How To: Basic Manicure

This is something that's been on my to-do list, and I've gotten requests for, for such a long time.  Like, basically since I started my YouTube channel, which is almost 2 years ago now!  Well, I finally got around to it, but it's far from flawless so I've got a lot of notes to add in this blog post =)

 

Here's the vid:

 

 

 

Now, the first thing I forgot to talk about, is other base coats.  I'm not super-particular about my base.  I used to use Pro Strong Instant Nail Builder, but I finally decided it was too expensive for how often I was painting my nails.  I gave Seche Clear a try, but while some staining I know is inevitable, it was really bad with that - so, much though I love my Vite, I'm not a fan of the Clear.  After that I tried Nail Life Gripper, and I like it so I've stuck with it.  It's not that expensive & the big bottle is handy since I use so much LOL.  I also have their Hide Ridges base, and I have a couple of bottles of Nubar's Foundation Base Coat, but I usually save that for Nubar polishes in particular since they don't always play nice with other brands.

 

The next thing, and kind of a huge thing to forget to mention in the vid, although people should be able to see to a point, is that I paint my nails directly on my desk, by which I mean both the hand being painted & the hand doing the painting are resting on the surface.  This lends your hands support, which can be especially important for your off hand.  You don't have to worry about holding your hands steady, just about making a steady stroke.

 

Deciding how many coats of color to do is going to depend on personal preference, thickness of coats, and the polish itself.  Some lovely colors are opaque & wearable in one coat, while others take two, three or even more.  The important part is to keep the layers as thin as possible, let them dry a reasonable amount (which will vary polish to polish LOL) between coats, and, well ... use the eyes in your head!  If it looks like it needs another coat, do another coat =)  One trick to knowing beforehand is to look at the polish on the brush - is it opaque or is it sheer enough you can see the brush color beneath?

 

Top coat - I am a huge Seche Vite fan.  If I learned nothing else blogging, Seche would be an invaluable piece of knowledge.  BUT - it doesn't work for everyone.  Call it body chemistry or whatever you want, some people don't like Seche, have problems with shrinkage or tip pull, and it just doesn't work well for them.  Nubar Diamont is quite nearly as good - as long as you get the good version.  There was a period they changed it & it sucked badly for a while so I'm always a bit wary for a lame bottle.  A lot of people like Poshe, although I have never tried it myself.  There's even a nameless bottle of apparent awesomeness available from one of the e-tailers that picked up the nickname of David after Gabrielle from The Edge of Sanity did an exhaustive Top Coat Comparison you can check out HERE.  The bottom line is that there are a lot of great top coats out there that not only add shine & protection but will get your nails dry a lot faster than just sitting around waiting.

 

My final tip is for painting your off hand - painting your right with your left for most people, and vice versa for all my lefties out there.  Unfortunately, there's no magic technique, no quick fix - you have to practice.  BUT - you don't only have to practice when painting your nails.  Use your off hand to do other things - if you're doing a puzzle, pick up puzzle pieces.  Heck, if your eating chips, pick up the chips with your off hand!  Don't just let it hang off the end of your arm the majority of the time & then be surprised when you can't do anything with it LOL =)

 

Whew - I think that's everything I forgot!  Feel free to share your own tips & secrets in the comments =)  Or on the Fan Page - I am still trying to find time to catch up with blog comments but I've managed to get on top & stay on top of Facebook comments for like a whole week!  Maybe eventually I'll learn how to properly balance & stay on top of everything at once LOL.

 

Thanks for reading ... especially today, because that's kind of a LOT of reading =)

 

~Colette