At Home Manicure & Post Service Care

So, never will I ever convince you that doing your own manicures at home are a better, more efficient option than going to the salon.  I would be out of a job if I did that! There are many benefits of going to a professional for your hand, feet, and skin care needs. Manicurists, esthiticians, or other cosmetology professionals have access to various products to perfect services and have been trained to understand the human body, different skin types, and multiple methods to better serve you. Plus everyone, men and women, deserve to be catered to every once in a while.

Now, for those of us who have had manicures done or get them done regularly knows that it can be a pain in the butt spending the money only for the paint chip or your nail to break.  What many of you don’t know is that there are ways to prevent this and ways maintain your manicure to stretch your dollar a little more until your next visit.

Below you will find a simple, at home, manicure procedure, tips for maintaining your manicure, and a “quickie” manicure.

I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think and leave any questions you may have in the comments section below or on Facebook.

Please note that I am not, personally, doing my manicure in the pictures below. I intended to do the manicure myself but my classmate wanted to practice so I used the opportunity to take pictures anyways. Believe me a self manicure is completely do able! Good luck! :)

What you will need:

• Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap
• Fingerbowl or bowl
• Cotton balls & Q-tips
• Pusher
• Nail file & 3-way-buffer
• Nail polish remover
• Paper towels
• Hand lotion
• Cuticle remover & Oil
• Base, color, and top coat polish
• Nail clippers
• Nail brush or old toothbrush

What to do:

1. Remove all nail polish.
   Tip: Hold your saturated cotton ball for 5-10 seconds over the nail plate then wiggle the polish off. This will prevent you from wiggling too much and ruining the entire cotton ball vs. one spot. A remover that contains acetone works best.
   
2. If your nails are long, clip them to the desired length then file them to your desired shape. If clipping isn’t required, feel free to skip the step and just file.Tip: Use a medium or 180-grit nail file. Anything less will be too harsh and take are more than intended, anything more will be too soft and take too long. Also when filing, be sure to file in ONE direction to avoid splitting and weakening the nail. 
   
3. CHOOSE A SHAPE: (How properly file your  nails...)
   
4. Fill your nail bowl or bowl with warm water and add 1 to 2 pumps of hand soap. Place your dominant hand in the water to soak for 3 – 5 minutes or until skin is soft. Tip: Soaking your dominant hand first allows for you to spend more time on the hand that works harder for you and incurs more damage.
   
5. Optional but beneficial – Brush your fingers & nails individually from the knuckle of your finger to the free edge of your nail in a downward motion with a nail brush or old toothbrush.
   
6. Dry your hand with a paper towel.
   Tip: To be more “eco-friendly” use a terry cloth towel. You can wash it and even designate it as your manicuring towel!
   
7. Apply cuticle remover or softener with a Q-tip or cotton wrapped orangewood stick.
   Tip: Use an old medicine cup to pour the product into then dip your Q-tip. Dipping your Q-tip into the product can contaminate the entire bottle.
   
8. Use a metal pusher or even a plastic or orangewood pusher to carefully push back your cuticles.
9. Use a cuticle remover, a pair of nippers, or a curette to remove desk skin or skin tags.
   
   
   Did you know: Razors, i.e. nippers, cuticle removers, credo blades (feet), or any other razor designed to cut the skin, are either prohibited or have laws against their use in over 30 states.
   The use of any or all of the tools listed above, in spas or salons, is illegal in the state of Maryland. However some clients and customers prefer for their cuticles to be completely removed at which point it is done at their risk. The “curette” is a dull, scoop-shaped, tool that allows you to gently remove dead skin tags and cuticles and is recommended for use.
10. Clean under finger nails using a cotton swab or a cotton wrapped orangewood stick.
11. Repeat steps 4 – 9 with a fresh bowl of water on the other hand.
12. Using a 3 or 4 way buffer, follow the steps to smooth out surface scratches and give the natural nail a brilliant shine.
13. Dust nails with a clean/dry nail brush or old toothbrush to remove any particles that may have surfaced while buffing.
14. Apply cuticle oil to each nail using a Q-tip. The same tip shown in step 6 applies here. Massage the oil into each finger individually.
    
15. Apply a moisturizing hand lotion of your choice. My favorite hand lotion at the moment is Alba Botanica’s Natural Hawaiian Hand & Body Lotion with replenishing cocoa butter to condition and restore moisture.
    
16. Using a polish removes soaked cotton ball, remove all oils from the nail plate to ensure that your polish lasts longer.
17. Apply a base coat to protect your natural nail followed by the color polish of your choice and finish with a top coat.
    Tip: Use a base coat with beneficial properties. Some base coats are designed to strengthen nails or even prevent them from yellowing.
    
18. Allow nails to dry and enjoy your fresh manicure.

More Tips & Maintaining your Manicure:

1. Apply moisturizing hand lotion throughout the day to ensure that your skin is properly hydrated and to prevent it from becoming too dry and cracking or even causing hang nails.
2. DON’T BITE YOUR NAILS! Believe it or not, I used to have a TERRIBLE habit of biting my nails until one day I decided that it was so disgusting I just had to stop! I started painting my nails and practicing “nail art” to prevent myself from biting them! Now look where I am!
3. When applying a top coat be sure to seal the free edge of your nail. This will help prevent chipping. Also, keep bottle of top coat and apply ever so often. Some topcoats are made thin and just need to be re-applied.
4. Feed your cuticles. There’s really no need for you to completely remove your cuticles except to ensure a clean look but healthy cuticles look just as clean an even healthy. Apply a cuticle oil or salve to your cuticles every other day or even right before bed. This will prevent them from dying out and reduces the amount of skin that you have to remove during your manicure.
5. Choose and build a relationship with a manicurist who you comfortable with and who you can ask questions to. While spa manicures can be more expensive, you will get more out of the service if you better understand how to care for your nails and skin. Plus, you just received lots of tips and tricks to maintain your manicure and space out visits.

The Quickie:

I hope you enjoyed this blog and have found it useful! Remember to let me know what you think & as always thank you for reading! 

Forever & Always,

Anaia Papaya <3