At Home Manicures

Today I wanted to share a silly little post about at home manicures. Fact- I am OBSESSED with a perfect manicure. Seriously, as soon as one of my nails gets one tiny chip or has the slightest bit of growth, I re-do everything. I think I just admitted that I'm OCD. I used to get gel manicures and pedicures religiously at least every two weeks. I found a really good spot that was only charging me $30 for both, which, if you know anything about gel, you know that's a great price. The problem is that once I moved, all the places near me now charge an arm and a leg. Add that to the fact that my nails grow like WEEDS, and I was just over the whole thing.

Let's start by saying that I should not become a nail tech anytime soon. I'm no expert, that's for sure. But I've been giving myself (at least) weekly manicures for over a year now and I've learned a few things that I wanted to share with anyone who does their own nails or wants to save money and start!

First, I HIGHLY recommend picking up a bottle of this nail polish remover dip it. You can find it at Target and it's less than $3. My least favorite part of doing my own manicures and pedicures haS always been using stupid cotton balls and a bottle of remover. The process seems to take forever and it's messy. This dip it stuff works like a charm. Just stick your finger (or toe) inside and I swear your nail polish is off in a few seconds. No mess. Doing your toes is obviously harder but it can be done.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but it's the truth so I'm going to. I used to totally be one of those people who would sometimes just layer over old nail polish. Or I would do a really bad job of taking off the previous coat. It's really important that you take those extra steps in the beginning to acheive a professional looking manicure at home. I use my sons baby nail clippers (awesome right?) to trim my nails and then I use a cuticle cutter to push back my cuticles and give them a trim, too. It drives me nuts when my nails start to show growth so make sure you push those cuticles back as far as they can go before you start.

Here are a few of my recent nail jobs. I love doing glitter when I feel like being lazy for a week because even if you see growth or chipping, it's way harder to tell when you have a light color or glitter.

I used to be one of those people who would roll their eyes when I saw the nail polish bottles that cost $10 each. I'm much more one to hit the dollar section for nail polish. Boy was I wrong. I recently picked up my FIRST bottle of Essie Nail Polish and I am obsessed. I gave myself the best manicure of my life recently. IN MY CAR. James was sleeping in his car seat and I wanted him to finish up his nap so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to give myself a manicure. This Essie stuff goes on like BUTTA! It is so soft and silky, makes my nails feel amazing, no chipping, and all around compeltely worth the $10 I paid!

 

 

So bottom line is- Buy easy to use remover, get the supplies you need, and invest in a good bottle of nail polish! For less than $20 you will have all the supplies you need to achieve a professional looking manicure and pedicure at home. And you only have to pay that money ONCE.

 

 

Are you a nail polish freak like me? What's your go to color? (I ALWAYS do pink) Do you go out for manicures and pedicures or do them at home? Spill!