How to Give Yourself A Manicure – Glam Radar
by Maria · July 4, 2014
Hey Ladies! Today we are going to show you how to give yourself a manicure. Claire constantly gets questions on her nails in real life, so we figured we would show all of you guys how to do it on here! Doing manicures at home are not only easy, but they save you time, and more importantly, money! 😉 We both strictly give ourselves manicures, unless its for an important event (but to be honest, its hard to tell the difference).
To start out, get rid of any old polish. Use a cotton ball with some nail polish remover. We like to use removers with strengthening properties so the acetone doesn’t wear down the nail.
Next, shape your nails the way you want to. If you are looking to cut off large amounts of the nail, use nail clippers; however if you are looking to make slight changes, just use a nail file.
Next, shape your nails the way you want to. If you are looking to cut off large amounts of the nail, use nail clippers; however if you are looking to make slight changes, just use a nail file.
Once you’ve filed and shaped your nails, soak them in a bowl with warm, soapy water. This will soften the cuticles, and cleanse the nail beds. Make sure you do this step AFTER you file because the water can weaken the nails and cause more breakage if you file after.
Once you’ve soaked for a while, dry your hands and apply a good cuticle cream or balm. We love this one from Burt’s Bees, the Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream ($3.89 from Walgreens).
You can also add in some hand cream. Hand Food by Soap and Glory ($12 from Sephora) is Claire’s all time favorite hand cream.
Before you add the polish, you will want to remove the oils from the cuticle and hand cream in oder to make the polish apply to your nails better. To do this, take a cotton bud dipped in polish remover and wipe it over your nails.
Now it’s time for the polish! Start off with a base coat to make the polish last longer and to protect your natural nails.
Let’s add the color now! Our favorite nail polish brand is Essie, because it lasts a long time and you can find it at almost every drugstore (not to mention the adorable packaging!) Today we’re using Essie’s “Check-up”($7.79). To apply the color, start in the middle bottom of your nail.
Then drag up creating one solid line in the middle of your nail. You can do this with just one stroke, but we think it works best with a couple of strokes.
Next, start on the bottom middle again, but now drag it along one side of you nail. Repeat with the other side as well.
Do this to all of your nails. Now repeat the steps with a lighter hand to the second coat. The second coat of polish is very important so even apply a second coat even if you think it looks plenty opaque without it. This will add extra lasting power, and it will make it look more profesional.
Once your done, finish it off with a fast-drying top coat. We always recommend the Sally Hansen Insta Dri Topcoat ($7.98 from Target) because it gives the best shine, and it dries completely within 15 minutes, so you won’t smudge your nails (a personal problem of ours). This is what we think really gives us that salon finish.
Finally, if you are not used to doing your nails, you might have a little bit of a mess. We recommend taking a little bit of polish remover and an old (or new!) eye makeup brush to clean up the edges.
And you’re finished! I know this might seem a little strenuous, so if you are constantly changing your polish (like Claire!) you might want to think of just doing a polish change in between to save time. We hope you all enjoyed this post and try it some of these tips on your own. Also, don’t forget to tell us what your favorite nail polish brand is! (Essie? OPI? Sally Hansen? Let us know!)
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