Friday, August 15, 2014

Nail Care

Hello everyone! Welcome to my second post for today on the subject of nail care! As stated in my 1st post about nail and cuticle care, their are more to nails than just painting them, you also need to take care of them as well.  

Once again I just want to start off my saying this is just the routine that I do to take care of my nails. I am not necessarily saying it is the right or wrong way.

Nail Polish Removers:

I'll first start off with one of the nail polish removers I like to use, the Sally Hansen Kwik Off polish remover. This polish remover has a sponge on the inside with 3 holes in it. 
I like this nail polish remover because it is a faster way to remove your polish, but this remover doesn't always remove all your polish. Sometimes if their is still polish left behind, I'll just take a cotton ball and remove the rest. The down side to polish particular remover is that in a short amount of time the remover inside get's dirty kind of fast. I tend to go through a lot of these, and every few months I have to buy a new one. 
 - Sally Hansen Kwik Off polish remover cost $2.19.


The 2nd polish remover I use if the Sally Hansen Kwik Off polish remover doesn't take off all my polish is the Up & Up dispenser pump. Right now I have a Meijer brand remover in this bottle that seems to work out. (I also did a review on this magnificent finds- dispenser pump) 

The last polish remover I use is the Up & Up acetone polish remover. I use this for removing stubborn glitter polish, and for clean up around my nails (this remover seems to remove the polish around my fingers better and quicker.) I don't like to use this that often due to the fact that it can leave my fingers feeling very dry.  
 - Up & Up acetone polish remover cost just $0.97 (very cheap!)

This is a glass jar I use to put the Up &Up acetone remover in to clean my nail art brushes while doing my nail art. At first I made the mistake of using a plastic jar, which melted due to the acetone. I got this small glass jar at Hobby lobby for I think around a $1. 

For nail polish thinner I use Beauty Secrets nail polish thinner. At first, I heard you can just put polish remover in your polish that has gotten thick, but I later found out that is a bad idea. That would mess up your polish in time. So I found this a Sally Beauty and thought I would give it a try. It seemed to work out okay, though at times it still seems like my polish is a little thick even after putting a few drops in.
 - Beauty Secrets nail polish thinner cost $4.29 at Sally Beauty stores.

For removing extra polish on my nails that the Kwik Off remover 
doesn't remove, I just use basic UP & Up cotton balls (I love Target!) 


For cleaning up the sides of my nails and cuticles I use Q-tips precision tips cotton swabs. (trust me these are needed, I tend to be a little messy when painting my nails and I get polish on the side of my fingers.) 

 Here's a photo of the precision tip Q-tip, this is great for getting polish that gets on the side of your finger and on the cuticles.   
 - Q-tips precision tips cotton swabs cost $2.99 at Rite Aid.


Nail filing and clipping:

The next items I use is for when I cut and file my nails. This kit is the Ms. Manicure set I bought years ago at Walmart (so I don't remember how much this was, and if they still even sell this anymore). I have also added a lot of different ideas to this, not all of the stuff shown was included in this. I also don't always use all of the items in this kit. 

When it comes to cutting and filing my nails, I do this once a month. I am not too sure if I really cut and file them right because every month when my nails start to grow out they start to feel very sharp. So I wont be going over how I cut and file my nails, just the tools I use. 

The first items I use when cutting my nails is that very large Trim nail clipper, I bought this in the hopes that when I cut my nails it would cut a little smoother. I also, at times,  just use a normal size nail clippers (the 2nd one in the photo). The 3rd and 4th nail clippers I use to cut hang nails or loose skin on the side of my fingers (gross!) For some reason those two are better for cutting hang nails (yes I use baby nail clippers, to get on the sides of my nails.) 

Next I file my nails. I first start off with the Sally Hansen La Cross Crystal nail file as this is supposed to be better for filing your nails by preventing cracking and breaking. Next I use the Kiss 4 way nail shaper (it has different grains, Medium 600- dark blue, Medium fine 400- light blue, Fine 240- light pink and Extra Fine 180- dark pink.) I usually just use the light blue and one or both of the pink sides. Then sometimes I use the purple Ms. Manicure metal file on the edges of my nails near the side of my fingers.
 - The Kiss 4 way nail shaper cost I think around $2.00.
 - The Sally Hansen La Cross Crystal nail file cost $8.99 at Ulta.

 Here is the other side of the Kiss 4 way nail shaper.


The next and final file I use is the Trim buffing block this has 4 sides to it to even out, smoothing, buffing, and shining. I usually just use the even out and smooth sides. Yes I do use a lot of nails flies when I file my nails, I really have no reason other than some of them seem to smooth in my nails better. But I know I really could lessen the amount of files I use. 
- The Trim buffing block cost $1.87 at Target and Meijer. 

 After I put on the Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle remover, I use ether a orange stick or this weird looking cuticle push shown in the photo above. This cuticle pusher is Trim's cuticle pusher and it also came with a small pink nail file as well. 
- The Trim cuticle pusher with buffer cost $4.48.

Last item in this kit that I use is this purple brush and sometimes this green baby looking brush to clean out dirt or anything that gets under my nails. 


Extra nail care items:

For one of my extra nail care items I wanted to include the Revlon extra life no chip top coat. I have tried out many different topcoats and have only really like 2 that I have tried out. When I first started to grow my nails out I used Sally Hansen No Chip Acyclic top coat. it seem to work very well for many years then I am not sure what happen, if that changed what was it the top coat or what happened. So I then decided to give this top coat a try and loved it ever since. 
Also included in my many steps in my nail and hand care routine is touch ups. Due to where I work at I get a lot of tip wear (probably more then others), which means I touch them up every other day to everyday (depending on how much my nail polish has chipped). I sometimes just touch up the tips with top coat and other times with both polish and top coat. Uselessly on a good wear week my nail polish last about a week.      
 - Revlon extra life no chip top coat cost around $5.00


Hope everyone enjoyed these 2 post about hand and cuticle care, and nail care. Maybe even give these products a try yourself. See you next time for more Magnificent nail art! 

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