How to Get The Perfect Mani at Home

Every woman loves the treat of going for a manicure, but sadly they are quite pricey when you attend the salon regularly. Now, I am all for a trip to your Nail Technician, and having your talons beautified, but sometimes, when you're watching the pennies, it can be just as effective to do your own manicure at home. 

Image: Pinterest

Without further ado, I give you my tips for a perfect manicure, (mostly) from the comfort of your couch. 

• Strip off the old, chipped polish with a high quality polish-remover. Sally Hansen makes a fantastic one for no more than €4. Use a cotton bud soaked in polish remover to get all those hard to reach places, like around your cuticle and the sides of your nails. 

• If you need to, now is the time to trim and file your nails; and always file in one direction. Personally, I'm not allowed to have my nails too long for college, but that doesn't stop me filing my nails into a uniform shape to keep them looking their best! 

• Wash your hands. I find that this stops the residue of the nail polish remover drying my nails out. It also take away the awful smell and eliminates the chance of the polish remover causing the skin around your nails to harden. 

• Push back your cuticles or apply a cuticle remover. If you're opting for pushing them back, then use an orange stick to gently push back the cuticle. Don't be overenthusiastic, I don't want you to hurt yourself. I usually trim away the excess with a cuticle trimmer but not all of us have that and it is a step you can totally skip if you want. 

• Apply a good quality base coat.  This will allow your polish to adhere well without staining your nail-beds. OPI Nail Envy or Sally Hansen Double Duty are both firm favorites of mine, though there is a serious jump in the price between each.

• After your base has dried, its time to apply two THIN coats of your chosen polish, start from the middle of your nail and brush straight, then you back and do the left and right sides. 

• Once your chosen color has dried completely, it's top coat time! I haven't found anything as good as the new Rimmel Ultra Shine topcoat in a very long time. 

• Once your nails have dried completely, finish off with a dab of hand lotion, snap a picture for Instagram, and you're all done, darling!!

That's it for my manicure tips. I hope you get some use out of them, because they never fail me! If you have any additional tips, be sure to leave a comment and let me know. I love learning new tips and tricks.

Amy

xx