Lazy guide to the perfect at home manicure.
Well, I know we all didn’t enjoy lockdown after lockdown, but the one bonus was, we all had time to take on some personal care, all becoming our own beauticians. I for one miss that time of being able to pamper myself as it an be difficult to carve out some ‘me time’ when back at work. So for a quick manicure at home if you don’t have time to go to the nail bar or salon, here are my top tips for a perfect manicure in no time.
Cuticles are the one thing that can really become bothersome if you don’t take care of them, so I like to take the approach of rather than doing tending to them when they are very bad instead I add this in to my daily routine. So, I keep a cuticle oil next to my bed and apply that along with a good hand cream before going to sleep at night. This really give your hands the break from sanitiser we have all become accustomed to and allows the product to sit on the skin and do its job moisturising and softening the skin overnight. A great tip is to take the corner of your towel once you finished soaking in the bath to push the cuticles back, it’s the gentlest way and your cuticles will be nice and soft after having being in the warm water. Also, if any of them do tend to tear up a little, rather than pull the skin, clip it away otherwise it will just run up your finger and cause you a lot of unnecessary pain.
Now that your cuticles are all done, you can move on to using a good scrub, if you don’t have one in the house you can make a quick one with some oil and sugar, just a good exfoliation on the nails and hands to get rid of the rest of that dead skin. Rinse well with nice warm water.
Dry the hands off well and now can get to shaping your nails or clipping them if they need it. A good way of not causing then to tear is to file in one direction. Once you are happy with the desired shape you can get a block buff (not very rough one) and smooth over the nails and free edge to get rid of any excess oil. If you don’t have a sanding block, use any alcohol-based sanitser or non-acetone nail polish remover to clean the nails, instead of buffing them if you are not confident enough in this step.
Now your nails are ready for the most difficult part of the home manicure, that is to apply the polish. Makes sure not to touch anything after preparing them so go straight onto the polish stage once they are prepped and ready to go. A base coat is always a good first step as this will prevent the natural nail from discolouring and help your manicure to last longer. If you don’t have one can, use a light nail colour like something you would use for French polish, so long as there is not much colour in it as this will not affect the end result of your nails. Let the base coat dry completely before painting the colour. Two coats are always recommended but if you don’t have the patience or time to let it dry, then one coat, if the colour allows. Take a sharp wooden stick, even a tooth pick and roll cotton wool or dip into nail polish remover and clean up any mess you have made. Finish off with a lovely shiny top coat or nail strengthener if your nails are weaker. You can also top up every few days to help it to last and get the shine back. Another added bonus is you get out of having to do house work as you don’t want to chip your nails.
Lastly a great cuticle oil over all the nails to prevent smudging and be patient for it to dry. (Easier said than done) Once dry, a great hand cream and you will feel like you have just stepped out of a salon.