DIY Home Manicure

What do you do if your favourite spa/salon is booked and you can't get your relaxing manicure? Or if you've had a stressful week at work and it's Friday night and you're exhausted and you just need some pampering?


Whatever the reason, at home manicures can save you lots of money and be very relaxing.

Items you will need:

Cotton balls

Nail polish remover

hand towel/paper towel

Oils (bath oils or other aromatherapy oils

Cuticle oil

Your favourite lotion

Bowl

Nail file, cuticle pusher/cutter
Base coat, nail polish, top coat

Now that you got all your items together, go and set the mood. I love to pull out my favourite candle, and turn on my favourite tunes, or sometimes grab a cocktail and put on sex in the city.  Warning, do not drink too fast before it's time to cut your cuticles, that could be a disaster ready to happen...ouch!  But you get my point, do something that is fun and relaxing before you start.


Step 1:
Take off all your nail polish and wash your hands. I do this, because you want to get all the acetone off your hands before you begin to pamper them, and wash your hands thoroughly.


Step 2:
Add your cuticle oil onto your nails.
Add your oils to your bowl of water.  A lot of places uses whatever soapy concentrate to make the water soapy, but soap does the opposite of what you need right now, right now you need to add the moisture back into your cuticles.

 

Really, you can put anything in your bowl. This is the time to begin pampering your hands.  Oils are the best way to go in my opinion, but of course you can also add other natural ingredients such as honey, cucumbers, lavender, etc. etc.


I let it soak for about 5 minutes, while rubbing the oils into my hands as well.  You can do this as long as you want really, but the whole point is to get the moisture back into your hands


Step 3:
Now wipe your hands with the hand towel.
Next you want to now push your cuticles back or trim them.  I do both really.
Then, file your nails in the shape that you want them.  If your nail bed has ridges and is rough, take a buffer to your nail bed and smooth that out.


Step 4:
Lather on that luxurious lotion that you have.  Now I know nothing beats someone else giving you a hand massage, since giving yourself a hand massage is just not the same, but just it back and relax and let your entire hand soak in the moisture.  If you want to add cuticle oil one more time, then by all means do it, sometimes I need to do this during the winter.


Step 5:
Now before you prep and paint your nails, take a cotton ball with nail polish remover and wipe down your nails.  The nail polish need a clean surface to stick too.
Paint and be gorgeous.