Manicure scheme at home. How to learn how to do a manicure from scratch? Incredibly simple tips on how to do a manicure at home

Well-groomed hands with a fresh manicure attract attention and create a pleasant impression of their owner. You can do a manicure yourself, mastering the basics of technology. To do this, you need to consistently perform a series of actions using tools, special tools and varnishes.

Nail care at home and in the salon

Creating beautiful and well-groomed nails takes time. A simple manicure with treatment of the skin around the nail plate is carried out every 5-7 days. If you don't have time, you can do a manicure with shellac. These nails look natural, as if they were just painted. The result lasts for 2-3 weeks.

Any type of manicure consists of sequential actions. They are easy to do yourself at home or trust a professional.

A manicure in a salon differs from a manicure at home according to the following criteria:

Save time. The specialist will do his job quickly and efficiently.
Wide variety of varnish shades.
Wide range of nail accessories.
Creation of complex designs on nails by a master.
When treating cuticles, a gentle agent is often used. It reduces or removes it painlessly. But if left on the skin for a long time, it can cause burns and dry out the nail.
The master works with both hands of the client at once. When doing things on your own, sometimes you need to wait until the nails on one hand are dry before starting to work on the other.

If you wish, you can first learn how to do manicure and pedicure for beginners, then, having gained more experience, perform it with the same quality as a master. You can learn from video lessons.

Manicure Basics for Beginners

Manicure at home is not difficult for beginners. Anyone can handle it.

Before you do it, you need to:

decide on the type of manicure;
prepare the tools that will be needed during the work process;
select additional materials and care products during and after a manicure.

There are two types of manicure:

Manual:

with cuticle removal using tweezers;
European, when the cuticle is pushed back and softened.

Hardware. Using different attachments and rotation speeds, they remove the keratinized layer of cuticle, polish the surface of the nail and give it shape.

Where to start a manicure:

from selecting the right tools;
from preparing products for working with nails;
desktop preparation.

Tools used in the process:

Nailfile. There are several varieties. They differ in the material from which they are made and the abrasiveness of the coating. It is measured in grits.

For natural nails, choose grits from 180 to 240, for artificial nails - 240-400.

Types of nail files:

Glass is the safest for the nail plate. Doesn't peel off the nail during use. Quickly forms the correct shape with a smooth end. The only negative is the fragility of the glass, which easily breaks if used carelessly.
Metal - spoils the nail and leads to its delamination. The surface of the file is covered with large abrasive particles that act on the nail like sandpaper. The advantage of this file is its durability.
Plastic is an analogue of glass. It is not inferior to it in the quality of nail treatment. Available in a wide variety of shapes and thicknesses. Easy to disinfect.
Ceramic - used at the final stage of filing the nail. Gently polishes its edge and reliably seals it, protecting it from delamination. Requires the most careful use, as it is very fragile.

Note! Buffs for polishing the surface of the nail plate have grits from 400 to 1000.

Nail scissors. Used to trim overgrown nails. They have sharp and slightly rounded ends.
Metal tweezers. Designed to remove cuticles and excess skin. It is better to use surgical steel - they do not become dull for a longer time and last longer.

Sticks: orange and iron with a spade end. With their help, they push back the cuticle.

Additional tools for manicure for beginners:

Nail polish remover, preferably without acetone - it dehydrates the nail.
Substances that are added to softening baths are sea salt, olive or essential oil.
Cosmetic round cotton pad. It doesn't leave hairs behind.
Softening oil and cuticle remover.

Depending on the type of manicure, choose regular varnishes or special ones designed for drying only under a UV lamp.

Performing a manicure at home step by step

Carrying out a manicure at home for beginners step by step includes preparing the nail plate for applying varnish and treating the skin around the nail to form its shape. The whole process consists of several stages that are considered mandatory.

Manicure step by step consists of the following sequential steps:

Preparation. Includes removing old nail polish, if any.

Regular nail polish can be removed with nail polish remover.
Nail polish applied thickly or in several layers can be effectively removed by applying a cotton pad soaked in nail polish remover to it for a while.
If the nails were coated with gel polish, then a cotton pad is moistened with a special product that is designed to soften this particular composition. The top of the nail is covered with foil and left for 5-10 minutes. After the allotted time has elapsed or if a burning sensation has begun, the foil is removed, and the old coating is removed with an iron stick with a spade-shaped tip.

Creating a nail shape. Very long nails are trimmed with scissors or tweezers. After this, use a file and give the desired shape. You need to file the nail from the edge to the middle so as not to damage the structure and cause delamination. Next, the edge is sealed with a ceramic file.

Note! You need to file your nails before the softening procedure in the bath. After steaming, the nail plate is saturated with moisture and slightly expands. When filing, its edges may become deformed and the shape may turn out slightly different from the intended one.

Polishing. A double-sided buffer with different grinding surfaces is used. Use the side with a more abrasive surface to remove a little of the top layer to smooth out unevenness and bumpiness. A lightly abrasive surface should be rubbed several times over the nail plate and completed with sanding.

Steaming in a bath. Warm water is collected in a bowl and the selected product is added to it. You need to lower your hands and hold for about 10 minutes.

This procedure has the following effects:

softens dry skin;
strengthens the nail plate;
disinfects small wounds.

After the bath, pat your hands dry with a terry towel.

Working with the cuticle. Depending on the type of manicure, the cuticle is cut off or simply pushed back:

In a trimmed manicure, use an orange stick to carefully push back the cuticle, then cut off only the keratinized part with tweezers.
In an unedged manicure, the cuticle is only pushed back.

After working with the cuticle, apply a special oil or nourishing cream. The product soothes the skin and slows down further cuticle growth.

Note! When removing cuticles using a device, you should not use a steam bath before doing so. This stage should be replaced with treating the skin with an antiseptic liquid. When removing the cuticle, the cutter of the device cannot be pressed tightly against the nail plate; the movement must be consistent from one side of the nail plate to the other.

After treating the nail, it is degreased and coated with a strengthening or other medicinal colorless varnish. After this, apply nail polish in one or two layers, depending on the result you want to achieve.

For accelerated drying, special means are used. They are applied as a drop on each painted nail or sprayed from a spray bottle.

Manicure for beginners on short nails

Short nails can be strengthened with gel polish. It does no harm, creates a dense coating that prevents mechanical damage and delamination. Your own nail grows strong and healthy.

A wide palette of colors and the use of additional accessories allow you to create a manicure to suit every taste. It remains unchanged for 2.5-3 weeks.

Step-by-step manicure with gel polish application is as follows:

The nail is shaped, the top layer is polished using a buff.
Dust is removed with a special brush.
The nail is degreased with a special product applied to a cotton pad.
Primer is applied.
The base coat is painted on top. It is dried in a lamp: 30-40 seconds in LED and 2-3 minutes in UV.
After this, colored gel polish is applied. Dry under the lamp for the same time. Usually apply 2-3 thin layers.
The result is secured with a finishing coating, which hardens only in the lamp.
If there is a sticky layer, it is removed using the degreasing agent that was used before applying the primer.

Short French

To ensure a beautiful manicure and maintain the result for a long time, professionals advise performing it in stages, without skipping individual steps.

Before applying gel polish, use only a high-quality base from a trusted manufacturer and supplier. The durability of the manicure largely depends on this product.
After work, all tools should be washed in a soapy solution, then treated with hydrogen peroxide or purchased a special mini cabinet for disinfection.
The cuticle should be softened daily with oil or cream. So it will not be noticeable visually and hard when touched.

You need to treat painted nails with care: try not to hit them on a hard surface, don’t drum your fingers, and handle sharp objects in the kitchen carefully.

It won’t take much time to learn how to do manicure yourself from scratch. You do not need to undergo special training for this. Once you learn, you can experiment with colors and designs and always look stylish and impressive.

Video

Dear girls, probably each of us was interested in the question of how to do a manicure at home. Decorative manicure is caring for the beauty and health of nails, a procedure that complements our image and makes us even more beautiful and attractive. It’s impossible to even imagine getting ready for a date or a party and not taking care of your nails.

A beautiful manicure begins with giving the nails the correct shape, cleaning and removing dead skin near the nails (cuticles) and covering them with varnish, because it is varnish that makes a decorative manicure beautiful.
You should take care of your nails daily, and decorative manicures should be done as needed or once every one to two weeks.

It’s not difficult to do a manicure at home; for this we need a manicure kit, a product for softening the keratinized part of the skin (cuticle), a nail polish remover, cotton swabs, a base for the polish (base polish), a decorative polish and a fixative or drying polish.
To make a beautiful fashionable manicure, we may need voluminous jewelry, shining rhinestones, manicure strips, paper adhesive stencils or adhesive strips. But you can do without this, using only varnish, and you will learn how to do this in this article.

Manicure technique

To make your manicure beautiful and flawless, follow the following rules and sequences.

Manicure technique
1. If there is any old polish left, remove it from your nails. Soak a cotton swab or piece of cotton wool in nail polish remover and press it onto your nail. After holding it a little, the varnish will dissolve, and then with light movements,

from the skin to the edge of the nail, wipe it.
If the polish remains in the periungual fold, then wipe it with a cotton swab dipped in nail polish remover. The old varnish must be completely removed.

2. Treat your nails and remove any rough edges with polisher for delicate nail care.

3. To soften the skin of the fingers, hands can be placed in

a soap or nutrient solution made from an infusion of herbs with the addition of liquid soap or vegetable oil.
You can also use a cuticle softener. In this case, the emollient must be rubbed around the nail plate.

4. It is necessary to give the nails the correct shape; to do this, use medium and fine-grained files.
Using one we will create the shape of the nail, and the second
Let's polish it. When processing nails, the file is taken with the thumb from below and four fingers from above. The file moves from the corner to the center of the nail. If part of the nail protrudes less than 2 cm, then you should not file the side edges; if the nails are short, then try not to file in the corners, leave the edge of the nail by 2-3 mm. longer than a finger.

5. By this time, the skin around the nails should become softer,
but if it has already dried out, then dip your hands again in a soapy solution or moisten them with a softening solution for the cuticle. Cuticle - the skin around the nail hole must be removed.
The issue of cuticle removal has several opinions; there are supporters and opponents of cuticle removal.
A classic, beautiful manicure involves removing the skin around the nail hole.
You can read about how to remove cuticles in the article “How to properly remove cuticles and remove cuticles at home.”

6. After removing the cuticle, place your hands again in the bath with the solution, rinse in warm water and wipe dry.
If you are not going to do a decorative manicure, then you can lubricate your hands with nourishing cream.

This is a decorative manicure that corresponds to fashion trends, style and the chosen image. A beautiful manicure can not only be neat and well-groomed, it must be fashionable.

Having done a classic manicure, we can begin decorating our nails with jewelry and applying varnish.

Decorative manicure technique.

1. Wipe your nails with nail polish remover, degreasing them, the polish will stick better.
2. Cover your nails with a manicure base.
3. Apply background varnish.
4. Applying patterns and decorating nails with
using stencils, manicure strips and other ideas for a beautiful manicure.
5. Cover with one or two layers of clear fixing varnish or dry.

After each application of varnish, with a stencil, with or without stripes, you must wait for it to dry completely, except in cases where the pattern technique requires mixing different colors of varnish.

Adhesive nail strips or manicure strips are made from nail polish and plasticizer. The protective film is removed from the strip and pressed against the nail, the unnecessary part of the strip is removed with a nail file and secured with varnish.
You can make beautiful manicure strips yourself.
To do this, apply a layer of colored varnish to a thin plastic film, wait for it to dry and remove the film. The resulting thin layer of varnish must be cut with a thin sharp blade into strips or figures. They are applied to the nail and covered with a fixing layer of varnish.

Adhesive paper strips and stencils are removed after the varnish has dried, and the nail is covered with a clear fixing varnish.

A few tips for the perfect manicure.

When using voluminous jewelry in a fashionable manicure, it should be secured with two layers of transparent varnish.
- As a base layer, you can use a product that smoothes the surface of the nail.
- To quickly dry the varnish, you can, after two

minutes after applying the polish, place your nails in cold (ice) water, this will speed up its hardening.
- When doing a regular manicure, apply two layers of varnish.
- It’s better not to shake bottles of varnish, but to roll them between your palms.
- To maintain a beautiful manicure in perfect shape, it is better to apply a top coat every two days.

- Every evening, soften the skin around the nail plate with cuticle oil or Mary Kay extra moisturizing cream.
Mary Kay Extra Moisturizing Night Cream is good to use to soften and nourish the skin around the nail plate after removing the cuticle, and in the interval when you are not applying nail polish. Varnish dries out nails and therefore sometimes they need to be given a break and undergo nourishing, moisturizing treatments.

Below, a selection of images contains interesting ideas for decorative manicure. It’s not difficult to do a fashionable manicure at home, the main thing is to find an idea and implement it. Such ideas can be found in fashionable women's magazines or on websites.
I also recommend looking at the popular YouTube video portal for examples of how to do a beautiful water manicure. It is easy to do, but the description of the manicure technique may not be entirely clear.

Manicure Shellac

Manicure using shellac gels is a new technology in the field of cosmetic manicure. A separate article is devoted to this topic - About shellac manicure. In it you will learn what shellac is and whether you can do a Shellac manicure yourself at home.

Examples and techniques of beautiful manicure

To create a water manicure you will need: a mug with water, several types of varnish and a toothpick.
The procedure is done on a base or base varnish.
One drop of varnish is carefully dropped into a mug of water; after it spreads across the surface of the water in a thin film, the next drop of a different color is added. And so, in turn, all the colors are added twice. Example: red, yellow, green, red, yellow, green.
Afterwards, using a toothpick on the surface, carefully draw lines from the edge to the center. This is how we will create the drawing.
Gently place your finger vertically or with your fingernail towards the surface into the mug with water and varnish. By lowering your finger into the water, without removing it, we collect all the film from the surface of the water; when you collect the film, your finger can be pulled out of the water.
After this, wipe your finger with nail polish remover. If you tape your finger around the nail before the procedure, you can remove it later and your finger won’t get so dirty.
This will need to be done with each nail.
After drying, the decorative design is covered with a layer of fixative.

Nails are covered with background varnish. The varnish of the background color and the varnish that will be on the tip of the nail are dripped onto a sheet of paper. These two colors are lightly mixed in the middle and blotted with a small sponge. Afterwards, the sponge is lightly pressed against the nail and a smooth transition between colors is created - a gradient.
For each nail, you need to take a new sponge.
After drying, a fixative varnish is applied.

Matte manicure

A matte manicure can be done using matte polish or you can get the same effect using steam.
Apply the background polish to your nails and, without waiting for it to dry, hold your nails over the steam. Droplets of steam will destroy the gloss of the varnish, and you will get a matte effect.
Glue a strip of tape to create a straight line and cover the tips of your nails with the same polish. After drying, the strip peels off, and you get such a beautiful manicure as in the image. But only such a manicure will look worse than using matte varnish.
There is no need to coat a matte manicure with a fixative, just wait until the polish dries.

Decorative manicure using adhesive strips and stencils

A background varnish is applied to the base. After drying, paper strips or tape cut into strips are glued on, and the base varnish is applied. After drying, the strips are carefully removed and a layer or two of fixative varnish is applied.

Manicure with manicure strips

Manicure strips are made from nail polish, glued to your nails and secured with two coats of clear nail polish.

Manicure ideas

I hope that now you know how to make a beautiful manicure at home and will always have a fashionable manicure.

There is no need to remind you that hands are the calling card of every woman, and a neat manicure is an integral part of a woman’s charm. It’s not always possible to go to a nail specialist, but don’t forget that you can do a pleasing manicure at home.

It is worth noting that medium- and short-length nails are now in fashion; they are easier to care for and use different design options, so even those who have never faced the need to do this and have not specifically grown long nails will find it interesting to spend time this way.

What do you need for a manicure at home?

Any manicure requires the presence of certain tools and here is what you will need first:

Bath for steaming fingers and softening cuticles. Such a bath can be “taken” with some soap, essential oil, sea salt or herbal decoction to soothe the skin around the nails, which will be damaged during the manicure process.
Sharp scissors - needed to radically change the shape of your nails.
Nail file - useful for giving your nails shape and smooth edges. The best are considered to be not metal, but fine-abrasive glass files, which not only cause less damage to the nail, but are also durable.
Polishing buff to give nails a uniform structure and healthy shine.
Metal cuticle tweezers are useful for trimming manicures.
A metal or wooden spatula to push back the cuticles.
A cuticle softener and remover that will remove the layer of skin around the nail without using clippers.
Hand cream - its use is necessary to soften the skin of the hands and prevent it from peeling.
Nail polish remover, cotton pads, nail polish base and clear fixative. If you decide not to limit yourself to an ordinary hygiene procedure, but to get a decorative manicure, you will need nail polishes to suit your taste.

What kind of manicure can you do at home?

How to make a unique nail design yourself? Before you start decorating, you need to perform hygiene procedures - carry out the preparatory stage. It is necessary to decorate the nail plates and remove the cuticles. For this purpose, different types of home manicure are used:

ugly - using a cuticle softener;
hardware - using a special device;
trimming, where the cuticle is removed with scissors or nippers.

Hardware manicure at home

You can make the task much easier and reduce the time if you purchase a device for manicure and pedicure at home. Using special attachments, you can easily remove cuticles, polish nails, and smooth the skin. It is important that your hands are dry during the procedure. Step by step process:

erase old varnish;
degrease the surface;
push back the cuticle;
process the side rollers and it;
adjust the shape of the nails;
polish the plate;
treat everything with an antiseptic.

Trim manicure

The disadvantage of performing such treatment is the high probability of injury to the nail root and the risk of infection. Trim manicure at home dictates the following sequence:

remove varnish;
give shape to the nail plate;
to soften the cuticle, make a bath, adding lemon and liquid soap;
stand for 5 minutes; rinse;
blot with a napkin;
lift the cuticle with a spatula;
dead skin is cut off with scissors, trying to do this in a continuous line;
apply oil to the cuticle to improve nutrition;
cream is applied to the skin of the hands;
varnish coating is applied.

Unedged manicure at home

A protective method of treatment that does not lead to injury is suitable for women with thin skin and closely located blood vessels. The peculiarity of the implementation is that the cuticle is removed using products containing acids. Two methods are used:

dry - without preliminary soaking;
wet - with steaming hands in a container.

How to do an unedged manicure? Everything is done in the following sequence at home:

old varnish is removed;
the nail file is used to shape the nails;
with the wet method, keep your hands in water for 15 minutes and wipe them;
a solution is applied to remove the cuticle;
kept for 5 minutes;
residues are removed with a cotton pad;
the cuticle is moved to the root of the nail with an orange stick;
a skin softener is applied.

Simple manicure for short nails at home

A properly performed manicure at home is the key to beautiful, well-groomed nails. Doing it is important not only for the beauty and completeness of the image: this procedure has an important hygienic function, because dirt and particles of dead skin accumulate under overgrown nails. Manicure gives us the opportunity to give our nails an ideal shape, shine, and have a strong nail plate.

At home, you can perform edged and unedged manicures. In the first case, we use pliers to remove the cuticle, in the second, we use a special tool to soften it and move it to the very edge of the nail. Performing a manicure on short nails at home is very simple, we offer you a visual step-by-step master class.

Step-by-step manicure at home with photos

We always start a manicure by shaping the nails. It is important to do this before the hand bath, as wet nails can flake, which makes the process of modeling them difficult.

If you need to shorten your nails, use scissors; if you just need to correct their shape, use a nail file. Decide on the shape for your nails: if they are quite dense and strong, you can choose a pointed shape, but if they are thin, then the ideal shape for them will be square or oval.

It is important to wash down with uniform, clear movements, moving from the tip of the nail to the hole.

After giving your nails the desired shape, place your hands in a pre-prepared warm bath with sea salt, olive or essential oil. Use lemon oil to whiten your nail plate. This bath will soften the cuticles, sea salt will strengthen the nails, and the oil will moisturize the skin around the nails. Keep your nails in the water for about 10 minutes, then begin removing the cuticles, removing your fingers one at a time.

Using an orange spatula or a metal pusher, push the cuticle towards the root of the nail. Using the pointed end of the tool, remove the remaining skin from under the cuticle. Be confident but gentle so as not to damage the delicate skin around your nails.

The jags left from the cuticle, rough skin around the nails and hangnails are removed with tweezers or sharp scissors. Carefully bite off the skin, but do not tear it off, otherwise you will end up with cuts and bruises.

Tip: if you are using a cuticle remover rather than a tweezer, do not apply it to all your nails at once - treat one or two nails at a time, as the cuticle remover dries quickly.

After all hygiene procedures, it’s time to decorate your nails:

degrease the nail using nail polish remover and a cotton pad;
apply a base coat, the main function of which is to protect the nail from the toxic effects of the polish;
cover your nails with varnish as shown in the diagram; apply 2 or 3 coats if necessary;
apply a colorless fixer, thanks to which the varnish will last longer;
if you have slightly protruded beyond the edges of the nail plate, eliminate this defect with a cotton swab or a narrow brush dipped in solvent;
Apply moisturizer to your hands. To ensure that the cuticle always looks well-groomed, use nourishing oil, which must be rubbed around the nail plate until completely absorbed.

French manicure at home

French is widely popular all over the world, and it is quite simple to make. French manicure step by step for beginners should be done like this:

For the background you can use soft pastel colors: pink, coffee, beige. The nail is completely covered with the background color, then wait for it to dry.
For the first time, you can buy special stencils, but then it is better to buy white varnish with a thin brush and learn to draw a “smile” yourself, as all masters do.
After the background and smile are dry, you need to apply a clear varnish on top.

Nail design at home

It’s easy to create a beautiful manicure at home if you use your imagination or look at photos in magazines. Modern fashion dictates the design of nails:

abstract drawings;
with a two-tone color scheme;
metallized coatings;
glitter, powder, ;
stickers with a transparent base for a lace effect;
a special design on one of all nails;
with the effect of glass fragments;
three-dimensional drawings;
with a change in the type of “smile” in the French version of the coating - a triangle, a wave;
applying it near the root of the nail.

Learning how to do manicures and pedicures yourself is a useful skill. If only because you don’t always have the time, energy and money to go to a master. We have prepared simple instructions that will help you see results no worse than in the salon.

Manicure

Step #1. To ensure a safe procedure, disinfect the instruments. This is a required step, even if you are the only one using them. The easiest way is to buy a special product that is sold in professional stores, or wipe the tools with regular alcohol. There is another option: boil metal objects in a saucepan for 20 minutes. But here you will have to wait until the tools cool down - you cannot immerse them in cold water, otherwise the structure of the metal will suffer.

Step #2. If you have any coating on your nails, remove it. The choice of product is yours: liquids containing acetone dissolve polish faster, but products without acetone cause less damage to nails, cuticles and skin.

Step #3. It is better to shorten the nail and give it shape using a file - without tweezers or scissors. Metal and too rough files can cause delamination of the nail plate, so take a glass or abrasive one. You should file at a slow pace, from the edge of the nail to the center, so as not to damage the nail. At the same time, leave a length of at least a millimeter - for the correct formation of the free edge.

Step #4. Immerse your hands in a bath of warm water for 3-5 minutes. You can add sea salt or aromatic oils to the water. This procedure will soften the cuticle and prepare the skin for the next steps. If desired, use a hand scrub, then apply moisturizer.

Step #5. When it comes to cutting cuticles, the main rule is this: the more you cut, the more it grows. Therefore, you should refuse to use tweezers for trimmed manicures, otherwise the cuticle will only become rougher over time. Experienced professionals advise moisturizing the cuticle with oil every day, and during a manicure, carefully push it back with a special stick. Try not to use scissors for at least a couple of months - and you will see the result. The same applies to the side ridges (skin around the nails) - they should be polished using a glass file. Once a week will be enough.

Step #6. Before applying varnish, you need to degrease your nails with a special product. Then apply a base coat - the surface will become smooth and the manicure will last longer. Before applying the polish, it is better not to shake the bottle, otherwise all the air bubbles will end up on the nails. Colored polish should be applied in three movements: on the left side of the nail, on the right, and in the center. It is important to observe the time interval between applying layers - at least five minutes, and preferably ten. To avoid staining the side rollers, lubricate them with Vaseline without touching the nail - all excess can be removed with a simple cotton pad. Next comes the varnish fixer - it will protect the manicure from cracks and chips. If there is no special drying coating, you can dip your nails in ice water for 2-3 minutes and then lubricate them with oil. In this case, the varnish will not smudge and your home manicure will look no worse than a salon one.

Pedicure

Experts recommend getting a pedicure every three weeks. Before carrying out the procedure, be sure to pay attention to your health - you should be careful with low blood pressure, varicose veins and pregnancy. In such cases, the water in the bath should be warm, not hot.

Step #1. Make sure your tools are disinfected and start soaking your feet. You can add your favorite aromatic oils to a bath of warm water for a relaxing effect. If the skin on your feet is too rough, adding baking soda or sea salt will make it easier to remove the dead skin. You shouldn't keep your feet in the water for too long - 15 minutes will be enough. To make the most of this time, you can, for example, apply a mask to your face.

Step #2. Dry your feet with a towel. Take a natural, fine-grained pumice stone and go over the roughest areas of your feet. Do not touch delicate skin to avoid injury. Move the pumice stone in one direction - with chaotic movements, the skin will become rough the very next day. Monitor your sensations: if you experience a slight burning sensation during the procedure, stop. You can enhance the effect and use a foot scrub to treat hard-to-reach areas. Be careful with calluses and corns: if touching causes pain, it is better not to touch these areas and consult a specialist.

Step #3. The cuticle on the toes is usually quite thin, so experts recommend not cutting it, but regularly pushing it back with a special stick - this is easy to do after steaming. Using the same stick, you can carefully remove dirt to avoid infection without damaging soft tissue. Step #5. The best part is to apply moisturizer to your feet and massage them. If suddenly you don’t have cream on hand, you can take any oil, even olive oil. To ensure that the effect of well-groomed feet lasts as long as possible, make masks several times a week - apply nourishing cream to your feet before bed, wrap in cling film and put on socks.

Step #6. It will be much easier to apply nail polish if you wear separating pads. Apply a base coat, followed by up to two coats of colored varnish (be sure to allow time) and sealer.

With each generation, the secrets of preserving and maintaining external attractiveness are passed on from mother to daughter. In past centuries, only a few women could afford the services of those who, by occupation, knew how to properly do a manicure. Most of the beautiful half of humanity took care of themselves independently, guided by the experience of past generations. Fortunately, in the 21st century, nail services have become widely available. However, many girls strive to master manicure at home, because such a skill is very valuable.

Firstly, knowing how to take care of your nails yourself saves a lot of time. Perhaps at first, until you master all the intricacies of manicure, the procedure will take you about an hour, but as you gain experience, the time will be halved. Secondly, this useful skill will come in handy in situations where going to the salon is impossible. These could be long trips or vacations in the country, when you need to look at least well-groomed. The third advantage, of course, is saving the family budget. By learning how to properly do a manicure yourself at home, you will receive not only a positive charge of emotions, but also a valuable skill that can make your life easier.

Today there are many methods and technologies for self-care of nails. The choice in favor of one method or another will depend only on your preferences and capabilities. To make the learning process easy and simple, the article is filled with useful video lessons and photos that remain relevant in 2014. You will learn how to perform a proper manicure at home step by step.

Choosing tools for home manicure

High-quality tools and materials are a prerequisite for proper nail care. What will you need in your home arsenal?

Manicure scissors.
Nail file and polishing buffer.
Cuticle nippers.
Orange stick.

The photo shows samples of the above tools, with which you can perform high-quality manicures at home.

When choosing a manicure file, you need to pay attention not to fashionable pictures, but to the degree of its abrasiveness, which should not be lower than 180 grit. Give preference to glass or plastic models, since metal tools often cause nail splitting. The polishing buffer or sanding file must have an abrasiveness of 400 grit or higher. When choosing manicure scissors and nippers, it is better to give preference to professional models with manual sharpening. The main condition: the tool must be selected individually for you, so that regular manicure at home is a pleasure, and you feel comfortable doing it yourself.

How to work with the length and surface of nails?

Girls who decide to acquire a useful skill often wonder where to start? Before you learn how to do a manicure at home, you need to master one of the most important stages of nail care. We will talk about correcting the length and shape of the tips. Most often, a nail file is used for these purposes, but in some cases, when performing a home manicure, it is necessary to use scissors. A short list of recommendations will help you cut your nails correctly and without harm to your health.

This procedure is more often used for children and men. Girls, as a rule, begin a manicure at home with filing. Even if you don't use scissors yet, some knowledge may be useful to you in the future. Although the technique of cutting nails at home is not particularly difficult, it does have some nuances.
The procedure should not be carried out too often, once a week is enough.
When cutting your nails at home, make sure that there is at least 1-2 mm of free edge. In this matter, technology does not tolerate deviations. Cutting the ends “under the root” will not only make the manicure unattractive, but will also increase the risk of deformation of the plate. Later, when trying to grow nails, the free edge may expand and acquire a spade-shaped shape.
When doing your own manicure, trim the ends to the shape of your smile. Proper technique will reduce the risk of ingrown nail plate to a minimum.

More detailed instructions on how to cut nails are presented on the pages of our website. In the topical articles you will find informative video lessons that will help you learn this procedure step by step. Along with trimming, filing of nails also plays an important role. Often girls do not pay due attention to this stage, but their condition largely depends on how accurately the tip correction technology is followed. That’s why it’s so important, before doing a manicure at home, to remember and practice the basic rules of filing nails.

The main point: the ends are corrected only “dry”! Filing wet nails leads to further delamination, which can seriously harm yourself.
The procedure is carried out no more than once a week.
When performing a manicure, position the file correctly on your nail. The tool should lie perpendicular to the tip.
To maintain the health of your nails when performing a manicure at home, run the file from the edge to the center of the end.

Slightly different rules apply to the polishing procedure. To perform sanding at home efficiently and without harm to health, follow the general recommendations.

Polish your nails no more than once a month; if the tips are weak, every three months.
Grinding is carried out step by step in several stages, with buff movements from right to left or left to right.
Using a polishing file, you can seal your nails after applying wax, cream or oil to the surface.

Now you know how often you should get a manicure in terms of filing and polishing your nails. To get a clear idea of the manicure technique, namely, how to correct the ends with your own hands, we suggest you watch a useful video lesson. The video explains step by step the main points of how to properly use a nail file.

Cuticle care

After correcting the ends, you can begin processing the cuticle. Depending on how it is removed, there are classic and European manicures. In the first case, when performing a home procedure, the cuticle is trimmed with nippers. The skin is first steamed in a warm bath or treated with emollient oils.

The European version is more suitable for those who want to give themselves a neat manicure at home. The untrimmed method of removing cuticles is less traumatic and, as a rule, does not require special skills in using a tool. When performing a manicure, the peel is dissolved under the influence of special oils and gels, after which it is peeled off with an orange stick. There are other methods of gentle cuticle removal, which you can read about on our website. The European version of manicure at home, as a rule, does not require preliminary softening using baths.

The two main methods of cuticle removal in 2014 are no longer exclusive. Today, there are several more methods for treating skin and caring for nails. All of them are mostly salon options, but if desired, they can also be used at home. You may already be familiar with some of them and can easily do a manicure yourself by studying their execution technology.

Modern methods of nail care

Brazilian manicure is suitable for girls with limited time. Gloves soaked in a special cream are put on your hands. After 5-7 minutes, the film on each of the fingers is gradually removed and cut off, after which the cuticle is cleaned with an orange stick. The advantage of this method is that ready-made kits are sold for home Brazilian manicure. To give you an idea of what they look like, we bring to your attention samples of the sets shown in the photo.

Connoisseurs of oriental beauty will love Japanese manicure. It will require a one-time but significant financial outlay to purchase a complete set. Before learning how to do a manicure using the Japanese system at home, we recommend that you carry out this procedure in a salon. The implementation technology is quite complex, but quite feasible. Comprehensive photos, video materials and step-by-step instructions presented on our website will help you master Japanese manicure.

If you are uncomfortable working with nippers and a nail file, try mechanizing the process. Hardware manicure has proven itself to be excellent. Until recently, this technology was available only to salon clients. Today you can buy sets for every taste and do your own manicure at home. It’s not at all difficult to do it even with your own hands. Samples of sets for hardware manicure are presented in the photo.

In 2014, you can often hear about another way to care for your nails. Jessica's manicure is famous for its relaxing effect on the skin and joints. The essence of the procedure is that at a certain stage the hands are immersed in thermal mittens. Thanks to the thermal effect, the leather softens perfectly and is perfectly treatable. After the procedure, the nails are covered with Jessica varnish, and the step-by-step manicure technique does not differ from the well-known one. When painting, you can choose the coating of any company you like.

Technique for painting nails with varnish

You already know how to properly do a manicure in terms of hygienic nail treatment. All that remains is to learn the subtleties of applying varnish. The process is not complicated and can be quickly mastered if desired. By following our recommendations, you can step by step get a manicure that is not inferior in quality to salon nail art.

While working, place your hands on the table so that your elbows do not hang down.
Before painting, be sure to degrease the nail plates.
The rules of manicure are conditional, but they are all aimed at ensuring a comfortable procedure. Among the unwritten principles is the recommendation that it is better to start painting your nails from the little finger.
The varnish should be applied without affecting the cuticle and side ridges. It is better if, when performing a manicure yourself, you step back 1 mm from the skin.

You will find more detailed information on how to properly paint your nails on our website in the appropriate topic. To get acquainted with the process of applying varnish with your own eyes, we invite you to watch an interesting video.

This year's fashion trends

Along with the question of how to do a neat manicure at home, girls are also interested in what nails are trending today. First of all, it’s worth talking about their shape. Trends for 2014 point to short nails with “regular oval” tips that follow the natural line of a smile. Comfortable and practical manicure is easy to wear and easy to do. For lovers of long nails, it is advisable to design the tips in an almond shape.

As for color and design in general, the trend is solid pastel colors. Noble wine shades are still holding their own, making manicures especially luxurious. A monotonous coating is very convenient to apply with your own hands at home, but if you wish, you can try something more colorful. To look stylish and fashionable in 2014, do manicures with stripes or lace more often. Today, everyone’s favorite French and lunar nail art still remain popular. The articles on our site are filled with beautiful photos that will help you choose the best design for yourself.

As you know, wizards are not born, they become one through hard work. If you want to learn how to do a beautiful and neat manicure with your own hands, you will need a lot of strength and patience. You have absorbed a lot of information and undoubtedly deserve a rest. We invite you to enjoy watching an interesting video lesson in which you will be shown how to do a manicure quickly and with very high quality. In the meantime, dream about how you can apply what you learn at home. Always be the most beautiful and elegant for everyone around you!