Video:How to Do a Home Manicure

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Transcript:How to Do a Home Manicure

Hi, I'm Kathy Yan, owner of Ohm Spa in New York City, here for About.com. Today, I'm going to show you how to give yourself a home manicure.

Supplies for a Home Manicure

The supplies for a home manicure are a shallow bowl with water, a half a lemon, a hot towel, cut paper towels, a cuticle pusher, a tooth pick with cotton wrapped around the tip, a nail clipper, a cuticle nipper, cuticle oil, cuticle cream and treatment, a base coat, a top coat, and a buffer block, an orange stick, a nail file or two, a shallow dish to hold your jewelry, a sanitizer, moisturizing cream, rubbing alcohol, and a low acetone or acetone free remover, and cotton balls, and a nail lacquer of your choice.

Instructions for Doing a Home Manicure

First, take off any watch or jewelry from your hands. And lay out all of your materials needed, before hand, for easy access. We're going to squeeze some lemon into your water bowl and I'm going to disinfect my hands, and sanitizing your tools with disinfectant. Pull out a small piece of cotton and wrap it around the tip of the orange stick and toothpick. Cut paper towels to the desired size you'll need to clean your nails. Remove existing nail enamel using a low acetone or acetone free polish remover and cotton balls.

Acetone can make nails dull and dry. Let the cotton stay on nail for 3 to 5 seconds. Add a little pressure and slowly wipe off the polish from cuticle edge to the tips of nails. Avoid any circular motion. Apply a small amount of cuticle oil and massage evenly around the cuticle of each nail in a circular motion. File the nail only in one direction with a 45 degree angle to the nail base. Avoid using a seesaw motion. Gently buff the nail plate with a buffing cube in the direction of nail growth and smooth the nail edges. Soak fingertips for 5 minutes to soften the hard or dry cuticles, remove hands from bowl and pat dry with a towel. Gently slide a cuticle pusher along the nail plate toward the cuticle area in small circular motion. Wipe off the dead skin with lint free paper towel and rubbing alcohol.

Painting Nails for a Home Manicure

If necessary use a cuticle nipper to carefully remove the loosened cuticle as well as any loose pieces of non-living tissue. Gently clean beneath free nail edges with an orange stick and rubbing alcohol. Remove nail residue on the nail bed with polish remover. Apply one thin coat of base coat or a strengthening base coat for those who have weaker or chipping nails. Base coats prevent nails from yellowing from color pigments. A ridge filler base coat is ideal for someone with deeper ridges on their nails. Otherwise, you can gently buff the nail surface until the smoothness is achieved. Make sure to paint slightly below free nail edges to prevent color chipping.

Prepare your nail polish by rotating the bottle in a circular motion for a good mixture if your bottle has not been used for a long time. However, do not shake. Shaking creates bubbles. Most people start painting their left hand. You can place your left hand on the table to keep it still as it is always better to keep at least one hand stable. Remove the brush from the bottle, wiping one edge of the brush against the bottle to remove excess polish. Place the brush in the middle of the nail to almost the base of the cuticles. Brush out just from the edge of the cuticle and all the way to the edge of the nail. Start polishing fro the middle of the nail bed and work your way to the sides.

And, I can see after inspecting my nails that I have a few errors. That's why we have this magical toothpick with cotton wrapped around it, at the tip. So you just take a little bit of acetone, dip the edge in there. Just clean up any of the edges. Believe it or not polish will not completely dry until 24 hours. Please avoid soaking your nails or touching anything sharp such as a key chain or zipper within 2 hours after your manicure.

Tips for Home Manicures

In order to have a long lasting polish, apply a thin layer of top coat to your nails the day after original application. Nails all done, nice and shiny. But it's going to take a while for them to dry.

Thanks for watching. To learn more, visit us on the web at About.com.