How To Give A Manicure

Learning how to give a manicure is not difficult if you know the correct steps to take. There are many kinds of manicures such as the French Manicure, Spa Manicure and Salon Manicure.  The manicure goes all the way back to ancient Egyptian times when women and men alike used natural ingredients such as Alkanna to maintain their nails. Long, brightly decorated fingernails were a sign of a high social status. Nowadays manicures are used to beautify hands, prevent hang nails, tears and splits and to slow down aging of the hands.

To give a manicure, you will need:

• Nail polish remover
• Cotton pads
• Nail scissors
• Soak bowl
• Towel
• Cuticle stick
• Cuticle cream
• Emery board
• Nail Buffer
• Base coat
• Nail polish
• Top coat

1. Clean any old polish from the nails using nail polish remover and cotton pads. Nail polish removers come in a wide variety including liquid removers, nail polish soaked remover pads, remover pens, acetone removers, and non acetone removers. There are removers that strengthen nails, removers that nourish nails and extra gentle removers. Find one that works best for your friend.
2. Cut and file nails to the desired length using nail scissors and emery board. When giving a manicure, make sure the length of the nails are about the same. Don't use nail clippers to cut nails. Clippers don't bend with the nail during the cutting process causing it to stress and split. File the nails in one direction while keeping in mind that square shaped nails grow faster and nails that are too round often look fake.
   
3. Fill a bowl with warm water and soak nails in it. For 10 minutes, rest nails in water allowing cuticles to soften. If you use cuticle cream you don't have to soak the nails. Massaging cuticle cream into the cuticles will soften them in less time than it will take when you soak the nails. After soaking, dry hands with the towel.
   
4. Push the cuticles back using the cuticle stick. The cuticle stick is a stick with a rubber part at the end. Use this rubber part to push back the cuticles from the nail bed towards the wrist. Some salons cut the cuticles off after pushing them back. You don't want to do this since cutting cuticles might damage the nail and cause infections. Also, if it's not done appropriately, it can be quite painful. Rinse any leftover product and nail dust off the hands and dry them with the towel.
   
5. Buff the surface of the nails by swiping the nail buffer back and forth over the nail in a quick motion. This will prepare the base of your nail polish. The smoother the base, the better the nail polish will adhere to it and the better it will look. Make sure to use the correct tool here. You don't want to end up with scratches on the surface of the nails. Once you are done, the nails should have a slight shine to them.
6. Apply the base coat to the nails and follow this with the nail polish color of your friend's choice. The base coat should be applied in a light layer and will take only seconds to dry. The base coat will make it so that the nail polish lasts longer and keeps its color. It will also keep nails from discoloring which might happen when using certain colors of nail polish. Follow the dried base coat with two coats of the nail polish color of  choice. Apply nail polish with three strokes per nail. One stroke on the left side of the nail, one on the right and one in the middle. Allow the polish to dry.
7. Seal the nail polish by applying a layer of top coat. Top coat will keep nails from chipping and will also help to make the manicure last longer. You can use a quick-dry top coat here if desired. Another option is to use a nail polish brand that has the base and top coat already mixed into it. This way you can just polish the nails without thinking about base or top coats.