Hey, gals! Doing your own manicure is all well and good but HOW do you actually prep your nails for that perfect “I just went to the salon” look? Keep reading to get all of the tips and tricks and a how-to on rocking a glitter ombre nail design! Happy prep and painting!
Nail Prep
You will need: warm and soapy water, a cuticle trimmer, and a nail file
1. Soak your nails in warm and soapy water to begin. This step is really important because you want your cuticles to be soft so they are easier to trim.
2. Clean under your nails with your cuticle trimmer. You do this by opening them up all of the way and using the sharper side to slowly push all of the dirt and grime to one side. You will eventually push everything out from underneath your entire nail. Be very careful not to hurt your self!
***If you are unfamiliar with using cuticle trimmers, then I would suggest getting a nail-cleaning tool (sometimes they come on nail clippers or look like wood skewers). They sell them at almost every drug store and are super easy to use!
3. File your nail to the desired length and shape.
4. After you file your nail the traditional way (back and forth), lightly file the top of your nail vertically. This is helpful because when you file your nails traditionally, some of the nail comes up on the edge of your nail and will make the polish stick up and not have a clean finish.
5. Wash your hands and make sure to clean underneath your nails again because a lot of the nail dust gets under there from filing them. You don’t have to be as thorough this time around but just make sure they are free of any blemishes or hang nails. A great way to do this is to use an old toothbrush!
6. Put on a base coat of polish and you’re ready for some color!
***I’ve never really used a base coat for my nail polish, but in the last few months I have been putting it on more and more; and, man, it is a life-changer! I can’t recommend this enough- it can only benefit your manicure! It helps the paint to stay on longer, it keeps the nail color from soaking into your nail (like after you take red polish off and it still looks like your nails are red or really gets down in the sides), AND there are so many different kinds with additions for nail strengthening, growth, etc.
Glitter Ombre Nails
You will need: a bright color of nail polish (neon works well), dark glitter polish works best, topcoat, and a nail polish brush that you don’t really care about (I used the brush from an old bottle of topcoat)
1. Choose which nail you want to have the ombre on and paint every nail with glitter paint EXCEPT that one; paint that one with your bright color.
2. Next put a thick layer of glitter on the tip of your colored nail. Be very careful to make the thinnest line possible, but make sure it is thick enough.
3. With your old nail polish brush slowly pull the glitter nail polish down to your cuticle. Try to create the perfect gradient from dark to light.
4. Put on your topcoat and you’re all done!
In retrospect, I wish that I had done neon pink instead of green. My boyfriend told me it looks like Halloween, so now that is all I can think about. Plus, pink and black would have been super cute too. I’ve also tried to do this manicure with normal polish, but I find that it doesn’t work very well. The glitter is easy to use because it is just the glitter specks being used and if it doesn’t blend perfectly it still looks pretty cool. Normal nail polish, however, does not. Good luck and let me know how it goes!