11 Hand and Nail Care Hacks That’ll Be Worthwhile for Those Who Love Getting Manicures

Many of us visit a nail salon at least once a month to get manicures and pedicures. Today, we decided to find useful tricks that can make getting these procedures even simpler and more efficient. And in the bonus section, you’ll find a couple of tricks that’ll show what women with long fingernails do to make their lives easier. And what to do if you break a bottle of nail polish and don’t know how to remove it from the floor.

1. Don’t use cream or other skin care products the day before getting a manicure.

Don’t apply cream or oil to your hands a day before having a manicure. The fact is that these skin care products go deep into the skin, making it too soft to work with. The procedure will take more time, and the moisturizing ingredients will prevent the nail products from adhering properly and could cause lifting.

2. Don’t do depilation the day before having a pedicure.

Wax and other depilation products leave microinjuries on the skin, which can lead to infection or irritation. It’s not safe to have a pedicure after this procedure.

3. Take care of your cuticles at home.

You shouldn’t forget about taking care of your nails at home. Manicure technicians recommend giving your hands warm sea salt baths. After this procedure, take an orange-wood stick and push your cuticles back with it. Also, don’t forget to moisturize your cuticles with oil.

• A couple of years ago, I stopped cutting my cuticles. I remove them with a cuticle remover and nourish them with oil once a day. My cuticles now look better, thinner, and healthier. It’s not a myth that the more you cut them, the faster they grow.

4. Be careful about how you place your hands inside the lamp.

The way you place your hand inside the lamp plays an important role too. Your hand should be parallel to the table. Don’t strain your hand and relax your fingers. This way, the gel nail polish will dry out evenly. Otherwise, the manicure won’t last as long.

5. Be careful about using your nails when doing something with your hands.

Long fingernails require special attention. Try to use your finger pads when typing or pressing buttons on different devices. Also, don’t use your nails to open or peel things.

6. The right socks and shoes will save your pedicure.

Shoes that are too tight or footwear with narrow toes can ruin your pedicure. They press on your toes and nails, and this can lead to their deformation or ingrown nails. This is why it’s worth not wearing footwear that’s too small (or socks that are too tight) if your toenails have nail polish on them.

7. Don’t remove gel nail polish yourself.

By chipping off or filing off gel nail polish yourself, you are at risk of damaging your nail plate. Chipping off gel nail polish actually takes part of your nail off with it. And by removing gel with a file, you can damage your nails.

Also, you shouldn’t apply nail polish to damaged nails. Thus, you’ll have to wait until a healthy nail plate grows out. It’s best that the gel removal is done by a professional technician, so that your hands remain healthy and beautiful.

• This happened to me. My nail plate hasn’t healed even after 2 years. So, I paint my nails with regular nail polish now.

• I chipped off the gel along with the upper layer of my nail. After that, my nail plate became really thin and sensitive.

8. Wear gloves in the cold.

When it’s cold outside, you should be especially careful about your hands. Warm gloves will save your hands from getting chapped and rough. It’s also important to wash your hands with warm water during the fall and winter — this will help you to avoid irritation and redness on the skin.

9. Don’t wash your hands with hot water.

It’s not recommended to wash your hands with hot water for at least 2 days after you’ve had a manicure. The fact is that gel nail polish needs some time to stick to your nails properly. Sharp temperature fluctuations can break this process.

10. Protect your nails while cleaning your home.

Aggressive chemicals make the gel nail polish on your nails thinner. If you want your manicure to last longer, wear gloves while cleaning your home, especially while doing dishes or cleaning your bathtub.

11. While choosing a nail technician, pay attention to their portfolio and reviews.

It’s not that easy to find a good nail technician. First of all, pay attention to their portfolio and reviews on their social media. It’s a bad sign if most of their photos are photoshopped because the technician is probably trying to hide something from their potential clients.

Other clients’ reviews will also help you understand whether this technician is really good and professional.

• I found my nail technician online. I was evaluating their work by how beautiful and neat the nails that they’d done looked in their photos. For example, it was really important to me that the nails looked symmetrical. My own nails are all a different shape, so a technician should know how to make them visually similar.
  The next thing I paid attention to was how well cuticles are removed. You can see all of these things in a technician’s photos.
  

Bonus 1: A hilarious life hack for long nails

Sometimes women come up with crazy but efficient life hacks. Long fingernails, for example, are beautiful but not always convenient, so those who have them have to use their imagination to get through even the most mundane tasks.

• I always lose my debit card. Usually, it just disappears from my pockets, but recently I experienced an epic fail. I had to withdraw some money from an ATM, but after it pushed the card out of the slot, I was unable to grab it — my nails were too long.
  I started panicking because I know that if you don’t take your card within a 30-second period, an ATM just swallows it back. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t grab the card. So now I’m carrying a clothespin in my bag and waiting for a new card to arrive in the mail.

Bonus 2: How to remove nail polish from different surfaces

If you’ve dropped a bottle of nail polish, don’t worry. Ordinary white sugar will solve your problem. Pour some sugar on the stain and give it some time. Thanks to sugar, the nail polish becomes firm, and you can easily remove it from any surface.

Do you do your manicure yourself, or do you delegate this task to a professional?