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How to Paint Your NailsThree Methods: Getting Started Applying Color Adding Designs

Perfectly painted nails can express your mood, match your outfit and reflectyour personality -- especially now that there are so many amazing colors tochoose from. You can go with classic red, happy yellow, creative green,mysterious purple, or shiny blue and much more. With all this excitement, it'seasy to forget the fact that painting your own nails (without making a mess)can be tricky. Read on to find out the best way to achieve beautifully polishednails at home, and you may never have to get a professional manicure again!

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Choose a nail polish in the colour of your choice.

Choose a colour that reflects your mood or matches what you're wearing thatday. Remember that darker colours like purple, black or dark red will make yournails appear longer, so you should only choose these colors if you want yournails to look longerChoose a nail polish that isn't too old - older nail polishes will become thick andgloopy and you'll find them harder to paint your nails with.If you really want to salvage an old nail polish that has become thick, try addinga couple of drops of acetone nail polish remover to the bottle, twist the lid backon, and shake to combine. It is also possible to buy specialized nail polishthinners from some of the most popular brands.[1]

2 Pick a place to paint. When choosing a place to paint your nails, go for a clean,stable surface in a well-lit room. A study desk or the kitchen table are good options,

just make sure to put some paper towel beneath your hand so you don't get any polishon the surface. The room should also be well ventilated, as fumes from nail polish andnail polish remover are not good for your health.

3 Gather the necessary supplies. Gather some cotton balls or rounds orprofessional tissues, some q-tips, nail polish remover, nail clippers, a nail file, a

cuticle stick and a bottle of clear nail polish. Having all of these items easily at hand willspeed up the nail painting process and minimize the chances of you smudging a nail.

Method 1 of 3: Getting Started

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4 Take off any old polish. Soak a cotton ball or round in some nail polish removerand hold it against the nail for ten seconds. Then swipe the cotton ball along the

nail to remove the polish. Use a q-tip soaked in nail polish remover to get rid of anypolish trapped around the edges.It is recommended to use professional tissue instead ofcotton balls as the tiny cotton pieces may get onto your nail if your nails have not dried.

Even if you don't have any nail polish on, you should still swipe some nail polishremover over your nails before you begin painting, to get rid of any natural oilson your nails. This will allow the polish to go on smoothly and help the color tolast longer.

5 Cut and/or file your nails. Use the nail clippers to trim your nails if they are toolong or have any uneven edges. You want all of your nails to be approximately the

same length. Then use a nail file (glass ones work really well) to smooth and shape theedges of your nails. You can give your nails a rounded or a square finish, depending onyour personal preference.

When filing your nails, rub the nail file from the outside of each nail to thecenter, doing each side of the nail separately. Each stroke should go in thesame direction - you should never use a sawing motion when filing, as thesemay weaken and break the nails.

6 Push back your cuticles. Your cuticles are the little pieces of skin at the bottom ofeach nail. They can make your nail polish application look messy if they are not

pushed back before you paint. Cuticles are easier to push back when they have beensoftened, so try soaking your nails in a small bowl of warm water for a minute or twofirst. Dry your hands and nails thoroughly, then use a cuticle stick to push the soft skin ofeach cuticle back to the edge of the nail.

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Rub the bottle between your hands to warm the nail polish for about 25-30seconds. This helps to mix up the contents of the bottle, stirring up any color that

has settled on the bottom. Don't shake it -- rolling the bottle instead will prevent bubblesfrom forming in the polish and keep your nails smooth.

1 Apply a base coat of clear nail polish. Applying a base coat of clear polish isone of the best things you can do when painting your nails. A base coat will give

your chosen polish a smooth surface to stick to, will help the color last longer and willprotect your nails from becoming stained by the colored polish. Allow the base coat tobecome fully dry to the touch before proceeding.

You don't need to be too careful when applying the base coat -- it's okay if someof the clear polish gets on your skin as nobody will be able to tell since there'sno color!There are two different types of specialized base coat polishes available - one isa ridge filler, which smooths the nails and provides an even, matte surface for

Method 2 of 3: Applying Color

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painting on, the other is a strengthener, which protects the nails and helps themto grow longer and stronger. If you like, you can apply a layer of each!

2 Press your hand firmly on the table. Don't just leave your hand resting on thetable (as this might allow it to shake or move), actively press your hand down on

the surface of the table, spreading your fingers wide apart. Start with your index finger,moving along each finger towards your pinky. Then lift your hand and rest your thumb onthe edge of the table to paint your thumbnail.

In terms of whether you paint with your good hand or bad hand first, it doesn'treally matter, do whatever you feel most comfortable with. Your bad hand isalways going to be shakier to paint with than your good hand - but practice willhelp.

3 Open the bottle of colored polish and remove any excess from the brush.Having the perfect amount of nail polish on your brush is one of the keys to

perfectly painted nails. To achieve this, wipe the brush on the inner rim of the bottle toremove any excess - knowing exactly how much polish should be on your brush is a skillthat comes with time!

Also take a look at the brush to see what shape it is. Most nail polish brushesused to be rounds, but more and more brands are introducing flatter stylebrushes, which allow for easier application and less mess.

4 Place a drop of paint at the bottom of the nail. Position the nail polish brush atthe bottom of your nail, just above the cuticle, directly in the center. Allow a drop of

paint (enough to cover your whole nail) to fall on this spot and pool slightly at the bottomof the nail.

This is a technique used by professional manicurists, so it might take somepractice, but eventually it will allow for the easiest and neatest polishapplication.

5 Use the three stripe rule. Manicurists and beauty experts agree that the threestripe method is the easiest and most mess-free way to paint nails. To do it, dip the

brush in the drop of paint at the bottom of your nail and draw the brush upwards in astraight line through the center of the nail, all the way to the tip. Return the brush to thepaint at the bottom of the nail and follow the curve along the bottom of the nail to the left,before drawing a second line, all the way to the tip. Use the remaining polish to draw athird stripe on the right side of the nail.

You should have enough polish to cover the whole nail in a thin layer of colorwithout having to dip your brush back in the bottle. If you apply too thick of alayer of polish, your nails will take much longer to dry and you will be muchmore likely to smudge them.When painting the outer stripes, don't take the polish all the way to the sides ofyour nails -- leave a tiny gap between the nail and your fingers. The gap willbarely be noticeable and you will avoid getting polish all over your hands.

6 Allow the first coat of polish to dry before applying a second. Nearly all nailpolishes will require at least two layers, and some will need three. It is much better

to apply several thin layers of polish than one thick one -- the results will be much neater

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and less inclined to smudge. You must allow the nail polish to dry completely betweeneach application - this should take between five and ten minutes, depending on thebrand of polish.

Apply the second layer of polish using the exact same method you used toapply the first. Try to be equally careful -- don't become impatient and try tofinish the job quickly, or you might ruin your good work. Allow the second layerof polish to dry completely, then decide if you need to apply a third.As you can see, painting your nails is time consuming, and you will need toallow yourself 30 minutes to an hour to do the job well. For this reason, it is agood idea to have prepared a snack/ gone to the bathroom/ turned on the TVbefore you begin painting your nails, so you won't be bored while waiting foryour nails to dry.

7 Apply a clear top coat. Once your second (or third) coat of polish is dry, you canapply a final top coat of clear polish. This will help to prevent the color from

chipping and add extra shine. Apply the top coat over the colored paint, all the way tothe tips, then go around the top of each nail and apply a little clear polish to theunderside. This helps to prevent the color wearing from the top, while providing extrastrength and support for long nails.

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Clean up any mess. Once your nails are painted and fully dry you can set aboutcleaning up any accidents that might have occurred along the way. To do this,

simply dip a q-tip (preferably one with a pointed end) in some nail polish remover, thenuse it to go around the edges of each nail, removing any unwanted polish.

Make sure to do this slowly and carefully - if you try to do it too quickly the q-tipmight slip and you'll end up with a polish-free streak across your perfectlypainted nails!Try to use a fresh q-tip for each nail - otherwise the excess polish on the end ofthe q-tip will just make more of a mess.

1 Use nail stickers. Nail stickers are super easy to apply and are available in anendless array of shapes, colors and designs. All you need to do do is carefully

remove the adhesive backing (or in some cases apply a little nail glue) and press thesticker firmly onto the nail for 10-20 seconds to attach. Little jewel stickers, like the onesshown in the picture above, are popular and can be purchased at most drug stores.

It can be helpful to use a tweezers to apply these stickers, as the tweezers willprevent you from dropping the sticker and prevent the sticker from attachingitself to your finger.Nail stickers should only be applied once your nail polish has dried completely.

2 Crystallize your nails. Another popular nail effect that you can do at home is to"crystallize" your nails using glitter or coarse white sugar. While the clear top

Method 3 of 3: Adding Designs

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coating on your nails is still wet, sprinkle the glitter or sugar onto your nails. As the topcoat dries, the little "crystals" will become attached to your nails and you'll have a reallycool effect!

3 Try nail art. Nail art encompasses a whole range of designs and techniques, manyof which require a steady hand and lots of practice! With nail art you can create

polka dot, flower, ladybug and bow designs just by using different colored polishes and atoothpick, or you can get even more creative and try gradient, acid-wash and water-colortechniques to produce a unique, eye-catching look.

4 Do color blocking. Color blocking involves using two, three or more polishes ofcontrasting colors to create cool geometric shapes on each nail. You may want to

use a thin paint brush, rather than the brush supplied with the polish, in order toeffectively and neatly color block.

5 Paint French tips. A French manicure consists of natural-colored pink or peach

polish topped off with bright white tips. It is an extremely sophisticated look, which canbe achieved at home with a little practice.

Contrary to what you might think, the white tip is actually painted on first, usinga special white polish provided in most home manicure kits. These kits may alsoprovide adhesive strips which you can apply to your nails in order to get aperfectly straight white line across the tips. Otherwise you will need a verysteady hand!Once you have done the tips and they have completely dried, you can apply thenatural colored polish over the white polish, before finishing your nails off with aclear top coat.

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Try other nail painting ideas. Once you have the basic method of how to paintyour nails, the possibilities are endless! Consider painting the galaxy on your nails,

get feline fabulous with leopard print nails or be artsy and express yourself with splatterpaint nails. If you can think of it, you can make it happen - with nail painting thepossibilities are endless!

Put tape on the sides of your nails; it can help prevent nail polish fromgoing everywhere on your cuticle and the surrounding area.Be sure to use a clear base coat! This prevents staining of the nail andensures your manicure or pedicure lasts longer!The tape will also help you with the french tips.Practice makes perfect. It takes a long time to perfect painting yourdominant hand.Start with your pinky nail and work back. This will help cut down on

Tips

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chances of accidentally smudging the wet polish when you go to paintthe next nail.If you have liquid latex you can put it around your nails (on your skin),and this will just make your manicure much easier since you can justpeel of the latex with no damage to your hand!Put sticky tape around the nails to protect your skin. After adding thenail polish, there is nothing else left to do except to take the tape off.The tape means you won't have made a mess and you'll be left withperfectly painted perfect nails.If your nails keep breaking and the nail polish makes them look gross,buy some nail hardening fluid (this can be found in the makeup sectionof drugstores, department store and chemist shops) which you applybefore the nail polish. It will make your nails nice and strong so theylook long and pretty when painted.If you get nail polish on your skin just wait until your nails are dry andthen run your hands under warm water and rub the nail polish off yourskin. It won't take any nail polish off your nails and it is quick, easy andpainless.When painting your left hand, try to have both hands rested on thetable. If this works better, drag your hand and keep your polish brushstill.Avoid your cuticles, and leave a little gap between the nail and skin.Do not put on the nail polish too thick; if you put it on in lots of littlelayers, it will give it an opaque finish which will look much nicer.If you can find someone who will let you, practice painting someoneelse's nails until you feel comfortable enough to try it on yourself.If you put some petroleum jelly on your skin around your nails, the nailpolish will not stick to your skin if you paint outside the nail.Put petroleum jelly around your nails before painting. This will makeany nail polish on your skin wipe away easily.You can use a bobby pin's round ends as a dotting tool to make cooland fun designs to embrace your style.If you push back your cuticles, your nails will appear longer and growfaster.

If you forget to use a base coat under your nail polish and your nailsbecome stained, one way to get the yellow away is to stick your(unpainted) nails into some fresh lemon juice. Make sure you don'thave any fingernail cuts, though. It will sting!

Warnings

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Keep the room well-ventilated, because nail polish or nail polishremover fumes may be toxic if inhaled.Remember to always replace the lids on your nail polishes tightly sothe polish doesn't dry out.Always keep nail polish and other chemicals out of reach of youngchildren.

Clear nail polish (base and top coat)

Colored nail polish

Nail polish remover

Cotton balls

Cotton swabs

A flat surface to paint your nails

Tape (striping tape works best)

Nail file

Cuticle stick

Paper towel

1. ↑ http://www.bellasugar.com/How-Thin-Out-Nail-Polish-2724189

http://nailartlove.net/how-to-paint-your-nails-perfectly/http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-paint-your-nails-1/#step1http://www.cosmopolitan.com/hairstyles-beauty/how-to/professional-polish-at-home

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Categories: Nail Polish and Painting Nails

In other languages:

Italiano: Mettersi lo Smalto sulle Unghie, Español: pintarte las uñas, Português: Pintaras Unhas, Nederlands: Nagels lakken, Deutsch: Nägel lackieren, Français: poser duvernis à ongles, Русский: покрасить ногти, Čeština: Jak si nalakovat nehty, 中文: 涂指甲油

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