DIY Manicure

Once in a while, I will go get a pedicure done.  It is very rare that I ever get a manicure because I do them myself.  The reason for this is because 1) it saves a lot of money and 2) I just love to be at the comfort of my own home and pamper myself.  I used to do this as a teenager a lot but, as time went by, I just stopped.  In the past year I found myself picking it up again and sticking to it so far.

 I think the reason I started again is because my best friend is a make-up artist and she got me lots of really cool and high end nail polish for a really awesome discount, so now I have a whole bathroom chest full of almost every single nail polish color you can imagine.

At first, I would get really frustrated because giving yourself a manicure/pedicure can be messy and, let's face it, just is anything but perfect.  If you stick to it though, it becomes a lot easier.  The key things that I use are 1) a good quality nail filer, 2) nail hardner, 3) base coat, 4) nail polish and 5) quick dry.  Also make sure that you shell out the money for a really good quality nail polish because it will last a lot longer than some cheap 99 cent nail polish (I use Essie).

In my opinion, unless you are a manicure pro, there is no reason to go all crazy designing your nails, just one solid color is good enough for me. The amount of money that I save doing this at home is well worth it.  Also, having a make-up artist friend who can get me discounts really helps too :)

Photo: luuux