We all know painting our nails isn’t as easy as it looks, so we’ve put together a few top tips to help you get the perfect finish every time.
1. If your hands are a little shaky, use a cotton swab to rub Vaseline over the skin around your nails. This way if you get paint around the nail (and let’s be honest, most of us do) when you’re done you can wipe away any excess polish with the Vaseline. Of course, wait until your nails are dry otherwise you risk ruining your good work.
2. If you’ve got nails that chip easily, apply a base coat just to the tips of your nails, wait for it to dry then apply the same base coat a second time to the entire nail. This technique will help keep nail polish on the prone-to-chipping tips of your nails and will make your manicure last longer.
3. The natural tint of your nails will often change the shade of your desired polish so to really make your polish pop, use a white nail polish as the base coat.
4. To unscrew a tight lid that has caked together with polish, tie a rubber band around it – this will provide a better grip for twisting.
5. To loosen a stubborn nail polish lid, place the nail polish bottle upside down in a cup of really hot water. Make sure you only fill the cup just high enough to cover the lid and not the entire bottle. Wait a few minutes and remove.
6. For a custom colour blend, use a cotton bud to mix a little eyeshadow pigment with some clear nail polish in a spoon. Then simply grab a brush and try it out.
7. Ever wanted to get a French tip but can’t quite get your hand steady enough? All you need to do is take a rubber band and tie it in the middle. Loop one end over your thumb to create tension and the other end over the top of your nail – just below the edge of the nail. The perfect French tip shape is now visible on the edge of your nail so use the rubber band as a guide to paint the tip of your nail, and move the band from finger to finger.
8. Tape can be your best friend for easy nail art. Simply choose two different colour polishes and paint one coat of the lighter polish on first. Seal it with a clear top coat. Wait until it is completely dry and then apply two strips of tape over the tips of your nails. Take them from each side of the nail and cross them over each other in the middle to create a point. Next take the darker polish and paint a layer over the whole nail and the tape. Leave it to dry, then slowly peel off the tape. Voilà! – the perfect two-tone nail.
