How to do a manicure at home on your own short nails. Step-by-step instructions for shellac with a pattern. Photos, videos for beginners

The development of the nail industry, as well as a large number of video tutorials, allows anyone to do their own manicure at home. For a modern woman, well-groomed nails are as important a detail of appearance as neat makeup or hair styling.

In recent years, nail fashion has moved further and further away from long, extended nails, handing over the palm to short-cut nails. The manicure accessories market offers owners of short nails a wide range of design solutions for every taste and occasion.

Choosing a shape for short nails

For short nails, it's not always easy to choose the right shape.

There are several useful recommendations for this:

Experts recommend paying attention to the structure of the cuticle. The shape of the free edge should be close to its structure. This creates an optical balance and the nail plate looks more natural.
For short nails, it is not recommended to choose a square shape. This shape of the upper edge of the nail will visually shorten not only the nail itself, but also the hand as a whole. The ideal shape for short nails is an oval; it visually lengthens the nail plate. Nail specialists also often recommend the almond-shaped filing of the free edge to owners of short nails.

How to properly care for your cuticle?

The most important condition for the beauty and health of hands and nails is proper cuticle care. Experts strongly recommend removing the cuticle body, because often this area not only becomes rough and unsightly, but can burst, causing significant pain. In addition, cutting the cuticle lengthens the nail plate, so it is recommended for those with short nails.

To make it easier to work with cuticles, nail experts recommend hand baths. At home, you can remove the cuticle using nail clippers.

You can also move and lift the edge of the cuticle with an orange stick and trim with sharp, rounded scissors.

At home, the cuticle can be softened with fruit acids, which greatly facilitate the further process of removing the cuticle body.

Today, hardware manicure has become very popular. This manicure is very easy to do at home.

Using cutters, you can painlessly and non-traumatically make the cuticle perfectly smooth. On sale there are not only professional devices for salons, but also small kits for home care.

Do not forget that the cuticle area requires regular care and nutrition with oils. Special oil-vitamin cocktails are widely available, sold in an ergonomic tube-handle with a brush.

This year's fashion trends

Along with the question of how to do a neat manicure at home, girls are also interested in what nails are trending today. First of all, it’s worth talking about their shape. Trends for 2014 point to short nails with “regular oval” tips that follow the natural line of a smile. Comfortable and practical manicure is easy to wear and easy to do. For lovers of long nails, it is advisable to design the tips in an almond shape.

As for color and design in general, the trend is solid pastel colors. Noble wine shades are still holding their own, making manicures especially luxurious. A monotonous coating is very convenient to apply with your own hands at home, but if you wish, you can try something more colorful. To look stylish and fashionable in 2014, do manicures with stripes or lace more often. Today, everyone’s favorite French and lunar nail art still remain popular. The articles on our site are filled with beautiful photos that will help you choose the best design for yourself.

As you know, wizards are not born, they become one through hard work. If you want to learn how to do a beautiful and neat manicure with your own hands, you will need a lot of strength and patience. You have absorbed a lot of information and undoubtedly deserve a rest. We invite you to enjoy watching an interesting video lesson in which you will be shown how to do a manicure quickly and with very high quality. In the meantime, dream about how you can apply what you learn at home. Always be the most beautiful and elegant for everyone around you!

Tools for manicure at home

Of course, for a manicure at home, you can purchase all the same tools as in nail salons. But for many, the basic set will be enough:

The basic element is manicure scissors. They can be of any manufacturer, the main thing is that their blades are sharp and the cutting edge is rounded.

Not only nails can do without a file. It is advisable to purchase a set of files for different types of filing and sanding.

Cosmetic cutters and orange sticks. Orange sticks allow you to push back the cuticle; they can be replaced with a reusable metal spatula. Nippers will help get rid of hangnails and cuticle skin.

This basic set can be supplemented with many other elements, but the most important condition remains the sterility of the devices.

Don't miss the most popular article in the section: How to draw monograms on nails step by step for beginners. Instructions with photos.

Sterilizing instruments at home

It is necessary to clean manicure tools, even if they are used within the home or only used by one person. After all, there are often macro- and microdamages on the hands.

In addition to soap solution and warm water, it is recommended to treat instruments with alcohol-containing liquids. On sale you can find special solutions for disinfecting the surface of instruments.

For heat treatment, metal tools should be kept in boiling water for about 20 minutes. You can also simply douse the tools with water heated to 100 °C.

Useful baths as a preparatory stage

After processing the working tools, you can begin preparing your hands and nails.

Manicure at home is a process in which all stages of preparation are important. One of the main ones is soaking your hands in a bath. This procedure allows you to care for the skin of your hands, soften the cuticle to facilitate further processing, and soften an excessively hard nail plate. In addition, baths relax your hands very well, turning the manicure process into a pleasant spa treatment.

The process includes several main steps:

Choose a small dish and pour hot water at 38-40°C into it. If the water is too hot, you should not burn your skin, you will just have to keep your hands in the water longer. It is possible to purchase special hand baths of a physiologically comfortable shape.
You can add decoctions of herbs or oils to the water. Herbal baths can disinfect and heal damage to the hands, and oil baths perfectly soften rough areas of the skin.
It is recommended to keep your hands in the bath until the water cools down. Estimated procedure time is 15 to 25 minutes
After the time has passed, you should wet your hands with a napkin or terry towel and apply moisturizing cream to the skin of your hands. If you plan to cover the nail plate after the baths, then the nail needs to be treated with a remover.

Glycerin baths are especially popular among craftsmen and their clients, especially since they are easy to make at home. To do this, add 1 tablespoon of glycerin, one teaspoon of ammonia to 2 liters of warm water, and you can also add a decoction of herbs if desired.

It is important to remember that baths are not taken before a hardware manicure.

Modern methods of nail care

Brazilian manicure is suitable for girls with limited time. Gloves soaked in a special cream are put on your hands. After 5-7 minutes, the film on each of the fingers is gradually removed and cut off, after which the cuticle is cleaned with an orange stick. The advantage of this method is that ready-made kits are sold for home Brazilian manicure. To give you an idea of what they look like, we bring to your attention samples of the sets shown in the photo.

Connoisseurs of oriental beauty will love Japanese manicure. It will require a one-time but significant financial outlay to purchase a complete set. Before learning how to do a manicure using the Japanese system at home, we recommend that you carry out this procedure in a salon. The implementation technology is quite complex, but quite feasible. Comprehensive photos, video materials and step-by-step instructions presented on our website will help you master Japanese manicure.

If you are uncomfortable working with nippers and a nail file, try mechanizing the process. Hardware manicure has proven itself to be excellent. Until recently, this technology was available only to salon clients. Today you can buy sets for every taste and do your own manicure at home. It’s not at all difficult to do it even with your own hands. Samples of sets for hardware manicure are presented in the photo.

In 2014, you can often hear about another way to care for your nails. Jessica's manicure is famous for its relaxing effect on the skin and joints. The essence of the procedure is that at a certain stage the hands are immersed in thermal mittens. Thanks to the thermal effect, the leather softens perfectly and is perfectly treatable. After the procedure, the nails are covered with Jessica varnish, and the step-by-step manicure technique does not differ from the well-known one. When painting, you can choose the coating of any company you like.

What kind of manicure can you do at home?

The simplest is a trim manicure. To perform it you will need a minimum of tools and a minimum of skills. The first stage involves soaking your hands in a bath.

At the second stage, experts recommend pushing back and trimming the cuticle, having first cleared all the pterygium from underneath it.

The third stage involves filing the free edge of the nail.

Finally, you can cover the nail with colored or clear varnish, or simply lubricate it with nourishing cream.

New Year's manicure

Beautiful nails are considered an addition to everyday and formal looks. How to do a New Year's manicure step by step?

To do this, you must follow the recommendations of specialists. They include:

The initial action will be to treat the cuticle. To do this, place your hands in a deep container with warm water;
When the skin becomes soft, we begin to remove the cuticle;
Next, we adjust the shape and length of the nails;
Now we apply the red varnish and let it dry completely;
Cover 3 nails with clear varnish. While the layer is still wet, start applying glitter. They will act as the main decor.

Classic manicure: step-by-step guide

For women who want to know how to do a manicure at home, here are further step-by-step instructions:

Treat your hands with an antiseptic and, if desired, soften your hands in water.
Use a nail file to work around the free edge area
Excise the cuticle area and peel the thin skin of the pterygium.
Cover the nail with varnish or gel polish; if desired, you can create a unique design. When working with nail plate, you should degrease it, especially if you previously took a bath with oils.

How to work with the length and surface of nails?

Girls who decide to acquire a useful skill often wonder where to start? Before you learn how to do a manicure at home, you need to master one of the most important stages of nail care. We will talk about correcting the length and shape of the tips. Most often, a nail file is used for these purposes, but in some cases, when performing a home manicure, it is necessary to use scissors. A short list of recommendations will help you cut your nails correctly and without harm to your health.

This procedure is more often used for children and men. Girls, as a rule, begin a manicure at home with filing. Even if you don't use scissors yet, some knowledge may be useful to you in the future. Although the technique of cutting nails at home is not particularly difficult, it does have some nuances.
The procedure should not be carried out too often, once a week is enough.
When cutting your nails at home, make sure that there is at least 1-2 mm of free edge. In this matter, technology does not tolerate deviations. Cutting the ends “under the root” will not only make the manicure unattractive, but will also increase the risk of deformation of the plate. Later, when trying to grow nails, the free edge may expand and acquire a spade-shaped shape.
When doing your own manicure, trim the ends to the shape of your smile. Proper technique will reduce the risk of ingrown nail plate to a minimum.

More detailed instructions on how to cut nails are presented on the pages of our website. In the topical articles you will find informative video lessons that will help you learn this procedure step by step. Along with trimming, filing of nails also plays an important role. Often girls do not pay due attention to this stage, but their condition largely depends on how accurately the tip correction technology is followed. That’s why it’s so important, before doing a manicure at home, to remember and practice the basic rules of filing nails.

The main point: the ends are adjusted only “dry” ! Filing wet nails leads to further delamination, which can seriously harm yourself.
The procedure is carried out no more than once a week.
When performing a manicure, position the file correctly on your nail. The tool should lie perpendicular to the tip.
To maintain the health of your nails when performing a manicure at home, run the file from the edge to the center of the end.

Slightly different rules apply to the polishing procedure. To perform sanding at home efficiently and without harm to health, follow the general recommendations.

Polish your nails no more than once a month; if the tips are weak, every three months.
Grinding is carried out step by step in several stages, with buff movements from right to left or left to right.
Using a polishing file, you can seal your nails after applying wax, cream or oil to the surface.

Now you know how often you should get a manicure in terms of filing and polishing your nails. To get a clear idea of the manicure technique, namely, how to correct the ends with your own hands, we suggest you watch a useful video lesson. The video explains step by step the main points of how to properly use a nail file.

Choosing a color for short nails

Short nails are a fashion trend today, but with such long nails, you should be careful when choosing your nail color. An incorrectly selected color scheme can highlight all the imperfections, making your nails sloppy and your hands unattractive.

Of course, you should give preference to flesh-colored colors that best match the skin color of your hands. There are many nude colors with pink, beige or even soft lilac shades. A gray shade of varnish looks discreet and elegant on short nails.

All these colors give your hands a well-groomed look and will be appropriate both at home and at work. But what can you do if you want a holiday and bright colors? Should those with short nails completely give up bright and interesting shades?

For a long time, it was believed that short nails should not be emphasized with bright colored polish. But now nail fashion has radically changed this belief; one of the basic colors for short nails has become scarlet red, the color of dark cherry.

A bright accent in a woman’s overall look will be deep blue nails or even metallic silver. The main thing is that the colors are monotonous and have uniform coverage.

Masters do not recommend applying neon colors to short nails; they significantly shorten the nail plate and look unnatural.

Features of applying conventional varnish

No matter how correctly the nail is processed, and no matter how correctly the color scheme is chosen, the main condition for a good manicure will be the correct application of varnish on the nail.

Here are the main recommendations from nail industry gurus:

Base coat is a must! The base allows you to level the surface of the nail plate and create a perfectly even coating; moreover, with the base, any coating will last longer. Often, after removing budget colored polishes, the nail plate acquires an unhealthy yellow color; the presence of a base coat can eliminate this problem.
It is important to paint the nail carefully, without bald spots or painted cuticles. The algorithm for proper painting is simple: the first trajectory of the brush with varnish starts from the base of the nail, the next two are carried out along the nail ridges.
Only after thorough drying of the first layer is it possible to apply the second. To get the color “like in a tube”, you will have to paint the nail in 2-3 layers. When working with short nails, do not put too much polish on the brush.
A top coat is recommended. It allows the polish to stay on your nails longer, but you should apply it in a thin layer, otherwise the nail plate will appear too thick.
At all stages of painting, you should seal the end side of the nail, since the varnish coating begins to chip and peel off from the free edge of the nail.

Technique for painting nails with varnish

You already know how to properly do a manicure in terms of hygienic nail treatment. All that remains is to learn the subtleties of applying varnish. The process is not complicated and can be quickly mastered if desired. By following our recommendations, you can step by step get a manicure that is not inferior in quality to salon nail art.

While working, place your hands on the table so that your elbows do not hang down.
Before painting, be sure to degrease the nail plates.
The rules of manicure are conditional, but they are all aimed at ensuring a comfortable procedure. Among the unwritten principles is the recommendation that it is better to start painting your nails from the little finger.
The varnish should be applied without affecting the cuticle and side ridges. It is better if, when performing a manicure yourself, you step back 1 mm from the skin.

You will find more detailed information on how to properly paint your nails on our website in the appropriate topic. To get acquainted with the process of applying varnish with your own eyes, we invite you to watch an interesting video.

Applying Shellac: A Step-by-Step Guide

Every year the fashion for shellac is gaining more and more momentum. Working with this coating is not difficult. How to do such a manicure at home is described in detail in the following guide:

Here's how to do this manicure:

After all the preliminary work has been carried out (filing the free edge and trimming the cuticle), degrease the nail. This can be done using a primer or liquid with acetone. For better adhesion, it is also recommended to go over the nail plate with a low imagery buff.
Cover the nail with base. Many bases are quite liquid, so it is important to be careful to avoid running under the cuticle and side rollers.
Place the painted nails in a UV or ice lamp for about 1 minute. Remove the sticky layer with remover or nail polish remover with acetone.
Apply a colored coating and bake in the lamp again. The polymerization time may vary, depending on the manufacturer of the gel polish and the color. The lamp's rays penetrate darker shades of varnish less well and take longer to bake. If the coating is still liquid, then you should return your nails to the lamp for a longer time. Colored gel polish can be applied in several layers, but each of them must be thoroughly dried. At this stage, any design can be applied.
The final stage is applying the top coat. We also expose it to ultraviolet light for 1 minute. If necessary, remove the sticky layer with remover.

And a few more tips from experts:

Each layer of the product (base, gel polish, top) must be dried as well as possible, otherwise the gel coating will quickly come off.
Correction of product streaks under the side rollers or cuticle after baking in the lamp cannot be removed, so you should use special protection around the nail (“pink thing”, etc.)

How to do a manicure at home: tools and products needed to perform it

It's no secret that the success of any job depends on correctly selected, high-quality tools. Nail care is no exception. The impeccable appearance of the fingers, the speed and correctness of the manicure depend on the tools. The traditional trimming technique requires:

accessories for cutting cuticles and dead skin from the side rollers - manicure scissors, cuticle cutters with a flat blade. Also, the cuticle can be removed with clippers and a pusher with a sharp lance blade. The most famous and sought-after professional brand is Solinger brand products made of hard tool steel;

pusher-pusher designed to move and lift the cuticle. It can be one-sided or two-sided. At one end there is always a paddle-shaped blade, and at the other there are tips with different purposes. For the cutting technique you will need a hatchet;

It is convenient to use a clipper to trim the excess length of the plates. Depending on the length of the blades, it is used for manicures and pedicures. Thanks to its thoughtful design, it is one of the safest cutting tools;

files 180 grit. These units measure abrasiveness; the exact value must be indicated on the product itself. This file is used to contour the nails, sawing off the top layer of plates to make the surface rougher for better adhesion to the base;

polisher (buff) with abrasiveness 2000 grit. Most often it has the shape of a bar or a rounded, volumetric rhombus. There are models with 2-3 working surfaces for different purposes. In this case, the degree of abrasiveness is indicated for each side separately;

disinfectants – 70% alcohol solution; chlorhexidine; pharmaceutical antiseptic for disinfection of hands, surfaces and instruments;

wooden sticks for moving cuticles. Made from orange wood;

nail polish remover;

soft, clean towel or napkins, cotton pads; voluminous ceramic container for caring procedures.

Features of choosing a design for short nails

Working out a design on short nails requires more concentration and experience, but taking into account some nuances, you can create the perfect manicure at home.

The basic rule when designing short nail plates is: “Do not overload the nail.” If the drawing is applied with a brush, then all the details of the image should be drawn with clear but thin lines.

Varnishes of contrasting colors are good for this. All design elements should be small in size, starting with rhinestones and ending with transfers or ready-made drawings. If the design is stamped and it is impossible to reduce it, then nail designers use individual elements of the composition.

Instructions for applying the design

Each design technique in nail art has its own subtleties and features. But there are basic rules:

Professional artists use only well-pigmented paints. Paints with weak pigmentation will only spoil the overall look of the manicure.
Only good glue is used to attach design elements. It not only firmly secures the decoration, but also becomes transparent and invisible when dry.

Classic French

The classic French manicure is the most popular type of design both in beauty salons and when creating manicures at home. You can draw the smile line yourself, or you can use stencils.

The latest fashion trend has become a French look using colored varnishes. For example, the combination of a blue base and a silver free edge is a current and fashionable solution.

Don't miss the most popular article in the section: How to extend nails with gel polish. Nail extension instructions for beginners. Photo.

Lunar manicure

Lunar manicure is designed to whiten the area of the nail hole by painting it with varnish. Often, outlining the hole is combined with painting the free edge of the nail, although this is not necessary.

Lunar manicure, like a French manicure, can be presented in both classic and bright color palettes.

Sliders

Sliders have become a new word in simplifying nail design. These ready-made designs can be placed either fragmentarily on individual nails or completely on all nail plates.

There are two types of sliders:

Thin sliders are placed in water and the design itself moves away from the base; all that remains is to carefully place it on the surface. But be careful, such sliders break very easily.
Thickened sliders have an adhesive base and are suitable for leveling the surface of the nail. But they are extremely difficult to damage.

Stencils

There are 2 types of stencils on the market: classic, for French manicure, and designer, with a patterned cut of snowflakes, funnels, and other things.

Let's take a closer look at how to do a manicure at home using stencils:

First, you need to cover your nail with a base color. The color can be any, the main thing is that it differs from the second layer of coating.
Secondly, we will place the stencil on the desired area. If this is a designer stencil, then we simply cover everything with a contrasting varnish. If the stencil is of the classic type, then we paint only the free edge of the nail along the border of the sticker.
After complete drying, the stencil is removed. All this is covered with a layer of transparent top.

Stamping

Another invention of nail art was the transfer of a design from a metal plate using a gel stamp. Stamping will help owners of short nails to create a unique design with their own hands in a matter of minutes.

Experts recommend that women with short nails choose plates with small designs or abstract patterns, because many engravings are quite large and may simply not fit on a small nail.

It is often difficult to transfer a small design onto a short nail plate; for this, nail service professionals use stamps with a transparent bottom.

For stamping, it is important to use only thick, well-pigmented varnishes or paints. If you don’t have a special varnish, you can leave the tube you like open for 20 minutes and the varnish will acquire the desired consistency. The greatest visual effect will be achieved due to the contrast of the colors of the base and pattern.

Sequins

Glitter in nail design creates brightness and festivity. They can cover all the nail plates and get a stunning festive effect or highlight individual areas in the composition on the nail. A popular trend today is glitter stretching. To design short nails, glitter is used carefully and in small quantities.

Rhinestones

Designs with rhinestones always look interesting and bright, and rhinestones on short nails can look very stylish if you follow a few basic rules. For small nail plates, experts recommend choosing the smallest rhinestone diameter. Nail experts do not recommend overloading short nails with many rhinestones.

There are several options for unobtrusive and sophisticated design of short nails using rhinestones:

Rhinestones can be laid out on the border of different colors, which will give the transition line a special appeal.
Many nail artists offer designs where rhinestones are attached one to each nail.
Experts do not advise: Combining a bright, flashy design with a lot of rhinestones, it can look vulgar and inappropriate. Therefore, you need to choose one thing.

Matte manicure

Another interesting design technique is matte manicure. It is created by coating with a special topcoat. The contrast between glossy and matte finishes looks especially impressive. Masters suggest matting not the entire nail plate, but only individual parts. You can paint a few nails with a matte top, while leaving the rest with gloss.

Gradient

Gradient is a fashionable and stylish trend today. For short nails, masters recommend choosing a vertical gradient over a classic horizontal one. In this case, the gradient line visually lengthens the nail.

Also, an excellent solution for short nails would be to apply a gradient coating not to all nails, but only to one or two, while the rest can be coated with a monotonous color.

The Baby Boomer gradient has become especially popular. This technique is performed in nude tones. It is perfect for those with short nail plates, making them look well-groomed and healthy without visually shortening their length. So, by doing a manicure at home, you can significantly save money and time.

In addition, by creating unique designs on their own, any woman is able to reveal the talented nail artist within herself.