How To Give A Home Manicure

A step by step plan to give anyone or yourself a professional, neat, and attractive manicure. This technique is fast and easy to do at home.

Tired of tryin to make appointments for a manicure? Spending a lot of money to keep your nails looking good? If you follow the instructions below, you can give yourself or anyone you know a professional, neat and attractive manicure anytime you want. It doesnt take a lot of time and can be done on women, men, and even children. Many of the supplies you need for nail care are easily found in stores, and with proper care and storage, will last a long time.

Before you begin, you will need to have the following list of supplies on hand:

Fingerbowl, or some type of bowl large enough to soak the nails and tips of fingers

2 towels, one to fold and rest the hand on that you are manicuring, one for drying nails.

Orangewood stick, metal pusher, or plastic pusher with a soft tip, for pushing the cuticle or excess skin off the nail

Emery board or nail file for shaping and smoothing the edge of the nail

Cuticle nipper, for trimming excess skin pushed back from nail, if necessary

Nail brush, for cleaning the tops and under the nail

Chamois buffer, for buffing the nails smooth and shiny

Fingernail clippers, for shortening nail length

Cotton pads or cotton balls

Antibacterial soap for fingerbowl, to help clean nails, preferrably liquid

Polish remover, non-acetone or acetone

Cuticle oil

Pumice powder or cream for buffing

Base coat

Color polish

Top coat

Liquid or spray nail dry

Hand cream or lotion

Alcohol

Cuticle remover, to help soften and make pushing of cuticle easier

As we work along in the steps to do your manicure, each item used will be describe and explained on how and when to use it.

Note--not all of the above supplies are needed for a manicure. It will depend on what type of manicure is being done-on a man, a child, no polish wanted, etc.

Now that we have the supplies we need, let me give you a few tips on how to set up an area to give your manicure.

Sit at a table that is a comfortable height for you, not too low or high. If you will be doing the manicure on someone else, have them sit across the table from you. If you are right handed, whether you are manicuring someone else or yourself, place everything you will be using except your polish to your right. Your polishes will sit to your left. If you are left handed, do the opposite-all supplies to your left and polishes to your right. By setting up in this manner, it will be faster and easier for you to reach for your supplies, and less chance of knocking over or spilling something. Take your towel, fold it into thirds (bring each side in to meet in the middle), then fold in half to make a little cushion. This raises the hand up and provides a comfortable hand and wrist rest. The towel is placed between you and the person you are manicuring, or just in front of yourself.

We've got everything out that we need, we are all set up--now it's time to begin our manicure.

1. Remove old polish from nails-saturate cotton ball or pad with remover. Place on nail and hold for approximately 5 seconds, then wipe down to tip of finger. Continue in this manner until all polish is removed, then move on to next finger. Do not wipe side to side, or back up to the top of the nail. Doing this will push polish into skin and cuticle, making it hard to remove. Remove polish from one entire hand, then the other. Non-acetone polish remover is recommended. It is not as drying to skin and nails as acetone, but use whichever you prefer.

2. File and shape nails. Using the emery board or file, shape the nails of one hand , then the other. File from one side of nail to center, then other side to center. Do not file back and forth-this can cause splitting and weak nails.

3. Place one of the hands with nails filed into fingerbowl to soak for 2-3 minutes. This is done for a few reasons-it softens the cuticle, making it easier to push back, it cleans the nails, and it helps to remove any excess polish remover. Caution--always file nails before soaking. Never file nails that are wet or damp. Nails absorb water, and if they are filed while wet, splitting, breakage and weak nails can occur. Be sure to use comfortably warm water in your fingerbowl, with your antibacterial soap.

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4. At the end of soaking time, use nail brush to clean tops of nails and under nails. Gently brush down to tip of nail over fingerbowl for a few strokes.

5. Dry each hand with a towel, gently pushing back each cuticle with towel as you dry.

6. Apply cuticle remover. Cuticle remover is a moisturizing lotion used to aid in softening the skin on the nail and pushing it back. Just apply one drop to each cuticle and massage in. Do one hand at a time.

7. Push back cuticles using the orangewood stick, metal pusher or plastic pusher. Apply a bit of pressure as you push the skin off up to base of nail. Do one hand then the other.

8. If there is excess amounts of cuticle that was pushed back, you may use your cuticle nippers to trim the excess. This step is not always needed.

9. Clean under nails using your orangewood stick or pusher. Wrap a thin piece of cotton around the end, and dip into your fingerbowl. Run this under the edge of each nail, changing cotton as needed.

10. If no polish is wanted, at this point you may buff the nails to bring out the shine. Using the chamois buffer and a bit of pumice powder or cream, buff nails one at a time, moving the buffer in a downward motion to the tip of the nail. Work at a slight angle and down, alternating strokes on the nail from left to right, as if you are making an X on the nail. Note--if you buff in one direction only, you can create a heated sensation in the nail which can be painful. Always use the X technique to avoid this.

11. Apply cuticle oil to each nail, and massage into nail, cuticle and surrounding skin. This is a good habit to get into doing every day. Apply and massage after a bath or shower, or at bedtime, and your cuticles will be softer, youll have less dry skin and hangnails, and the massage will help your circulation and nail growth.

12. Next, apply your lotion or hand cream. Take a few minutes to massage it into each hand and wrist.

13. Remove lotion and oil from nails, but not from skin. Wrap a piece of cotton around your pusher or orangewood stick and dip it into your alcohol. Apply to each nail, being careful not to apply to skin. Nail polish will not stick to a nail that has oils and lotions on it, so this is essential to do.

14. Apply one coat of base coat to one hand, then the other. Base coat will protect your nails from staining from polishes, it will help the color polish adhere to your nail, and help your manicure last longer.

15. Apply 1-2 coats of color polish. Put one coat on one hand, then the other. If a second coat is desired, apply to one hand, then the other. This give the polish a chance to start drying before the second coat is applied. To avoid streak and brush marks, try this trick---use 3 brush strokes to apply---first stroke down the center of nail, second stroke on one side, and third stroke on other side. Make sure your brush spreads open as you apply for maximum coverage.

16. Apply one coat of top coat to one hand, then the other. Top coat will dry to a high shine,glossy finish. It will help to protect your color polish and help your maincure last longer.

17. If you get any polish on your skin, it's simple to remove. Using your pusher, wrap a thin piece of cotton around the end, dip into polish remover, and carefully stroke over polish on skin. Change cotton as needed.

18. Apply instand nail dry, in spray or brush-on form to each nail. This will not dry the polish completely through, but it will give some protection to the top layer, so smudges may be less likely.

That's all there is to it. Giving or receiving a manicure can be relaxing and fun. Have friends over and have them bring their supplies and have a manicure party! Your nails will be healthier, more attractive, and you can tell everyone you did it yourself!