How To: At Home Manicure

Hi guys! So, as you might have noticed, I love to paint my nails. Every time I have gone in and gotten a manicure at a salon, I look down at my nails and think, “I could have done this myself”, because it looks just as good when I do! You can do it too! So,here are my steps for how to give yourself an at home manicure!

Once a week after Allie goes to bed, I bring all of this stuff out to the living room and have myself a manicure night while we watch reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It usually takes about an hour, but I love doing it. I usually paint my nails twice a week, but I only do all of this once a week. So here is what I do to achieve a perfect, at home manicure!
1. Remove Nail Polish
I use cotton rounds to remove any polish on my nails. You can use any nail polish remover you like, i usually get the cheapest regular kind. When I am finished, I wash my hands really good.
2. Shape and Push Back Cuticles
The next thing I do is clip my nails down. I keep short nails because I find that it is much easier when you have a two year old. Longer nails tend to chip faster, and I don’t want to accidentally scratch Allie while lifting her up or anything. After I clip them, I file them to a roundish square shape. The next thing I do is take this cuticle-pusher-backer-thingy (very technical) and use it to push my cuticles back. It doesn’t hurt that bad!
3. Buff and Polish
After I am all done shaping my nails, I use this 4 sided nail buffer to smooth out any ridges on my nails, and also buff them until they are smooth. This will make your nail polish go on a lot smoother. When you are buffing them, make sure to make a downward motion on the tips of your nails just so there are not any sharp or jagged edges. This prevents your nail polish from chipping. After I am all finished with this, I wash my hands again, because there will be some nail residue on your hands.
4. Paint
Now for the fun part! I always use a base coat on my nails; I find that it really helps with the lasting power, and it helps with stains on your nails. So I layer one coat of base coat on my nails, and then I apply 2-3 coats of the color polish. I start with a stripe down the middle, and then do each side of the nail, also make sure you are painting over the tip of the nail really well. The next thing I do is use a top coat. I have tried every top coat on the market it seems like, and this one from China Glaze is amazing. My nail polish doesn’t chip at all with this. I do one coat of this, and it dries quickly and leaves my nails super shiny. If I am using a dark color or I get a little crazy with the polish, I dip a q-tip into some nail polish remover and go around the edges of the nails to get any excess polish off.
5. Moisturize
The last thing I do after my nail polish has dried is moisturize my hands really well. I really like this hand cream from Soap & Glory. It smells so good and makes your hands really soft.