Tip Tuesday

Today's tip is about prepping the surface of the nails before painting them.  <3

Think about what happens when fingers touch glass - they leave behind smudgy prints that are comprised of skin oils.  These skin oils, along with moisturizing products, inevitably get on the nails.  This is a good thing unless you are just about to begin painting your nails.  Oils create a barrier between the surface of the nail and polish which can lead to chipping, poor wear, bubbles, and application problems.

There is an quick, easy way to prep the nail surface right before painting which significantly reduces these oils.

Read on after the jump for photos and all the details!

❤

 

I personally like to moisturize my hands and apply cuticle oil to the skin around my nails before I begin prepping the surface of my nails for painting.  I let the moisturizers soak in for a bit so my hands aren't too oily to open bottles and handle things.  If I make a mistake while painting it's easier to clean up because the cuticle oil repels the polish, keeping it from adhering to my skin.  <---Another tip!  ;D  You can moisturize before prepping your nails if you like, but it's not necessary.

For this easy prep step only two things are needed:  

100% pure acetone and cotton swabs.

♥ Dip a cotton swab in pure acetone and swipe it over the surface of each nail on one hand.  Take care not to allow the pure acetone to touch the skin.

♥ Repeat this a second time, going over each nail again.  The nails should now look almost cloudy.

♥ Apply nail treatment or base coat to the nails on this hand.

♥ Repeat for the other hand.  The reason it's best to do one hand at a time is because skin oils are likely to get on the nails of the working hand from fingers brushing up against them.

By adding this simple prep step your polish should last longer, wear better, and apply more easily!  <3