Step by Step Manicure

Step by Step Manicure - What Do You Need ?

Nail wipes which are lint free are best because they don’t leave behind cotton hairs on the nail, but if you can’t get them use cosmetic pads; but be careful because they will leave behind cotton hairs.

• Towel
• Nail Cleanser (acetone free nail polish remover will do if you have no nail cleanser)
• File
• Cuticle cream remover
• Bowl and soapy water with some lavender to aid relaxation
• Nail brush
• Orange stick or cuticle pusher

• Cuticle nippers
• Exfoliation cream/lotion
• Hand cream
• Acetone free nail polish remover
• Base coat nail polish
• Coloured nail polish
• Top coat
• Nail Oil
• A lamp so you can see the detail

Step by Step Manicure - Lets Begin

• Remove any polish from the nail by soaking nail swab in acetone free nail polish, place swab on the nail and leave for 10 seconds to soften polish, and sweep down towards free edge of nail. Repeat until all the nail polish is removed. If there are stubborn areas around the cuticle or underneath the free edge, take a baby bud and soak it in nail polish remover.
• Filing - Never saw back and forth across the free edge with your file as it can disrupt the nail plate layers and lead to splitting and peeling. File your nails by either rounding them off or squaring them. Round them off by taking the file first up one side and then the other from the outside corner to the centre of the nail plate. Finish by rounding the top. Square the nail by taking the file straight across the top of the free nail edge, if you prefer. You can give the corners just a little roundness so they don’t look quite as severe this way. To seal the free edge, use the 3-way buffer: black to refine, white to semi-shine and grey to finish. This will prevent the jaggy bits occurring !

• Cuticle Attention – using a quality cuticle softener, apply to the cuticles.
• Soaking and Relaxing - Place hands into a bowl with warm soapy water and a few drops of lavender : it’s time to relax for 5 minutes. Depending on the cuticle softener you are using it’s usual for a chemical reaction to take place between the soapy water and the cuticle softener to speed up the process of softening the cuticles.
• Remove your hands. Dip your nail brush into the bowl and brush underneath your nails just to make sure they are clean. Now you can throw the water away and dry your hands with the towel.
• Cuticle Work - Using the orange stick or cuticle pusher push your cuticles back. Don’t be too aggressive here as you don’t want to damage the nail matrix (bed). All you want to do is push any cuticle away from the nail plate. Take the cuticle clippers and cut any hang nails - these are the jaggy bits that can be loose at the side of the nail - the bits you just can’t resist biting off ! If there are none, don’t be tempted to cut skin !

Step by Step Manicure - Exfoliation and Massage

Exfoliation - At this stage you may wish to give your hands an exfoliation. Squeeze a small amount onto the backs of your hand and spread before gentle massaging exfoliation for about one minute. Now wash and dry your hands. Relax with Massage - We are nearly finished, so first you must massage some hand cream into your hands. Why not use an aromatherapy oil and give yourself a nice relaxing massage. It’s brilliant for the circulation.

Step by Step Manicure - Hot Paraffin Wax

Paraffin Wax Manicure If your hands are dry and in need of moisture you could apply a hot paraffin wax treatment.

Step by Step Manicure - Prepare to Polish

Wash - Before applying polish, ensure your nails are free of hand cream or oil. Wash and dry the nails using a small damp face cloth. Cleanse the nail plate with nail cleanser just to make sure all oil and cream residue are gone. Enamel will not adhere to oil or cream, so this is really important. If there are ridges on the nail you may wish to use a three waybuffer. Just as explained previously, use the black side, then the white side before finishing with the gray side. This will leave the nail looking naturally shiny.
Step by Step Manicure - Perfect Nail Polish You will require

• Base Coat – protects the nail from discolouration
• Coloured Polish – this is a personal choice
• Top Coat – gives a shiny finish and also seal colour and ensure it lasts longer

Make sure your nail polish is fresh. It should be thin and easy to apply.
Before opening, mix the polish in the bottle by turning it upside down and rolling it between your palms. Don’t shake the bottle as this will produce bubbles.
Step 1. First, apply a thin layer of base coat and leave for one minute.
Step 2. Next, apply two thin layers of colour and leave for one minute between each coat (some colours may require a third coat).
Step 3. Finally, apply a thin layer of top coat and leave to dry.

Applying Polish - make sure your brush is not overloaded with nail polish. Do this by dipping the brush into the nail polish and then wipe on the neck of the bottle with one side of the brush until you have only a little polish left on the brush on the side you didn’t wipe.
First stroke polish down the centre of the nail plate and then down either side. Three strokes in all. Leave a tiny gap at your cuticle and skin. Remember skin and cuticle contain oil which enamels cannot adhere to.
The secret to perfect polish is to apply thin layers and leave as much time as possible to dry between each layer.
If you leave the nails to dry for about 5 minutes you can then apply creative solar oil to help dry the nail quicker and also to ensure any little touches to the nail in the first vital drying hour will slide off rather than smudge.
Beware - nail polish takes a good hour to dry and harden properly.

How to apply acrylic nails easily

It is not the easiest things to be taught, but, with a little patience, you will learn the art perfectly.  At first it could take you as long as 3 hours to put on a full set of acrylics but as you gain experience youshould be able to complete a full set in an hour and a half;  some experienced people will be able to do them in an hour.

  With a little practise and patience you could be earning money from the art of acrylic nails or you may simply want to save money by doing them on yourself.

What Do You Need?

• Acetone
• Non-acetone nail polish remover
• Nail files and white filing block
• Acrylic clipper
• Artificial nail tips: find a size that fits your nail, if this is not possible find one that is closest and file it down
• Liquid Acrylic
• Powdered acrylic (white and clear)
• Acrylic brush: to apply the acrylic to your nail
• Dampen dish: to hold the acrylic liquid in
• Nail oil: to moisturize your nail after you apply your acrylic nail

How To Apply Acrylic Nails Preparation

Prepare the nails by filing down the natural nail so they are very short and then push the cuticles back.

Remove all previous traces of polish and acrylic with a non-acetone nail polish remover.

Take the white filing block and buff over the entire nail so that it’s a bit rough.  Not too much though.

How To Apply Acrylic Nails and Match Your Own Nails

Natural nails come in all different shapes and sizes, some nails are more rounded and some are flatter, acrylic nails are no different and should be matched as closely as possible to the natural nail.

1. Take your acrylic nail tips and match each nail tip to each individual nail.  They should be an exact fit: if you can’t get them just right, take one that is a little too wide and file down the sides so it fits. 2. Place your acrylics on your work station in an order that you know which nail they have been matched to ie your thumb first, then your index finger etc.

How To Apply Acrylic Nails Using Glue

1.Apply a tiny drop of glue onto the tip (from the bottom to the little indentation) and dunk it onto a tissue to get rid of any excess glue.

2. Have a bowl of acetone prepared just in case you misplace a tip, so then it can be soaked off and you can start again.

3. Place the artificial nail tip onto the tip of thenatural nail where the smile line is and ease back until the indentation is hitting the natural nail.  Hold down until the glue sets, this just takes a few seconds.  It’s very important that no air bubbles form under the tips as this weakens the nail and can cause a fungal infection. 

If any air bubbles form, the tip will have to be removed and applied again.  

4. Adjust the tip length to suit your personal requirements using a nail tip clipper.

5. File them to shape. At this stage you don’t need to be too fussy as you will have to file them again at the end.

How To Apply Acrylic Nails Smile Line

First we do the white smile line of the nail just like a French polish.

1. Pour a little acrylic into a dampen dish;  it has a very strong smell so make sure there is plenty ventilation in the room.  This stuff can give you headaches, so beware. 2. Tip – don’t overload your brush with product otherwise you will make the acrylic nail far too thick and will end up having to do a lot of filing at the end. 3. Open the white acrylic powder.  Dip your brush into theacrylic liquid and then wipe both sides onto a paper towel to make sure any residue is removed.  Re-dip your brush into the acrylic liquid and wipe both sides again on the side of the dampen dish.  You don’t want to overload your brush withacrylic liquid.   The idea is the more liquid on your brush the more powder it will soak up.  Practice will tell you how much you require. 4. Now dip the tip of your brush into the powder and you will find that a little ball of product will form. 5. Apply this ball on the edge of the nail tip. 6. Spread over the smile line quickly with the flatter part of your brush.  It should be spread right to the corners.  Work quickly and perfect the smile line so it has a nice curve just like the natural nail.

How To Apply Acrylic Nails Using Clear Acrylic


1. Close your white acrylic powder and open up your clear acrylic powder and dip your brush into the acrylic liquidfirst and then the powder, just as above, except this time trail the product ball along the powder after the ball has formed. 2. Apply the ball of product onto the middle part of the nail, being careful not to touch the cuticle area as this may weaken the nail. 3. Repeat the above procedure again on the cuticle area, being very careful not to touch the cuticles as this may weaken the nail and it will start to lift.

Finish Off


1. The acrylic takes about 10 minutes to set and dry.  By the time you have finished both hands you will be ready to go backto the first finger nail you applied.  File the acrylic so that you take any bumps out with a grit nail file and shape them to look natural.  Smooth the nail with a white buffing block and then wash your hands to remove any dust and filings. It is worth taking time over this part for the perfect finish. 2. To finish, apply cuticle oil and use your three way buffer to shine.
After Care - Cuticle oil should be applied every day to the acrylics to keep them supple and flexible, as this will decrease possible cracks appearing.

Acrylic nails??

Fond of acrylic nails? We tell you why it is not a good idea... 

Chewed nails look ugly and disgraceful. But you can't help the habit of chewing on your nails? 

Acrylic nails could be your only saving grace. The advantage of using acrylic nails could very well be that they don't peel, chip or crack and one can keep our preferred length without having to worry about filing them or waiting for weeks for nails to grow to the desired length. When done properly acrylic nails can look very elegant and although they don't have any major side-effects, one does run some risks by often turning to this quick-fix for chewed, hideous looking nails. 

Ensure that you get your nails done from a certified nail bar. We often use nails as tools to open lids of containers or to pry off something. If you put your nails through such gruelling tasks, the acrylic will rise creating a space between itself and the natural nail. This space is the perfect breeding ground for fungal infections. So use your nails with tender, loving care. 

Chemical residues in acrylic nails can trigger allergies, redness, swelling and pain in nails in some people. Using acrylic nails continuously for over two-three weeks can be harsh on your natural nails. Natural nails might peel because a layer of the natural nail is removed when the acrylic nail is removed. This can leave the natural nail brittle as well as form ridges on the surface.