider doing a little pre-work before you attempt to polish your nails, it will pay off. I recommend soothing bad cuticles with a nice cuticle oil or Mango Mend, rub this in before you go to bed and let it do its magic overnight. The next day your cuticles will be soft. When you are ready to do your nails, apply cuticle remover to bare nails and nail beds, and use a cuticle pusher/trimmer to push your cuticles down and trim any excess cuticles off.
Step 3: Trim and File Long Nails
If you need to, use a nail clipper to trim nails to approximately the same length. Then, use a file to smooth out the rough edges and shape the nails to the shape of your preference. Always use a file in one direction only, lifting up in between swipes. If you go back and forth on the nail it will weaken the nail and leave jagged edges.
Step 4: Wash and Scrub Your Nails
You do not want any nail dust, oils or cuticle remover to be on your nails when you start to paint them. At a minimum, scrub your hands and nails well with soap and water before painting. Better yet, use a mixture of peroxide and baking soda to soak your nails in for a few minutes, to get off any stray oils and to get the nails super clean. Then, rinse this off well and if the nail still feels oily, use a cotton round with nail polish remover to give all of your nails a light wipe.
Step 5: Apply Your Base Coat
Base coat is a clear coat specifically made to help your colored nail polish stick to your nail better. Some of these also have ridge smoothers and nail correctors. Pick one that works for you – each person’s favorite base coat is a personal preference. If you like to paint your nails often you might even pick up a peel-off base so you can more easily remove your nails.
Optional addition: You can also apply a ridge filler prior to the base coat if you have bad ridges. I do, and I use this one. It works great and dries fast.
Step 6: Apply the First Coat
The first color coat is the most important – but a lot of people get this wrong. You don’t have to put this on thick, in fact, it should be fairly light and doesn’t necessarily look good. It is really just to get the color onto the nail to form a base. The best technique is to make your first swipe a bit before the nail bed but starting in the center, then push it towards the nail bed (but don’t touch it) and pull back toward the tip. Then, go to each side and do the same thing, being careful not to hit the sides if you can. When you finish the nail go to the tip and swipe across it. If you did hit the nail bed or the sides of your nails, use your fingertip from your other hand or an orange wood stick with cotton and nail polish remover to clean up the edges.
Step 7: Apply your Second and Third (or more) Coats
Wait 3 minutes or longer between applying coats to ensure the first one has dried. Depending on your polish, this might be quicker or longer between coats. The consecutive coats that come after the first can be applied thicker, but the technique should be pretty much the same as Step 6. You want to apply each coat carefully and evenly, and make sure you are hitting the 3 areas: center, left, right – so that the whole nail is coated but avoiding making contact with the edges. If you do flood the edges, use a nail or wood stick to clean this up as soon as you can.
First coat of green
Last coat of green
Step 8: Apply your Top Coat
Once you are done with all of your color coats, make sure your last coat is dry – waiting maybe 5 minutes or longer. Then, apply a rapid dry top coat of your choice to the top of the nail. Since it is clear it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it will shrink a bit so you do want to try and cover the nail as much as you can. Don’t push so hard with the top coat that you smear the color coat underneath.
Wait a few minutes, and your manicure is done!
And that’s it! It may take a little practice to get these techniques down where you feel comfortable, but anyone can do it.
Now, sit back and enjoy your new nails!
