Looking pretty ugly, my nails needed some TLC!

My weight loss makeover continues with a home manicure. If I want to jazz up the leaner me, I can’t stop with new hair, makeup and outfits. My hands also need some TLC!

So last night I watched videos on doing your own manicure.

Yes, I’m 45 years old and never knew how to give myself a manicure. I thought I did. I just filed my nails and applied a coat of color. Boy was I wrong.

Confession: I really didn’t have to know how to do it. Why bother when I can go out to a nail shop and pay someone $20? Well $20 every two weeks adds up over time.  Plus, if I’m looking for ways to reward myself for weight loss success, a professional manicure isn’t that special if I do it all the time.

So I’ve decided to do my own nails and save the trip to the salon as a reward.

This morning I headed over to Ulta and picked up:

• Nail polish remover
• Crystal nail file
• Nail buffer
• Cuticle clippers
• Cuticle stick
• Cuticle balm
• Hand lotion
• Basecoat
• Topcoat

I pretty much followed the tutorial video below.

I did deviate slightly. The tutorial recommends a liquid cuticle remover. I didn’t want to burn my cuticles off with a chemical.

A wonderfully helpful Ulta lady recommended soaking my hands in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes and applying a cuticle balm to soften my cuticles.   Then I used the cuticle stick to push the cuticles back and scrap up dead skin (like the video).

My first home manicure done right. Not too shabby. I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.

To remove the dead skin, I used cuticle clippers like the ones your local nail salon uses. I don’t cut the cuticles – I just remove the dead skin – because you can easily get an infection.

Overall I’m happy with this attempt. The whole process was quick and painless. Since I need to do my nails once a week, I should get better at it.

Now I just need to stop biting my nails so they can grow!