Help me Paint my Nails

[allegro]

I cannot paint my nails. Whenever I try, it gets all bumpy and uneven. I don't know how far out to paint, because I'm afraid of getting some on the outside of my nails. Does it just take practice? Have any tips? Thanks!

[feisty redhead]

I think it just takes practice. If you get some polish on your skin next to your nails, you can either use a nail polish corrector pen (Avon has them pretty cheap) or just dip a q-tip into your nail polish remover and use that to clean up any messes you might have made while painting your nails. The pens are a bit more precise because of the way the tips are tapered but the q-tips will work in a pinch.

I don't shake my nail polish bottles before I apply my color, I just gently roll them between my hands for a couple seconds. Shaking puts bubbles into the polish. I try to avoid putting on a thick coat of color, too. Several thin coats seems to work out better. I let each coat dry completely before putting another coat on. I always take my time when I paint my nails; I plan a day or two in advance and set up my schedule so I have plenty of time for it.

There are some more tips here that might help you out: http://styles101.homestead.com/polish.html

Hope that helps some!

[Teacherbear]

I am, by no means, an expert on polishing my nails <looks at my scraped up, peeling toe nail polish> :rolleyes:

I've only learned recently to not shake the bottle as reisty redhead said. It is a tough habit to break.

I'm wondering about your polish. Old polish goes on very thick, tends to clump and doesn't spread well. In my experience, cheap polish bubbles up and peels.

Other than that I've heard to make 3 sweeps of the brush on your nail. The first one goes down the middle, then the next two go one on each side of the center stripe. That should cover your nail. Now, (and here's the proof I am NOT a pro at polishing my nails),
when it comes to getting polish on the cuticles, I don't worry about it. Yes, I'm a polish slob. I paint my nails and let them dry. Then later that night (or the next day) I take a looooong shower or soak in the tub. The polish peels away from the skin and I just run a finger nail along the skin/cuticle to remove the polish.

That is my very unprofession, nail slob, advice!:nosey: lol

[allegro]

Yikes! I've been shaking the bottle too.

My nail polish is new, but it was cheap. :grinhappy:

Other than that I've heard to make 3 sweeps of the brush on your nail. The first one goes down the middle, then the next two go one on each side of the center stripe. That should cover your nail.

I always start off at the side and after I completely paint the nail, I always try to "smooth it over" again. I'll try doing it this way.

Feisty- Thanks for the website! Lots of good tips!

Thanks for the advice guys!

[curls2grow]

I have a hard time doing the 3-stripe technique, but I've heard that's a great way to do it neatly. I dont' have good eyesight or a steady hand to do that very well, however. I clean up around my nail as I go by using the pointy end of a wooden/orangewood stick. I've also used an old slanted eyeshadow brush dipped in np remover to clean up afterward -- this was time consuming -- still required good eyesight and a steady hand (which, did I mention?, I am lacking).

[Coppercurls]

I do the 3 stripe thing too. I always do 2 coats of color. That way the brush is not as loaded with polish and I get less bumps & lumps this way. The quicker you can apply the polish, the less likely you are to get lumps from polish starting to dry. Just practice, you'll get the hang of it! I do get polish on my cuticles sometimes. If it is a dark color & shows really bad, I will clean it up with a Q-tip & polish remover, but if its not too bad-I do what TBear does.

[tameriska]

I always find that if I try to smooth my polish by going over it again, it nearly always wrecks it for me.
The way that I do mine is to wipe one side of the brush off against the mouth of the bottle, then wipe off enough off the other side of the brush so that it still like has a drop of polish left on the tip. I then do the three stroke method, except that I do the edges first, then the middle. I do have the tendency to make my coats thick, because every time I try to do them nice and thin, I always seem to muck it up.
Here (http://www.sallyhansen.com/learn_manicure-class.cfm?section=16) is a link to the Sally hansen website with some tutorials.

[allegro]

Thanks guys! I like the Sally Hansen website.

[Bonnie]

I just painted my nails for the first time in 4 or 5 years not 15 minutes before I came to my computer!

I only painted one hand and they are all different colors except thumb and pinkie, which are the darkest colors. I feel so funny with it on, I haven't done it in so long.

All of mine turned out pretty smooth but I always have trouble with light, opaque colors, like the light bubblegum pink on one of my fingers.

It takes practice to get the right amount of polish on the brush. Too much and it'll take a LONG time to dry between coats, too little (especially on 2nd or 3rd coats) and you "rip" the surface of the one below. I do two or three strokes and dip between every finger.

Bonnie