This is a home version of a simple manicure (with my personal tried advice). For a professional manicure you’d need a lot more than that (but to basically the same effect), so good luck:
1. remove old nail polish – any polish remover will do
2. push back cuticles with orange stick
3. cut any excess cuticle or hangnails with clippers – it’s ok to cut it if you are ok with it ;)
4. file free edge of the nail to shape – I use glass nail file for this as it is the best nail file, take it from a pro!
5. smooth the nail plate with fine sanding block or any polishing device you might have. it will make the nail polish stick better and for longer.
6. apply base coat and let it dry for 1 minute – the base coat will protect the nail plate from discoloration from your regular nail polishes (but only to a certain extent, still base coat will make your nail polish look better, so it’ advisable to use it)
7. apply first coat of any nail polish of your choice and let it dry for 3-5 minutes
8. apply second coat of polish and let it dry for 3-5 minutes – always apply 2 thin coats of nail polish for best coverage results and colour intensity
9. apply nail art adhesive, let it dry till translucent (to buy on ebay i.e.)
10. dip the nail in any glitter of your choice
11. seal with a top coat – it makes the art shine and the nail polish lasts longer, let it dry – I use speed demon, drying accelerator ;)
12. if you want to go over the top, you can stick some Swarovski crystals on top with nail glue or any other superglue
13. apply cuticle oil to the cuticles and hands when nail polish is dry
FINISHED!
Now try not to do anything for an hour or so, you can read a book, drink coffee, watch movie…Therefore it’s best to do manicures in the evening before bed ;)
Few important facts:
- Your nails will seem to be dry in about 5 to 10 minutes, but with 4 coats of nail polish it takes up to 3h for them to be completely dry, depending on the nail polish you use, and how thick the coats are
- Absolutely no washing up for 3h, as warm water will soften the fresh polish and spoil all your work
- If you let the coats to dry in between the whole drying process will be much, much shorter,
- two thin coats will dry faster than one thick coat – so please don’t try to save your time by applying one thick coat, it’s pointless
- Old nail polish will take longer to dry, try to use fresh nail polish, discard any that is older than 6 months (some might last longer)
- If you are scared to use superglue on your nails because of the damage it might cause…you shouldn’t be using any of the products mentioned above, since they are all chemicals, all of them harmful to the nail plate in one way or another ;)
- And last but not least: you don’t have to go for the expensive products, although some are better than the others…try them and choose for your self.
Info on this particular manicure:
Q: Why I don’t use a ready mixed nail polish with glitter? (of the bigger sort that are called glitter slices, or hexagonal glitter) Since it would be quicker to simply slap nail polish on? Why do I bother with the adhesive, and all the mess?
A: Simply because the glitter slices would get lost in the nail polish, they would be covered by the polish, revealing only lumps of something in it. The way I showed you, makes the glitter stand out and shine as it is intended to.
