Mastering the perfect at-home mani

At-home manis don't have to be a painted-cuticle disaster. With some patience, and a few helpful tips, you can still achieve your pretty painted nails on your own, and in the safety of your own home.

Without the restrictions of our usual daily schedules, now is the time to stay home and have some fun with colors you may not ordinarily wear. Go BOLD with that striking navy you've always admired from afar. Tone it down with that barely there pink your bestie always wears. Make a statement with a fire-engine red that seems too flashy...but maybe isn't!?

Helpful tips to follow in mastering the perfect at-home mani:

1. Don't be in a hurry! Take your time, find a clean, well-ventilated space and lay out all your items. Make it your own little home-spa oasis!
2. Make sure your nail plate is clean, clean, clean...use a non-acetone remover, then follow up with a wipe of rubbing alcohol
3. Don't skip the basecoat! Even though the color is the fun part, the base coat is important if you want your color to last...a thin coat on each nail will suffice
4. When applying polish, start with one swipe down the middle, then follow up with swipes to the sides to spread the polish (We have over 120 colors here!)
5. Waiting a good 5+ minutes between coats really does wonders for helping the overall drying process and avoiding pressure dings later
6. When it's time for the dreaded non-dominant hand, make sure you anchor your hand against something like the table...this will make those wobbles disappear and give you control of where your brush goes
7. Finish with a top coat to seal it all up...have fun with this part, consider a matte finish just to mix it up

If you need some amazing products, check out some of our favorite sets !