Nail Tutorial
Ok, I get a lot of questions, so I figured I’d put together a quick tutorial. This is the method I use to do nail polish. There are many variations out there, but this is what works best for me.
Step 1: Get out all of your supplies. ALL. Nothing dings up nails like reaching for something at the last minute.
(my supplies: Polish remover, super glue, nail repair kit, file, wooden nail thingie, clay tool, paint brush, base coat, polish, top coat)
Step 2: Remove nail polish with the remover of your choice. I don’t think I need to show that step.
Step 3: Examine nails for breaks.
I get these deep on the nail bed all the time. I take vitamins, use cuticle oil, went a couple of months without using acetone, keep my hands moisturized blah blah blah blah blah. Still happens. I now accept that I will always get them, so treating them has become part of my routine
Step 4: Brush on glue, dip in acrylic repair powder, wait 5 minutes.
If the break is really bad, I’ll bond it inside the break with some super glue and then do the nail repair on top. Sometimes one patch lasts for weeks, sometimes it just lasts until the next manicure. But it does keep me from having really painful breaks half way down my nail bed.
Step 5: File.
While I’m waiting for my patches to dry, I file my tips. I always carry a nail file with me, in case I get a ‘catch’ somewhere on the edge. Catches turn into tears! Even if they don’t need it, I do a light smoothing of all the exposed edges. Once I’m done with that, I smooth down the patch so it looks natural. This usually means taking off 3/4 of the patch, but you’re supposed to. See? All smooth, hard to tell there’s even a break under there.
Step 6: Base coat.
Base coat is paint primer. It smooths your nails, keeps them from getting stained, makes the paint stick better. Every crafty girl should know the value of primer!
With a coat of primer over my patch, you can barely even see it. If I was into sheers, I could wear sheer polish, or even a transparent top coat.
Step 7: First coat!
Rules of nailpolish: many thin coats > few thick coats. Thin coats dry faster, and they are less likely to form bubbles. Bubbles are gross. They make your nails look like they have pimples. Who wants that?
Step 8: Wrap those tips!
When I first heard ‘wrap your tips’ I was like “wtf? How do you wrap nail polsh?” What they mean is, ‘paint the tips.’ I do this with my base coat, regular paint coat, and top coat, but you can’t see it with transparent polish. Anyway, your nail tips are what have the most contact and wear down first, so it helps to put paint on them. Take your brush with almost all the polish removed and brush the tips lightly.
Step 9: Second coat +
With some polishes two coats is enough. It’s probably enough in this case, but I like to do the ‘transparent tip test’ which is this:
Oh look, the tips of my nails are still really transparent! One more coat it is!
Step 10: Top coat
Like base coat is primer, top coat is sealant. You need sealant. And if you don’t have hours to sit around going ‘la de da’ while your nails dry, you need a super-duper-quick-dry topcoat. The most popular option for this is Seche Vite, but I personally prefer Nubar Diamont Shine topcoat. It dries even faster. It dries so fast, if I don’t hustle when I paint each nail, sometimes part of the topcoat are already dry before I finish. Translation: it makes your nails dry REALLY FUCKING FAST. My nails are dry to the touch within a minute of finishing each nail, and pretty much dent proof within ten minutes.
Step 11: Cleanup
Ok, so I used to stress getting my nails painted cleanly. Y’know, wiping off any smears on the sides of my fingers as I went, and generally fucking up my polish even more. It’s not worth it. Concentrate on getting the polish on your nails nice. Then topcoat. Then, once the topcoat is dry, pour a little bit of polish remover into the cap, dip in your paintbrush, and carefully clean around the edges of the nail. Just remember to wash your hands and moisturize afterwards.
All done! Now I’ll get 4-5 days of perfect nails for about 20 minutes of work. Please keep in mind that I am a hands-on person. Later today I’ll be playing with sand paper, razor blades, and solvents. Before I started doing all these steps, my polish life expectancy was 1-2 days. And after 4-5 days I’ll be bored and wanting something new anyway.
(Mmmm duochrome)
Posted: June 3rd, 2012 under Customizing, Nail Polish.
Comments
Comment from Bohemian
Time June 6, 2012 at 4:54 PM
Thanks so much for posting this. Really, it only takes you 20 minutes? I’m gonna have to try your method, that is so worth it!
Comment from Requiem
Time June 6, 2012 at 5:04 PM
Depends on the polish, but yep! I favor polishes that dry reasonably fast, so by the time I finish 1 coat on both hands, I can go back and immediately start my second. Doesn’t have to be completely dry, just dry enough to start coat #2. Most polishes are good in 3 coats or less. If I don’t want to do the cleanup step, I just do my nails in the evening and then the next morning after I shower all of the excess polish on the sides of my nails scrapes off in a minute (I did that this morning). No acetone, no brushes, no fuss.
I don’t count waiting to dry time. That was the majority of my polish time, before I started using the super fast top coats. A girl can only sit around and be dainty for so long before she goes crazy.
Comment from Bohemian
Time June 6, 2012 at 9:10 PM
LOL it’s the “sitting around being dainty”/”crazy” part that always gets me. For some reason my nail polish always takes what feels like (and may actually be) hours to dry: not a *huge* deal for pedicures, but hell for manis (I need my hands!). I wonder if unwillingness to dry increases with a polish’s age? Most of mine are probably way too old.
Oops, looks like I did a stupid: I looked around in a bunch of different stores for Nubar polish, only to discover after about two seconds of internet research just now that it’s only available online. *facepalm*
By the way, have you seen the Painted Nail collection? I just stumbled across it: it’s apparently put out by a salon that has a TV show (Nail Files) and manufactured by Nubar. I want them all…I’m a sucker for bright colors. Link: http://www.scrangie.com/2011/07/painted-nail-by-nubar-springsummer-2011.html
Comment from Requiem
Time June 7, 2012 at 6:25 AM
If you like those colors, do yourself a favor and go to your closest Rite-Aid (hope you have one!) They’re currently carrying Color Club’s Take A Wing collection, which is very similar and $5 ea (http://www.scrangie.com/2012/05/color-club-take-wing-collection-summer.html) Or you can get them online for about $3 ea, but then you have to do shipping, so it depends on how many you want. Seche Vite is almost the same as Nubar’s Diamont Shine top coat, and you can find that at CVS, Sally’s, and just about any local nail place. I like Diamont shine because for me it lasts slightly longer and isn’t as smelly.
Comment from Chiffon
Time June 7, 2012 at 7:18 PM
I hope this doesnt offend you or your nail polish but… Screw the nailpolish, we need more AMP!! You left us on a cliffhanger with Candlelit Kidnap!
Regards, Chiffon.
Comment from Bohemian
Time June 7, 2012 at 9:38 PM
Thanks for the tips! Yes, luckily there is a Rite Aid nearby – that price is much more attractive! I think my sister and I are both going to test your methods as soon as we get our hands on the right stuff. I may just order the Nubar products – lasting longer is a plus, even if it’s only a little longer!
In terms of polish, do you have favorite brands? Most of mine are NYC and I don’t think they were ever that great, so I’m kind of hoping to upgrade (without spending *too* much!).
Haha I never really thought about nail polish all that much before, but after seeing your photos on Flickr my inner magpie is coming out and I am falling in love with so many different polishes!
Comment from Requiem
Time June 8, 2012 at 6:53 AM
Eh, it depends. Some of the really cheapo brands are hit and miss, some of the really expensive brands can be hit and miss too. And it depends on what you decide you like. I’ve also noticed that what works for one person’s nails may not work for another person’s nails, especially with base/top coats. Check http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/ for sales, and if you have time, it’s a good idea to look up swatches/reviews. I keep going to the store and going “OOO PRETTY!” and then getting home and finding out the color I just bought a) only looks like that in the bottle or b) is super sheer and can never be worn by itself.
Comment from Requiem
Time June 8, 2012 at 6:57 AM
I know. I do feel bad about that too, but it takes a long friggin’ time to do a chapter, especially when I have to build sets (and in the not too distant future I will have to build new sets). Most weekends I go “All right! I will do a new chapter this weekend!” and it just doesn’t happen ^^;
Comment from Elizabeth
Time June 4, 2012 at 11:16 PM
Brilliant…thank you for sharing this info about nail repair!