Getting Started with Nail Care

Nail care is another big topic that I squeezed into this article for you! Let’s get started by jumping right in. There are a few basic tools that you need to keep in your arsenal for perfect nails.

1. Nail clippers - a pair for your fingers and a pair for your toes
2. Cuticle pusher - to push your cuticles back and clean up your nail beds
3. Cuticle nipper or remover - to get rid of the extra skin
4. Nail file - to shape and smooth down the cuts from the clipper
5. Nail buffer - to shine and polish the surface of your nail without nail polish
6. Pumice stone - for calluses and dead skin

So your nails are getting kinda long and it’s about time to trim them down, but you want to have the gorgeous hands and nails that you see in all the trendiest fashion magazines, how do you accomplish that? Let’s do a step-by-step!

1. Choose your nail shape. (Here is a great guide to basic nail shapes.) The easiest to start with will be round and almond, a good next step up that is glamorous while also easy to do is square. Square nails require a fair bit of growth to get those nice corners, so grow them out from almond shaped and you’ll have the perfect shape in no time.
2. Using your cuticle pusher, gently push any extra skin back and either use cuticle nippers to clip off excess or use a liquid cuticle remover to soften cuticles and wash away. Liquid cuticle remover is basically a very mild acid that softens the extra cuticle skin and can then be washed away, cuticle nippers can be a little scary at first but are easy to get used to as long as you don’t clip away too much and go too deep.
3. Clip your nails down to the length you want them. Do not shape them just yet, just do a rough chop to get your nails to length.
4. Use your nail file to shape nails, making sure to only run the nail file in one direction rather than back and forth like a saw, this will help with the strength and longevity of your nails.
5. Use your nail buffer to polish your nails and you’re done!

The key to no more hangnails and beautiful cuticles is moisturizing! Depending on how well you usually moisturize, you may or may not need to get cuticle oil, it can be a great booster for healthy cuticles as well. If you are a hardcore nail biter, I suggest using bitter apple products to deter you from chewing your nails to stumps!

What about the pumice stone? What do I do with that?! It’s easy. Just leave it in the shower and use it when your skin is nice and soft. Rub it gently against the hardened skin on the soles of your feet, taking care to get your heels. This exfoliates the area and helps keep your skin nice and soft and will help get rid of hard calluses on feet.

The next step up from here is painting!

1. Clip and file/shape the nails.
2. Paint on a base coat, 1-2 thin layers will do. Wait for all layers to dry completely before applying the next layers. A base coat is a clear coat made usually made with added chemicals to improve nail polish adhesion, provide a smooth surface for the next step and helps prevent chipping. Many brands offer base/top coat combinations which can sometimes have nail strengtheners. I personally use Essie’s Base Coat.
3. Paint your color and do any additional nail art.
4. You don’t need too much polish when you load your brush with paint for the first layer. What we’re trying to accomplish with your first layer is to create a shape and outline, so it’s fine if this first layer has visible brush strokes. I kind of wipe one side of the brush against the bottleneck to remove the big glob, then twist the brush 180° so the “loaded” side is what I paint with. I aim for the center of my nail, depositing the majority of the paint there before “pushing” my brush towards the cuticle, then swiping back towards the tip. Without reloading the brush, I use extra paint from the middle stroke to paint the left and right sides of the nail, following the shape of my cuticle.
5. For the second layer, what we’re trying to accomplish is getting good solid color without brush strokes. Load your brush with a good amount of paint, reloading between strokes when needed, and trace over your first layer, being sure to follow the shape you painted previously. You should have solid and even coloring when this layer is done. You may need a third layer if the polish you have is more sheer.

• Essie has some really nice creamy colors that have good pigmentation and are easy to apply. (A nice pastel pink, and a nice shiny pink)
• Another brand I really adore is KBShimmer. They make really good thick, self-leveling polishes that are really cool like thermals that change color and their glitters are fun and chunky.
• For Holographic nail polish, I like INLP. The glitters they use are super fine and gorgeous. 

6.  Finish up with a top coat. Top coats are the main shield against chipping and provide the shine or matte that fits your style. I like to use Seche Vite I find this gives me that ultra shiny, freshly done nails look for much longer than other brands and dries super fast.

Because toenails are a lot smaller than fingernails, you can probably get away with just a dot of paint. You also don’t need to worry too much about shaping the paint on the toenails either. Nail polish chips off of skin fairly easily when dry, so whenever I finish my toenails, they’re usually a mess with paint all over the cuticles. After they dry just take a shower and the excess paint can be easily washed away, leaving you with perfectly painted toes.

Tips:

• For better adhesion and a longer no-chip look, you can put a bit of acetone or alcohol on a cotton ball and wipe your naked nail beds before applying a base coat. This will remove any oils left on the nail bed and gives the base coat a nice clean surface to stick to.
• For those of you obsessed with the clean cuticle look, you can use Liquid Latex or vaseline on your cuticles, to have a barrier between polish and skin. Liquid Latex comes in a bottle similar to lip gloss and has a little brush inside you can use to carefully trace and cover your cuticles. Peel off latex while nail polish is still wet, or the paint will dry and leave you with loose edges. You can also use vaseline on a cotton swab to cover your cuticles. If you use this method, make sure to use a cotton swab soaked with acetone or alcohol to clean your naked nail beds after applying the vaseline and ensure there is no vaseline where you plan to paint.

Maybe this all seems much too DIY and you find yourself being more a salon type person but aren’t sure what to do when you get there? When you walk into the salon, you’ll see a large rack of nail polish, pick one that you like taking it out of the rack and bringing it with you to check in where they will assign you someone to do a manicure (fingernails) or a pedicure (toenails) or both (mani pedi). If you have something in mind for nail art, like a french tip, tell them now. They’ll take you back and ask you what shape of nail you want and usually after that, they’ll start by cutting, filing, and cuticle removal. They’ll paint then move you over to a drying table and you’re done!

Having your nails done, even if it’s just your toenails so you can hide them if you are still femme stealth, can go a long way to helping you feel more put together without much thought! Happy painting! Mind your Mistress and remember to always stay beautiful!

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xoxo,
thelibrarian