Manicure Time

I recently took off my acrylic nails and I'm attempting to grow out my natural nails. I've been giving myself manicures just about every other week. I had acrylic nails on since I was 13 years old and before then I never thought about manicures, so I'm pretty much new to this.

When I decided that I was going to grow out my natural nails, it was a decision that was not hard to make. I've been preoccupied with other important goals in my life and found that my nails would grow out and it had been over a month since I got my acrylics refilled. Part of the reason I got my acrylics was because I have a bad habit of bitting my nails. Since I took them off, that habit still lingers but not as badly as I thought it would be. I try to keep my nails constantly painted and keep them with a fresh new color.

Since I didn't really know anything about painting and taking care of my natural nails, I pretty much bought some cheap polish and and an "acrylic" base. When I painted my nails, without giving myself a proper manicure, the polish kept chipping. I was re-touching my polish everyday, about twice a day sometimes. I thought that chipping nail polish was something normal on natural nails, but a friend informed me that the cheap nail polish and acrylic base coat could be having a bad reaction and that I should invest in a good brand. So I took her advice and bought myself some Essie products for my nails.

I recently purchased a cuticle oil from Essie called Smooth Trick.

{Essie}

This cuticle oil is meant for dry, brittle nails. I put some on my cuticles after I've soaked my nails in warm water. My cuticles tend to get dry once the nail starts to grow, so with this deep-conditioning oil, I'm hoping that i helps restore some of that missing moisture. I should probably invest in some good hand moisturizer also, since this cuticle oil is meant to be put on without nail polish.

I've purchased two different base coats: Grow Stronger and Grow Faster.

{Essie}

I started first using Grow Stronger, which is recommended for soft, weak nails, and since my nails are still brittle from the acrylic nails, they are very soft and weak. Now I can feel that the new nail growing in is very strong, but I still have the very weak, brittle nail on the tips, so my concern is to have my nails grow out so I can have strong nails. The Grow Faster base coat is for healthy, normal nails and I feel that the nail by my cuticle is healthy enough to work efficiently.

Then there is my recent obsession with buying nail polish.
{Essie}

I have only six Essie polishes right now and I can't make a trip to the drug store without looking for another polish to add to my collection. I don't have any wild colors since my job restricts me to shades of red, pink, and beige. My only down fall with these limited color options is that the  color coral in for the summer and that is not one of my allowed colors. So for work purposes I have to stick to a "pink" coral. I was obsessed a few weeks ago with painting my nails this color and I found Essie's "Cute as a Button" which is a pinkish-coral and luckily I had no issues.

After I paint my nails with two coats of nail polish, I complete my look with my top coat, Essie's No Chips Ahead.

{Essie}

Can you tell that I didn't want my nail polish to chip? I've been using for about a month and it's been working pretty good, I haven't had to retouch my nail polish everyday and while chipping is normal, it tends to happen after a week or so.

Now my only complaint after this entire process is that my nail polish sometimes get little air bubbles that are easily visible to someone looking at them up close. Now the only thing I can think that would make this happen is one of two things, my drying methods. Now, I have two drying methods and I can't say I've done one and not the other. A few years ago my mom bought Creative's "Dry & Shine" finish, that you are suppose to put on top of your finish nails about one to three minutes of drying. Its suppose to help dry your nail polish quickly and I've heard of how this does work. This is a very old product, because I can not find it one Creative's website. The second drying method I've done is in between polish coats, I will blow dry my nails, so the polish can dry. I've used hot and cold air to blow dry my nails.

For right now, I will continue to give myself manicures until the weak, brittle nail grows completely out. Then I will start going to the nail spa to get a manicure, just to see what else I should be doing to my nails. 

Some essential products that I have at home to give myself a manicure include: cuticle nipper, cuticle pusher/cleaner, nail file, and buffing block. All of these products can be purchased at your local drug store.

Do any of you have any tips or tricks you do when giving yourself a manicure? Share them below in the comments, I would love to get some helpful tips.