Tightwad Tuesday: Manicure Yourself

Today I'd like to help you save a little green on your beauty routine.  Some things just cannot be done at home unless you have proper training, however, some things are absolutely able to be done at home to save some cash.

I started doing my own nails many moons ago when I was single, childless, and had the cash to put out for professional nailcare.  However, I found that manicures were often less than I expected.  I had a lot of trouble finding someone who could satisfy me when it came to my nails.

I started doing my own nails, testing and trying until I got it right.

Now I'm old, have a house full of children and no cash.  My lessons are paying off!  I thought I'd share my method.

The biggest tip I can offer you is something that someone quite uppity (I can't remember who) said to me long ago...she said the difference between a professional manicure and a home manicure is all in the cuticles.

I found this statement amusing because I visited shop after shop, salon after salon in search of an excellent manicure and always some bit of polish was left on my cuticles.  After the most expensive manicure I ever got, my cuticles were actually painted over and the polish was bubbling like a hot spring.  It was awful.  I do have to say that the salon offered to have me come back for a free manicure, but I politely declined. 

I would have accepted a refund, but a free manicure?  If someone offered you a bucket of poo would you take it just because it was free? 

Didn't think so.

I've always remembered that statement though...I've always paid special attention to my cuticles when doing my nails, carefully moisturizing them and making sure to keep them polish free.

I used my daughter, BananaG13 in these pics for a couple of reasons.  First, she has absolutely lovely hands and beautiful shape to her nails and fingers.  Second, I was having a hard time figuring out how exactly to do my own AND take the pictures.  I know I'm not a great photographer, but no one else can picture the photos I have in my head and I am also a tiny bit of a control freak, so I had to take the shots myself.  Third, as soon as I started thinking about this blog post, all of my nails broke to shameful shortness.

 I'm not kidding.  You'll see.

To prove that it can actually be done on oneself with success, I did my own and have included a picture of my final product, but the pictures of the process belong to my darling guinea pig daughter.

Here we go!

The products: Cotton balls, nail polish remover, nail clippers, manicure stick, emery board, nail drying spray, cuticle oil, base coat, nail color of choice and my all-time favorite find in nail products,  Beauty Secrets Top Coat.

BananaG13's nails before we started.

 Remove color with nail polish remover.

Brush on cuticle oil.  If you don't have any, head to the kitchen and grab some olive oil. 

Trim nails as necessary with nail clippers, then shape with emery board.  BananaG13 made me cut her nails.  "They're just too long!" she sighed.  Aw, poor baby!  I would love to have her nails, alas, they get in the way of her guitar playing and annoy her.  So cut them I did.  Boo.

Gently push back cuticles at base of nail.  Please do not clip unless absolutely necessary.  The softness of the manicure stick is much gentler than a metal cuticle tool.  Get some, they're cheap.

Clean nails again with nail polish remover and cotton ball.  This gets the oil off the nail and clears any pixie dust left from using the emery board.  Paint with clear base coat.

 Paint with nail color of your choosing.  Try not to get it down to the cuticle, but don't panic if you do.  If it's heavy and gloppy on your skin, get it right away with just the manicure stick dipped in nail polish remover.  You don't have to clean it up perfectly.  We'll do that next.

 Make a cotton swab.  Anyone who has ever tried to clean up a manicure knows that a regular cotton swab is too fat for this.  Roll your manicure stick lightly on a clean cotton ball and the wood will grab the cotton as you twist it.  Just get a little curled around there.  You can remove it and re-twist as many times as you need to.

When you get some cotton on the stick, take your fingers in a pincing grasp and roll it around between them to cinch the cotton around.  This is the result...a flattened, skinny cotton swab.  That is exactly what you need!

Dip your homemade swab into the nail polish remover.  If it is sopping wet, press it against the inside lip of the bottle before using it.  You don't want a puddle of nail polish remover on your nail.  Then take your swab and run it around your cuticles to clean up any wiggles, etc. in your polish application.  You can pull off the cotton and re-make the swab as needed during this process.

Apply clear topcoat.  My absolute favorite is Beauty Secrets Top Coat.  It is absolutely ah-maze-ing.  I have tried a lot of products and to tell you the truth, when it comes to nail color I quite prefer the $2 bottles over the $10+ bottles.  When it comes to top coat, there is no comparison here.  This fabulous little bottle gives you a quick dry time and a super shiny finish.  I highly recommend reapplying it every day or two to extend the life of your manicure exponentially.

Optional:  Spray with aerosol quick dry.  You can get this anywhere.  This is a very cheap one and I see no difference between this one and others that cost 3 times as much.

BananaG13's beautiful nails!

My nails.  Goodness.  My hands are definitely much older and, well, squattier than my daughter's!  As you can see, my nail length is pitiful right now.  But, the manicure is neat and this is my dominant hand, so you can see it is possible to accomplish a beautiful look right at home!



Go and be gorgeously frugal today!