You don’t need to be a professional to achieve nail care at home. All you need to do is follow the steps below, and you’ll have beautiful and well-groomed nails from the comfort of your home.

#1 Preparation

Before you begin the treatment, you should make sure you have everything you need close at hand. Organize the equipment you will need so that you can avoid unnecessary movements and protect your nails.

#2 Remove the nail polish

To achieve a professional result, you should first thoroughly remove the polish from your nails and get rid of all residue from previous polish. For regular nail polish, you will need a simple acetone remover.

If the polish is semi-permanent, then try this trick. Soak pieces of cotton with pure acetone and place them on your nails. Cover them with the special semi-permanent removal caps and leave them for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, remove the caps and the cotton and remove the remaining polish with a semi-permanent removal tool.

For gel or acrylic, try removing the old layer with a nail drill. Gently file your nails with the drill until the gel layer is completely removed.

#3 Shape and lengthen your nails

With a file or with an electric nail drill, you can file your nails and give them the length you want. Also, in the same way you can shape your nails into square, round, ballerina, or almond shapes.

To avoid risking ruining the shape and to get a uniform result on all nails, I recommend leaving them a little longer than usual, so that you can correct any mistakes.

#4 Nail spa

Even your nails deserve their own spa treatment. Start by soaking them for 5 minutes in a bowl of lukewarm water and some strengthening oil and then, wipe them dry and gently massage the areas where hangnails usually appear.

At this stage, the skin around the nails should have softened enough so that you can easily clean it of cuticles and hangnails.

#5 Removal of dead cells, cuticles, and hangnails

To achieve the perfect nail care at home, you should give your hands and feet a complete treatment. This means you need to clean the skin around the nails, of dead cells, cuticles, and hangnails.

For the dead cells on the heels of the feet, try filing the area with an electric foot file or with a pumice stone.

For the cuticles and hangnails you will need some nail care tools. First take your cuticle pusher and push the cuticles back. This movement will automatically separate the cuticles that need to be removed with nippers, from those that are healthy. With your nippers or with a cuticle trimmer, carefully cut the protruding cuticles. Repeat for all nails on hands and feet.

#6 Smoothing the surface of the nails

Take a buffer or a nail drill with a buffer head and start buffing the surface of the nails so it is smooth and even. Carefully and with gentle movements, try to cover the entire surface of the nail. Avoid accidentally buffing the cuticles around the nail because you may injure them.

#7 Clean your nails

To continue with painting your nails, you should first clean them and dry them from any traces of water and dust. With a brush, dust off your nails from using the buffer and with a clean towel, clean and dry them carefully.

If your nails feel oily, wipe them once with acetone and cotton.

#8 Paint your nails

After you have completed all the above steps, it is time to paint your nails. Start by applying the base coat and wait for it to dry. If you are using gel polish, cure all the nails together in the lamp for two minutes.

Once they are ready with the base, take the nail polish you like, either semi-permanent, or regular and start painting your nails with gentle and steady movements. Be careful to use a small amount of polish at a time to avoid streaks and bubbles. For semi-permanent polish, you should cure your nails each time for two minutes in the lamp.

You may need to repeat the painting process with polish 2-3 times, depending on how intense you want the color on your nails to be. If your hand slips and you accidentally paint the skin around the nail, make sure to wipe it off before it dries, so it comes off easily.

#9 Nail decoration and top coat

When you finish with the layers of nail polish you want to achieve the ideal color, you can start decorating your nails with various types of nail decoration. Choose among rhinestones, glitter, decoration powders, tapes, or even designs with a brush or stamps, to decorate them. Simply apply a thin layer of nail polish or use special nail glue and start decorating them as you like.

Remember at the end to coat your nails with top coat to set the decoration and to extend their durability.

#10 Moisturize the skin around your nails

Both the nails and the skin around them need hydration after the grooming process. Especially if you use a lamp for semi-permanent nail polish, the curing process can dehydrate the skin around the nails.

Make sure to apply special manicure-pedicure oil around the nails on the cuticles and to massage the area after every home nail care session.

That was it. You have successfully graduated from the nail care at home course, thanks to this guide. You will see that the more you practice, the better you will become. Good luck!