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).
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!