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Dip and gel manicures are always super popular for every season. Taking care of your nails is important, but it can also be quite pricey to go to the nail salon every few weeks. Fortunately, with a little practice, it can be really easy to learn how to do at-home manicures. And a manicure shortcut is definitely the way to go when you want to save some money by doing your nails at home!
Manicure Shortcut: How To Do A Quick & Easy Manicure At Home!
While I do love to get a regular manicure, I’ve found that I simply can’t afford to see a nail artist twice a month. I’ve grown to really love doing my own nails in the interim between getting a professional manicure and giving my natural nails a rest from the gel polish or dip powder. It also gives me the opportunity to get creative. I love to try out new designs and new colors. One thing I DO NOT like is how long it can take and removing polish can be such a chore. It can take so long to remove only to then start the process all over again with more polish. When one of my friends told me about this little hack for how to speed the process along, I was all for trying it out. If I can shave off some of the time, and the work that goes into doing my nails at home, I will!
What are the different types of manicures?
Most of the manicures that people are familiar with have to do with a basic or gel polish. Or the French manicure has been popular for years. But there are also shellac, dip powder and acrylic artificial nails. The types of polish finish (matte or shiny) can even change the entire look.
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Nail Polish At Home
While I don’t have serious skills when it comes to doing my own nails, I think that with a lot of patience and a little practice I can be somewhat successful. Sometimes I’ll even venture into the at home gel nails, but that in itself takes forever to remove with color changes. I most definitely prefer to work with regular polish at home. It’s just so much easier to remove!
Whenever I do my nails I tend to do a design with more than one layer of polish. I find that have a base coat, thick coat of color, some designs or dots and a top coat really helps the manicure to last longer. This usually results in using 3+ cotton balls, tons of remover, and plenty of time trying to remove all of it. Using this trick I didn’t even have to use an entire cotton ball. Score!
Manicure Shortcut Step-By-Step Instructions
This method of removing nail polish is always a good idea and an easy manicure shortcut. Very similar to the method of removing gel polish, but does not take 15-20 minutes!
What you’ll need:
- 1 cotton ball
- nail polish remover
- 3 minutes (give or take depending on the amount of time it takes you to apply the cotton)
What you’ll do:
I unrolled my cotton ball and ripped it into 10 pieces. I filled my nail polish remover cap with remover. Then I dipped the tiny piece of cotton into my nail polish remover and squeezed out the excess. Once I did that I laid the cotton piece on my nails making sure to cover all of the polish that was showing.
It was a little tricky at first but by the time I got all of the nails covered I waited about 2 minutes. Once the 2 minutes was up I pressed firmly on the cotton and slid off the cotton. I couldn’t believe it! It took all of the layers at once leaving a clean nail behind! (I did have to let the glitter finger sit a bit longer.)
I will definitely be doing this process from now on. It’s a real time saver!
I hope you enjoy this manicure shortcut!
Get more DIY ideas on the blog HERE.
*** updated in 2022
This post could contain affiliate links or be sponsored which means I earn from advertising. Also as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. More details here.