Nail Tips

ALWAYS MOISTURIZE YOUR HANDS

Using cuticle oil and hand lotion often helps with not dealing with hangnails or dry hands. You don't need to invest in a good cuticle oil if you can't. A bottle of 100 percent jojoba oil from Amazon works just as well as the oil mixes you see being sold. Jojoba Oil is very similar to our natural oil so it absorbs into the skin more than other oils. To make applying oil easier, you can also purchase brush pens or bottles with roller balls on Amazon as well. 

You can see what oils I use on the Nail care page.

USE GLOVES WHEN POSSIBLE

If you want your manicure to last during the week, use gloves when possible. Having your hands constantly in water or using cleaning products will not help your manicure last long. 

DEHYDRATE YOUR NAILS

Before applying the base coat, make use you remove natural oil and dust on the nail plate. To do this, you can use pure acetone or alcohol. Some indie brands sell a mixture of acetone and alcohol that you can apply like nail polish to prep the nail. 

NEVER OVER-BUFF YOUR NAILS

Overbuffing your nails can result in weaker nails. This is usually the result of prepping the nails for gel polish or nail extensions. When buffing your nails for nail prep, you should only buff enough to remove the shine. No more than that. 

You should not buff to remove ridges on the nails. For ridges on the nails, you can use a ridge-filling base coat, make sure to moisturize often and let the ridges grow out. I know it will feel like a long process to grow out the ridges but it is the safest and healthiest way. Buffing the ridges will make the nails weaker because the lower dips of the ridges are the weakest points. 

DO NOT USE YOUR NAILS AS TOOLS

As much as we like to use our nails to scratch off that sticker or open a soda can, it's not the best thing to do. Try to remember to use something else to do those things. 

HERE ARE TIPS THAT CAN BE LOOKED AT AS CONTROVERSIAL

YOU CAN CUT THE CUTICLE...

...as long as it is actually cuticle. Cuticle is the dead skin on the nail plate. What you shouldn't cut is the proximal fold or eponychium, which is often wrongly called the cuticle. Cutting those will result in injuring yourself. 

If you aren't sure what is dead skin, then it is best to not cut anything and remove what you can with cuticle remover and pusher. 

IT'S OKAY TO FILE BACK AND FORTH

You can file back and forth as long as the grit on the file is 180 and above. The higher the grit, the finer it is. Often, glass or crystal nail files are recommended because it has finer grit. The lower grits are more for acrylic and hard gel extensions. Filing back and forth does not destroy the natural nail as long as it is a fine grit. You can file one way if you wish but if you forget, it's okay.