Give yourself a manicure
You will need:
- 1 pack of cotton balls
- 1 fingernail polish remover
- 1 emery board
- 1 nail trimmer
- 1 cuticle remover
- 1 bottle of fingernail polish
- A couple of paper towels
Nail polish removing.
Firstly, take out as many cotton balls as needed one at a time, and swab your fingernails with nail polish remover one by one, until your whole fingernail is your natural true color.
Trimming your fingernails.
A fingernail trimmer is used when you want to reshape or shorten your nails more efficiently than with an emery board (next step). You can make your fingernails shorter using fingernail clippers, which are small in size and designed to fit your nail shape.
Filing your nails
Next, you should have what is called an emery board - an inexpensive fingernail board used for filing down rough nail surfaces. An emery board should not be used to scrape your natural nail surface. You can use the emery board quite effectively on the end of your nail, in order to give it a consistent shape and make the tip of your nail smooth.
Cuticle removing.
Now you need to use your cuticle remover - not to literally remove your cuticle, rather to push it down. Your cuticle is that soft skin that forms at the bottom of your fingernail at the place where your fingernail cartilage and your skin meet. Its job is to cover the place where your nail cartilage meets your skin, and make a smooth transition for that to happen. As your fingernails grow, your cuticle skin stretches, and this process of removing your cuticle pushes back that excess to promote your nail growth and health. Push back your cuticles one at a time using the cuticle removing tool. These are available from nearly any beauty supply store, or store that carries fingernail accessories of any kind. These are also relatively inexpensive.
Pick a color.
Now you are ready to pick out a nail polish color from your nail polish collection! Pick out a color that matches your skin coloring, outfit styles that you wear, or shade of lipstick. If you polish your nails frequently, make sure that you give them one or two days to air out and breathe naturally to promote healthy nails in between polishes.
Application of nail polish.
Each bottle of nail polish comes with it's own applicator inside the bottle, attached to the handle of the fingernail polish bottle. Just unscrew the fingernail polish bottle, and scrape off the excess fingernail polish on the fingernail polish brush applicator on the side of the bottle itself. Brush from the base of your fingernails upward towards the top tip of your nail. Make sure you coat your whole nail evenly. Starting at the base of the nail and applying polish in an upward motion helps you evenly coat your nail.
Correcting polish mistakes.
If you make a mistake, take a paper towel, douse it with nail polish remover, and try to get the excess polish off your skin using the flat edge of the paper towel. Then, if you need to re-coat that fingernail, go ahead.
Second coats of nail polish.
Wait at least ten minutes before applying a second coat. You should not paint over your nails another time unless your nail polish is dry the first time. Without air, or low to medium speed fans blowing on them, it will take about five minutes for your fingernails to dry. Using high-speed fans near your wet nail polish can move your fingernail polish around your fingernail and mess its even coat up.
Credits
Source: Natural Health & Beauty
Also read the related articles (offsite links):
Manicure Tips
Fingernail Health
Natural Manicure