Hey everyone!
One of my favorite things to do is paint my nails. If I’m being perfectly honest, when I’m doing my nails I am overcome by a sense of peace. And no, it’s not the horrible smell of acetone but it’s the fact that when I’m painting my nails, I don’t focus on anything else.
So today I am going to show you ladies how I shape, protect, and paint my nails to look acrylic without sacrificing my nail health.
To start off, I like to remove all nail polish with remover that has vitamins as well as gelatin to promote nail strength.
After my nails are free of any polish, this is when I really focus on the shape of my nails. Although I tend to shape my nails squarely, you can file yours to be oval shaped, rounded, or even pointed. For a perfect square however, I start by trimming my nails down with clippers in a straight, even cut across the tip of each nail. By cutting each nail in a straight line, you can create the foundation for a square shaped nail.
Next, I take my favorite nail file and like the previous step, I file directly across my nail to smooth any jagged edges and make each nail perfectly geometric.
Before I apply my first coat, I use a buffing file to smooth away any imperfections that my nails might possess.
If my nails are looking weak, before I apply my first color coat, I apply a clear, nail strengthening polish to protect and stimulate nail growth. The one I am using today is OPI’s ‘Natural Nail Strengthener’.
Now that my nails are shaped and protected, I can finally begin to color my nails. Today I decided to use one of the most beautiful reds in my polish collection call ‘Hip-Anema’ by Essie. I also love that whenever I use the nail polish, I can’t help but hum “The Girl from Ipanema”.
With my first coat, I make sure it is ultra this so that it can dry fast as well as smooth over any annoying bubbles on my nail (for some reason I always used to end up with a super annoying gritty texture on my nails). To apply each coat, I place the nail polish brush at the base of my nail and slowly bring the paint to the top of my nail. After the first coat has dried, I then apply a bit of a thicker second layer of polish to enhance the color and create a hyper-glossy nail.
Once all of my nails have dried, I like to top off my nails with Essie’s ‘Good to Go’ topcoat. Not only does this make my nails dry faster, it gives my nails a shine that gives the illusion of an acrylic nail and it makes each manicure last much longer.
So I hope you all enjoyed this post and found it helpful! I know I live by this routine and I can’t wait to share more with you all soon.
XOXO,
N