Manicures are so expensive, and with salons still not back to normal after covid, it is difficult to get an appointment. So why not learn how to do a manicure yourself? You can do it in the comfort of your own home, it is free and you can do it with products that you have in your own home. Don’t worry if you don’t know what to do, because we have a step by step guide to help you with a home manicure.
Wash Your Hands And Clean Your Nails
The first thing to do is wash your hands, you want them clean and free of any grease. Then you need to clean your nails. Use a nail polish remover to take off any old nail polish and get rid of the dirt. An orange stick is perfect for cleaning the dirt away from underneath your nails. Clean down the edge of the nails too.
File Your Nails
You need to shape your nails before you paint them. Cut them if you need to and then file them into shape. There are so many different shapes of nails that you can go for. File the nails in one direction, so that you don’t split the nail or weaken them. Try not to file your nails too short, unless you are placing fake nails over the top of them.
Buff Your Nails
If you buff your nails, it makes them shine. A buffer comes as a white block that you buff your nail with some buffing powder. This evens out the nail surface and smooths down out the ridges. Do not buff too much because it will thin the nail out.
Soak your Nails
Soak your nails in a bowl with some warm soapy water. You can add a few drops of soap to help loosen dead skin and loosen the dirt. It will also make it easier to clean your cuticles up too. Again scrape under the nails with the orange stick to remove dirt. Don’t scrape your nails too much because it will damage them.
Sort Your Cuticles
Dry your hands off and grab your cuticle pusher. You add some cuticle cream and gently push back the cuticles with your cuticle pusher. Don’t force them and never cut the cuticles. The Cuticle is what stops dirt from going into your skin and causing infections. You need to protect it. Wipe the nails of the cuticle cream so they are clean to work on. You need your cuticles tidied up in order for the nail polish to look good.
Massage Your Hands
Use some of your favourite hand cream on your hands and nails and rub it in. You can do a small hand massage to help you relax. Then let it soak in for about half an hour. Pop some cotton gloves on and you can carry doing stuff around the house or relax with a book. When you are ready to paint your nails, make sure there is no moisturiser on them. If you leave moisturiser on the nails, it will stop the nail polish from sticking to the nails.
Paint Your Nails
Now you have come to the best part, the part where your nails really transform. You get to paint them. firstly you need to put a base coat on your nails. The base coat stops your nails from staining and helps provide a decent base for the nail polish. Then you need to paint your nails in your chosen colour. Don’t paint too close to the edges otherwise, it floods the nails. Apply two coats of nail polish to give good coverage. Lastly, you need to apply a topcoat. This helps your polish stay on your nails and prevents it from chipping.
Cuticle Oil
To finish the manicure you need to put some cuticle oil on your nails. Cuticle oil is an oil that seeps into the cuticles to help moisturise them and encourage nail growth. It normally comes in a dropper and you add one drop to each nail and cuticle.