I get asked a lot of questions about how I achieve a clean, professional looking manicure at home. I have heard from women that they end up with nothing but a mess, both on their nail, and to clean-up. While my routine is certainly nothing revolutionary, I thought I would make a video tutorial showing you the various steps to achieve a clean, easy manicure at home. Inside, I also included a brief list of every product I used, and where you can purchase these items. So go ahead and
Products Used In This Tutorial:
- Burt’s Bee’s Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream: Perfect for applying in and around your cuticles any time, but especially right before applying nail polish to ensure moisturized, soft cuticles. You can purchase this at any Walmart, Target, or drugstore nationwide.
- Birchwood Sticks: Birchwood sticks are single-handedly the most underrated manicure tool out there. With them, you can apply rhinestones, nail art, clean up cuticle edges, and nail polish mistakes. I buy a large pack (one-hundred or more) of birchwood sticks for just a few dollars at my local Sally Beauty Supply store.
- Nail Polish: I know this one seems obvious, and not worth a mention, but there are many ways to save on nail polish and still get a great, long-lasting brand. One of my favorite places to purchase discounted nail polish from is online at Victoria’s Nail Supply and Head2Toe Beauty. They both have fantastic customer service, quick shipping, and every major brand (China Glaze, Orly, etc) is always under $5, mostly under $3. There are also some fantastic brands in drugstores and major retailers that cost very little for great wear and color payoff. These brands include Pure Ice (Walmart), Sinful Colors, E.l.f, NYC, and LASplash nail colors.
- Clear Top Coat: In this video, I used Beauty Secrets Clear Top Coat, which is one of my two favorite all-time top coats. My other favorite top-coat is Seche Vite, and both are available at your local Sally Beauty Supply store.
- Orly Flash Dry Drops: This is not a necessary component of a great manicure, but certainly a very helpful one. These drops act as a “sealer” for your manicure after your top coat, and prevent smudges, chips, and nicks that may occur while your nails are still slightly tacky or wet. I go through bottles and bottles of this throughout the year. I purchase mine at Sally Beauty Supply.
Nail polish used in this tutorial is: Orly Cosmix FX Collection, “It’s Not Rocket Science.”
**If any of you beauties are interested in purchasing these supplies online via Sally Beauty Supply, they are offering Beauty Gala readers 20% off online orders of $25 or more:
20% off online orders over $25. Use Promo Code 555938
Have your own tips or tricks you’d like to share?
Feel free to use the contact form, or leave a comment below.
[ALL PHOTOGRAPHY ON THIS SITE IS TAKEN BY REBECCA KAZIMIR. NO PHOTOGRAPHS ARE TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.]
Leave a Reply