How to Paint Your Nails Properly

I have a confession to make: I paint my nails almost every single day. I absolutely never leave them without polish (but for aesthetic and nail care reasons), and any chips in the polish result in a full redo of each of my nails. Needless to say, I have a process set when it comes to painting my nails (different to preparing them for painting, which I will cover later). So, here it is:

I use the pink one - moisturising!

Step 1: Remove ALL nail polish from your nails. This ensures you have a clean base to work with, and it also removes any oils that could potentially ruin your application.

Step 2: Use a base coat. If possible, find one that is specialised for nail strengthening or the like. You can never have too-healthy nails. The base coat also helps to prevent stains. A couple months ago (before I started using a base coat), I wore a dark blue nail polish for a couple days. When I went to remove it, I realised that the polish had left a deep stain. Nothing removed it! It took at least a month for it to disappear. As you can expect, I have never gone without a base coat since.

I have this on right now!

Step 3: Use a good nail polish. There is a massive difference between cheap store brands that tend to require 3 or 4 applications to look nice and a Sally Hansen colour that requires only one application. Of course you would do best buying expensive brands, but being a uni student, Sally Hansen is perfect. Nail polish and hair care products are different in the sense that there IS an important difference in the results of the products based on their price.

Step 4: The best way to paint your nails is to brush the excess off the brush into the bottle, and then paint one line in the middle, starting from the cuticle. Without dipping the brush in again, paint another two lines on either side of the middle line. This should cover the whole nail, and you shouldn't need to go back for more. Of course this varies based on the quality of the nail polish.

I have this on top!

Step 5: If need be, you can apply another coat. Preferably, this won't be necessary, providing that your nail polish is reasonably good quality. If you choose to do so, make sure your nail is completely dry, or else you risk smudging or streaking the first coat.

Step 6: This step is definitely optional, but with the current trends, adding some form of decoration to your nail is quite common. Currently, I am painting my nails a base colour, and then adding a polish of glitter/sparkles/stars either to the tip, the bottom, or all over. I promise you that it's simple, and looks amazing.

Step 7: Apply your top coat. Top coats are very important, especially if you've decorated your nails. While a base coat is quite thin and used to protect the nail, a top coat is thick and used to protect the polish. They do so very well. If you've ever worn glitter polish on your nails, you'll know that it feels scratchy and uneven, and tends to chip very easily. A top coat thickens your nail, and therefore evens out the glitter.

I hope this has given you some handy tips (get it?). Christmas and New Years Eve are perfect times to experiment with colours and decorations, and this year, nails are a focal point of all fashion icons.

Something like this is simple to do, but looks amazing.

Note: I am working on getting an SLR camera very soon so I can take and publish my own photos of my own makeup, nail polish, hair and hair products, etc