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Directions for giving yourself a manicure:

  1. Wash your hands, remove old nail polish, and gather your supplies. You will need
    • a bowl of warm water
    • nail clippers
    • a nail file
    • a nail buffer
    • hand lotion
    • nail polish remover
    • cotton balls
    • a hand towel
    • a clear basecoat
    • nail color
    • clear topcoat
  2. Soak your fingers in the warm water for five minutes. Then dry them off, and clip your nails.
  3. Use the hand lotion. Rub it all over your hands, focusing on any parts that are sore. Replace your fingertips in the warm water for 5 minutes.
  4. Dry your hands off and carefully push your cuticles back. You want your cuticles to be out of the way of your nail polish.
  5. File your nails. Run the nail file across your nail, in one direction only. Smooth out any sharp edges, and shape your nail if you want to.
  6. Buff your nails. The buffer seems like a file, but it is much gentler. Use it on the surface of every nail, focusing on the edges that were just filed.
  7. Put a bit of nail polish remover on a cotton ball and run it over every nail. You already removed your nail polish, this will remove oils from your skin and from the hand lotion so that the nail polish can adhere properly.
  8. Paint on your basecoat. Remove the brush from the bottle, and smooth the brush against the edge of the bottle to remove excess polish. Apply one stroke to the center of your nail, and then apply stokes on each side working your way to the side of your nail. Repeat for every nail.
  9. In two minutes, when the basecoat is still tacky, apply your nail color in the same way.
  10. In two minutes apply a second coat of your nail color.
  11. In two minutes apply a coat of your topcoat.
  12. Wait at least half an hour for your nails to dry. Be careful with your nails for the next few hours after they seem dry; don't submerge them, don't run your hands through your hair, and don't put your hands inside gloves.
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14y ago

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