I’ve always admired friends’ perfectly manicured nails, but resigned to bare, neglected nails as a chronic crafter. I love a good mani-pedi, but it’s frustrating to treat yourself only to destroy the results as soon as you leave the salon. After trashing my most recent gorgeous manicure, I decided that there has to be a way to DIY a decent manicure and sent myself down the internet’s finest at-home manicure habit hole, and discovered a few great techniques along with the Essie Gel Couture line.
Here’s my most recent manicure after a full week of abuse. Serious abuse. I dug up 8 rose bushes & 2 small trees, crafted bows and HTV vinyl & my trusty hot glue gun, learned to knit & completed 2 projects,… it goes on and on. I’m TOUGH on my nails. This crazy polish held up except for 1 small chip on 1 finger. I’m showing you the bad hand! I would have let this polish go even longer had I not had this chip.
So how did a manicure-dummy go from nothing to a decent manicure overnight? YouTube is my friend… I’d list particular videos, but really I gathered tips here and there from a long list of videos, and the right products make a huge difference.
So here’s how I work the magic!
Cuticle Care
After trimming my nails (I do keep them short even though the polish seems to protect them and let them grow much longer that usual), I use Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover & a Cuticle Tool to clean up my cuticles. I’ve noticed commenters tend to pounce on anyone who mentions cuticle care because “cuticles shouldn’t be removed because they keep out germs”. Really, all you need to do is push your cuticles back and scrap off the dead skin they leave on your beds. The Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover softens your cuticles so you can push them back where they belong (or cut them, but I don’t) and makes for easier clean-up on your nails. After letting the product sit briefly, use only the pusher side of the Cuticle Tool to push cuticles back and remove that stubborn dead-skin (that you totally don’t need for health). Wash your hands thoroughly to remove the product. Getting a clean nail is essential to a great manicure, so this step is very important. Don’t let the comment trolls scare you away from cuticle care (not removal).
Shape
Shape your nails with a file. Contrary to my previous belief that clippers was all you need, a good file goes a long way to get the salon-look. “The internet” at large advises only filing one way, not back and forth. I found this OPI Crystal Nail File to be worth the hype. No jagged edges like standard sandpaper files or metal files. I still find filing in only one direction a challenge, but with the soft edges that this file leaves, I back-stroke here and there shouldn’t be too detrimental. Side note: I’ve not broken a nail since starting Operation: Nice Nails and I have let them get quite long (for me). After filing, buff the edges as well as the top of nails to create a clean surface for the polish. I think a good block file is worth the splurge. The salon take-home files always fall apart in a hurry because they are meant for a single use while this OPI Brilliance Block File is intended to last longer and gives a finer polish. I’dd admit to skipping this step often, but it will really help with ridges if you have the patience.
Paint
You’ve surely heard the advice in painting anything: use several thin coats. This is especially important for nail polish for a couple reasons. With this particular polish, it will level itself. Thin coats fill in ridges by building up laters of leveling. A thin coat dries faster. Yes, it takes longer to paint 3 coats than 1, but it takes a lot less time to paint 3 coats once than 1 coat multiple times because you bump still-drying polish + you’ll get a much nicer result. Use thin coats and let it dry at least to the touch between each coat. With all of the Gel Couture colors I’ve tried, 3 coats has been the magic number (although they say 3) plus the top coat. The Gel Couture brushes are super wide, so start just a bit away from your cuticle and press to spread the brush out. Push the brush back towards your cuticle, but stop before you touch it, then dram the brush down your nail. Go slowly, with a bit of focus and practice, you should be able to get that perfect cuticle line by a brush stroke in the center and then down each side.
Gel Couture Specifics
It’s not actually gel, but rather a polish formulated to mimic the glossy, squishy finish you’d get from a gel manicure. The top coat is required. It looks crazy streaky when you start applying. You truly don’t use a base-coat, which really threw me at first. 1 coat will show all your ridges, a 2nd will start to fill them in, and a 3rd may still look ever-so-slightly streaky while wet (but should dry opaque). You have to use the Essie Gel Couture Top Coat specifically for this polish. Without it, the polish will chip and dull quickly. The two products together meld into a gorgeous glossy finish. It seems to work a bit like an epoxy, the top coat is uniquely formulated to “set” the color coats. While it dries to the touch quickly after you apply the top coat, it never really seems to dry completely. I’ve nicked this polish only to find that it “healed” later in the day. True witchcraft, but I’ll take it. While it cost more than bargain polish, it’s a bargain over the salon (+ I can do it on my time w/o an appointment!).
I mean, y’all… I’m bad at painting my nails and this is damn-near instagram-worthy here:
The best part? I know this manicure should last me through a solid week of abuse; more if I’m not torturing it with yard & craft tools.
Here’s another little trick I learned (since polish seems to never look the same in the bottle as it does on)… do a Google image search for “Essie Gel Couture + {whatever color}” because I guarantee someone has “swatched” it. ”
My personal favorites:
Essie Gel Couture “Pre-Show Jitters” – An almost-white alabaster with a hint of pink
Essie Gel Couture “Matter of Fiction” – Perfect pale pink similar to Essie’s “Ballet Slippers”
Essie Gel Couture “Stitch by Stitch” – A neutral, feminine pink