Nail polish remover Cotton balls or cotton swabs Nail buffer Nail trimmers Nail file Cuticle or hand cream Nail polish Base coat Top coat
If you have and wish to keep fake nails, such as acrylic, choose a polish that will not remove them, and don’t let it soak much. Unless you use it once a month or less, don’t use a nail polish remover with acetone in it. Though acetone will make removing the nail polish easier, it can damage the nails themselves.
If you want to remove fake nails, perhaps because they look odd from having grown out too far, here’s how to do that. Do not round the corners down into the sides of the nail bed. This can cause the nail to become ingrown. Be particularly careful with the big toe, which, perhaps due to shoes, is more prone to ingrowing.
You may wish to buff your nails after pushing back the cuticles if there is some residue where the cuticles used to cover, in order to scrape or grind it off in the process. Being thin, soft, and not firmly attached, it should come off easily.
If you have dry skin or fragile nails you should not soak them; just rinse them. Don’t go overboard with scraping, since you can damage your nails if you remove the white powdery substance that is actually part of your nails.
A small binder clip is great for pushing back cuticles. Make sure it’s clean and well-formed, without sharp edges. Fold the wire grips to lay flat against each other. Hold the clip between the thumb and forefinger or middle finger by the flat metal sides, with the grips passing between in the direction of the little finger tip; the flat back piece extending past the thumb and forefinger. Now you’re ready to push back the cuticles on the other hand (switch later to do the one currently holding the clip).
This is as well done after painting the nails and allowing them to dry thoroughly as before painting. For very dry skin, apply some greasy lotion and sleep with cheap cotton gloves over your hands to allow it to remain on and work for a long time without keeping you from productive activities. Nail polish/lacquer will not stick to nails with moisturizer on them, so take a Q-tip dipped in nail polish remover and quickly wipe the nails to remove the lotion. Wipe excess remover off promptly to mitigate nail damage.
This is the point at which you’d apply fake nails if you like. Let the coat completely dry before proceeding.
Angle the brush a little forward, press gently so the bristles spread out a little into a neat curve, and drag it gently and smoothly across the nail to paint it. Do not apply a blob of paint to the nail and spread it around. Blobs or runs mean too much paint or painting too slowly; subtle ridges should smooth themselves out under gravity (self-level) but very-thin spots mean too little paint or too much pressure. Fancy designs can be difficult, so stick with simple if it’s important to get a good result the first time. If there is a little bit of nail polish on your fingers or around you nail you can use a toothpick (flat, not round and pointy, is generally best) to get it off if it’s still wet. If it’s already dry, dip a Q-tip in nail polish remover and wipe it away, or use a nail touch up pen, sold at most drugstores. Be careful not to touch the actual nail with the Q-tip or touch up pen, or you will have to redo that nail.
After the first coat has dried, apply a second coat if you’d like. This ensures the color looks rich and even. After the color coats have dried, you may add designs, by brush, airbrush, mask or stencil, decal, rhinestones, or otherwise. Skipping the base coat, or even applying only one color coat (depending on the kind of polish and application technique; some give or appear to give more even color with uneven thickness than others), will often give acceptable results. However, extra layers add a little extra to initial surface quality.
