DIY Beauty: How to Give Yourself a Manicure At Home

By Melissa Barlow on December 15th, 2009

manicure-1 I love getting a professional manicure. But since I like to change my polish color often, and have raggedy cuticles from typing away all day, I give myself manicures and pedicures at home instead, saving the pro mani/pedi for special occasions only. While I love the experience of going to a salon and being pampered, it’s getting a bit pricey to get a professional manicure in my neighborhood. So, for those of you girls in the same boat, why not try giving yourself a manicure at home?

Here’s what you need:

Cotton balls

Nail polish eemover

Nail clippers

An orangewood stick or cuticle pusher

Emery board

Buffing block

Cuticle oil or cuticle cream

Small bowl or cup for soaking

Nail polish and top coat

Step One: Remove all old polish with the cotton balls and polish remover.

Step Two: Fill bowl or cup with warm water (take care and make sure the water isn’t too hot) and soak fingertips. I usually soak for about 1-2 min each.

Step Three: I like to push back my cuticles before I trim and shape my nails, but in my opinion, you can switch steps two and three to tailor your needs. To push back cuticles: Apply cuticle oil or cuticle cream and let it sit and absorb for a few minutes. I like to use Sally Hansen Problem Cuticle Remover. An orangewood stick has two different tips, a pointy side and a flat side. Using the flat side, gently push back the cuticles using a circular motion. If it is uncomfortable or painful, you are pushing too hard. The pointy side is then used to clean out underneath you nails and remove all the gunk. Remember: make sure you wash off all oil or cream before you polish or swipe nails with another cotton ball and polish remover. If you don’t your nail polish will chip that much faster.

Step Four: Trim and file your nails. Here’s where the clippers come in if you need them. If your nails are only a bit overgrown, I would recommend just filing them down, but if you need to get rid of a lot of length you will need clippers. Tip: Clip you nails a bit longer than you want them to be and file them the rest of the way so your nails don’t get too short. Tips for filing and shaping: The hot shape for nails this season is the “sqoval” oval with slightly squared edges that are a bit longer than the tips of your fingers. There are some tips here if you need some help. Also, only file in one direction, don’t saw back and forth, the sawing motion is more traumatic to the nails and can cause a “lip” at the end of the nail that will also need to be filed down.

Step Five: I guess this step is optional, but I think it will really make or break your home manicure, and that is buffing. Buffing your nails before you polish will give you the smoothest polish application possible. I like the three way triangle shaped buffing blocks myself, but any buffer will do. Buffing your nails will smooth down any ridges and rough spots and shapes (with the gritty side), then the second side smooths the nail surface, and the third side polishes the nail to a high shine.

Step Six: Apply two coats of polish and don’t forget the top coat. To really get the best results you need to take care of your polishes. Make sure that any and all gunk is removed from the mouth of the bottle and that the brush is free of all fuzzies (cat hair is my main culprit). Apply the first coat and let it dry before you apply the second coat. Finish with a top coat and then just be patient, it will dry in about 30 minutes.