Manicure and Pedicure

Manicures and pedicures are a treat for your nails of your hands and feet. Manicure and pedicure gives you a grand feeling that one cannot really explain. Maybe because we tend to neglect our nails often, and manicures and pedicures are a way to pamper them. Manicure and pedicures are not just limited to the fairer sex beauty regime. Many men too visit the nail salon and get their nails filed and shaped. Well, women love to see men with neat and tidy nails that are in shape and not one's those who have broken, shapeless and dirty nails. And for obvious reasons, one cannot indulge in spending their bills every month to get a professional manicure and pedicure done. So the solution is to learn some simple ways to do manicure and pedicure at home.

Home Manicure and Pedicure

Manicure and pedicure at home may not give you the perfect nails in beauty salon the first couple of times. But, with regular practice you too will become a pro in achieving the perfect looking nails. You can try manicure and pedicure at a pajama party or get cozy with your loved one trimming nails and playing with their senses. Or maybe just get your nails to look neat, tidy and healthy. Just follow these home manicure and pedicure tips to achieve enviable nails.

So before we begin with our home manicure and pedicure tips, let us get our manicure and pedicure equipment ready. By this I do not mean bring salon like hi-tech manicure and pedicure equipment, but simple things for a beauty therapy at home. You will need:

• A pack of cotton balls
• A bottle of nail polish remover
• An emery board or a pair of scissors
• A nail trimmer
• A cuticle remover
• A bottle of your favorite nail color
• 2 toe separators
• A pack of paper towels

Removing Nail Color

You have all your manicure and pedicure equipment ready, so let's begin with nail polish removing. You need to take a cotton ball and dip it in nail polish remover. Now rub the cotton ball on your fingernail till the nail color is removed completely revealing your true nail color. Remember, use the nail polish remover sparingly as it is extremely drying and can damage the nail and cuticle.

Cuticle Removing
Before you plan to remove the cuticle, make sure you dip your fingertips in warm plain water. Do not dip your finger nails in water for more than 3 minutes. Cuticles are the soft skin at the bottom of your nail where the fingernail cartilage and skin meet. It helps the connecting your nails and skin without you having to feel the pain. As the nail grows, the cuticle stretches along with it. You can use a cuticle remover to remove the cuticles or you can even push the cuticles down with your nails. This removal of the cuticle helps your nail grow and promotes healthy nails.

Fingernail Trimming
The best way to cut nails is after a bath or soaking them in warm water for 3 to 4 minutes. This will soften the nails and become easy to cut. You should use scissors for reshaping or shortening your nails. It gives better shape to your nails than emery board. You need to use nail clippers to trim your toenails. File the rough edges of your nail surface by moving the filer in one direction. You need to smooth your nails and give them a proper shape.

Exfoliation and Moisturizing
You need to massage your hands, arms, legs and feet when you sit down for manicure and pedicure. You should rinse your hands and use a pumice stone to remove the dead skin, rough areas and calluses under the feet. You need to use a thick moisturizing hand cream on your hands and a foot cream on your feet to smooth rough dry skin and heal cracked feet.

Nail Color
Once you are done with all the above steps, you need to polish your nails with a nail color. You need to polish the nails in layers and allow time to dry the coat. You need to first apply one coat of base, then two coats of color polish and lastly a top coat. In case you have brittle nails, you can apply one or two coats of ridge filling nail polish on the nail instead of the base coat. This follows two coats of nail color and then a top coat for shiny and lustrous nails.

This was a simple way to do manicure and pedicure at home. Nails help protect your fingers and you need to take good nail care just like hair care. Healthy, beautiful and long nails is a sign of good health and hygiene. I hope this article on manicure and pedicure helps you get salon like perfect nails at home.