Paint Nails
How To Paint Nails
Do you ever wonder how to paint nails so you can get a salon quality manicure at home?
When doing a manicure at home, it’s important to know how to paint nails. This seems like an obvious statement but there are A LOT of people who still paint their cuticle lines.
It’s not as hard as you might think and there are some phenomenal nail bloggers who demonstrate their picture-perfect techniques on video.
And in 2012, these were the women I learned from.
My Pet Peeve
I have a big pet peeve. I can’t stand blurry video or manicure demonstrations where the painting hand is blocking everything from view. You can’t see a darn thing! Grrrr.
I don’t understand why people put videos up on YouTube without actually reviewing them. I don’t understand why they don’t reshoot them. Perhaps it’s my perfectionist side and I was taught to take pride in the things you create.
So… on your behalf, I focused on finding nail art videos that are in focus where you can actually learn something.
I’ll save your time by finding the good stuff and posting it on this website for your easy reference. This way, you can learn from the best too. Be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed so you stay updated everytime I post a new article.
Most Important Nail Painting Tips
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Push the Polish First
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Speed
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Fan Your Brush
Push down on the polish brush to fan it as wide as you can. This makes it so you are able to cover the nail in fewer strokes.
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The Right Amount
As you practice polishing your nails, try learning exactly how much polish you need for each nail. The cause of flooding is having too much polish on the brush.
Touch the brush against the inside of the bottle’s neck to remove a small amount of polish. The only time you want to use the full amount of polish is when using top coat. Practice floating the top coat over the polish without touching the colored polish underneath.
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Cap Your Tips Or Wrap?
How to Paint Nails by Lucy from Lucy’s Stash
Everything Lucy does is phenomenal, including her nail art tutorials and videos.
She paints with the back of her hand on the table with her nails facing toward her.
I’m experimenting the Lucy’s painting technique. So far I’m really pleased with it but it’s difficult to change a technique I’ve been doing for 30 years—it just takes practice.
What I like about Lucy’s technique is that you can easily see both sidewalls of each nail.
How to Paint Nails by Julia from www.MissChievous.tv
Julia takes you through her entire manicure process and I don’t 100% agree with everything she does for a complete at home manicure, so I recommend starting the video at 9:20 minutes into the video.
But I wanted you to be able to see her polishing technique because she demonstrates fanning out the brush the best. You really push on the brush to force it to spread color as wide as possible across the nail in one stroke. Then finish the sides in two strokes. Tip: Not all nail polish brushes work really well for this technique.
The color polishing starts at 9:21 minutes.
Julia paints with her hand on the table with her nails pointed away from her at a diagonal. This is the position I’ve used to paint my nails my entire life. My biggest problem has been that due to the extreme C curve of my nails, it’s hard to cleanly paint the side that is facing away from me because I can’t see it.
In Conclusion
At first, it can be tough to learn to paint your nails without making a mess. If you use the tips above, you’ll soon be able to polish your nails without ever touching your skin.
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Oh very cool! Thanks for pulling all those videos together in one tidy spot 🙂
I think the part I struggle with the most is going S L O W…I’m just not that patient. LOL! I’ll give it a go and see how it turns out.
Thanks!
You’re very welcome Kirsten! Going slow is a challenge because we’re under a “drying” time crunch. This is why I don’t like “speed drying” polishes. They don’t give you time to be careful. It’s far better to use regular polishes, taking your time, then use a great Quick Drying TopCoat to dry all of the layers quickly so you can get back to life. Have fun! ~Ana
Any advice on the cause/prevention of dragging at the center of the base of the nail bed? I’ve been using the “push, then pull” technique for a while now, with great success, but lately I seem to end up with a bald(ish) spot right about where the center of my lunula would be. Polish brand doesn’t seem to have any effect. Am I just rushing the dry time between coats? Thanks for any advice you have!
I think you’ve totally nailed it Jenna (no pun intended). I have the same problem when I go back to do the second coat too soon. You also may want to only do the push, then pull with the first coat.
Then with the 2nd and 3rd coat (if necessary), try to start your brush just before the previous polish line, then when you touch the brush down, it pushes the polish to match with your first layer. Then just pull the polish forward. So with additional coats you’re not really doing the push back motion, more like a gentle squish down, then pull forward. ~Ana
Great! Thank you!
You are most welcome! That’s what I’m here for. ~Ana
Ana, I just placed my first order for Pure Nail Oil and I can’t wait to start the 3-day hydration treatment!
Thank you for this information, Ana. I just ordered Pure Nail Oil on Amazon and I can’t wait to start my first 3-day hydration treatment. Finally, a consumer-developed product based on science instead of marketing hype!
I don’t waste my time with speed drying nail polish, and I could swear that quick-drying topcoats compromise the life of my manicures. So I’m wondering if I can also use Pure Nail Oil in place of Qtica Half Time or OPI Drip Dry. These “drying drops” list these ingredients: Disiloxane (a type of silicone), Dimethicone (another type of silicone), Simmondsia Chinesis (Jojoba seed oil), Tocopherol (Vitamin E).
Oh my gosh! I can’t thank you enough for providing these links and instructions on painting nails. I’ve been painting mine all of my life but I was also painting the cuticle as well. My manicures always turned out terrible until I found your article. I am going to try Miss Jenn’s instructions. I watched the whole video which I found invaluable. You are the best, Ana!