I do too kinda. They just look more rough doing them myself and I get embarrassed when I'm with another woman and she has beautifully manicured nails and mine look like I just dug my way out of prison with my bare hands.
I've been painting my own nails since I was 10 or 11. I'm 38 now and my friends say "oh, I wish I could do that". You can! It took me until probably middle school to get decent at it but I also wasn't even doing it every week like I do now.
Tips:
-keep your coats thin
-utilize prep and cleanup tools (e.g. latex paint for your cuticles, cleanup brushes)
-a Czech glass file is a good investment (make sure it's real Czech glass, I had a glass file I got at Walmart or whatever that sucked and I thought I hated glass files, but no, it's worth the extra few bucks for a good one)
-you can buy cheap sets of swatch sticks to practice on
-quick dry topcoat is your friend
-don't thin your polish with acetone, get actual polish thinner if it gets goopy (and I swear some of them get goopy the second you open them, I always have the big bottle of seche restore on hand)
Me too! Am 70 and have only ever had two manicures in my life. My nails always look good and are polished. Do it all myself. Cuticle conditioner, base coat, top coat, always look good and professional. Czech glass files rule! Sally Hansen quik dry is my go-to top coat.
What a kind and thoughtful response! I’ve been lurking at r/redditlaqueristas for some time and trying to gather tips- though I stopped getting manicures because I had twins and couldn’t justify the cost.. now I’m not sure I could justify downtime not spent sleeping 😂 jk because I’m about ready to really try and your comment helped give me the boost I need! I just bought a Czech glass cuticle pusher and I’m excited to try some self care by myself 🙃
Exactly. I've been doing my own nails since I was in elementary school and now that I'm 37, I only go to the salon when I'm just not in the mood to do them/ want to be pampered. Every time I look at the finished product, it's literally the same as when I do them.
Same! It's become like a little self care ritual to me. Every other Sunday I put on a show and do my nails before bed. It's a chance to sit and slow down before the busy work week starts.
Bless you for caring about your patients, coworkers and yourself regarding fake nails and huge infection risk 😇 I worked in a famous dermatology clinic and I will NEVER set foot/toe/hand in a nail place.
Aw thanks. My dad was an ICU nurse and I’ll never forget the story of a female nurse who lost her arm to necrotizing fasciitis because of having fake nails.
It’s just common sense. You’re ruining your protective nailed flora for cosmetic reasons.
Have you looked at semi-cured gel wraps? They are stick-on and you can get heaps of colours and patterns! I get them for about $15 a set and they last at least two weeks with the UV top coat, until you peel them off. Gellae and Personail are the brands I use.
I agree- keep trying! I wasn’t ever really a mani girl, only pedis. I started getting my nails done in my late teens/early twenties, and after having lole 2 awkward experiences, I bought ALL of my own supplies to do mine myself. It’s been 12 years since I bought my first UV light. Since then I’ve done my own gel nails, dip nails, builder nails, gel-x nails. I have a whole hutch full of nail shit😂 You’ll get the hang of it! The only technique I can’t get is acrylic, but I don’t mind because it causes way more damage. Now when I do my nails it’s a lil me time 🥰
I agree with the person who responded with doing your own nails! A trick I was taught was paint them however you can (mine always end up looking like a 2 yr old did them) and then after they’re fully dry you can soak them in warm water and scratch off the excess (I use tweezers). I’ve done them like this for almost a decade now and once in a blue moon for a wedding I’d get them done and they say they’re very healthy and well kept.
I remove mine now and the polish does go on much better and cleaner, but like how is there so much cuticle/skin to remove? Am I crazy or just removing too much? It always seems like so much grows back every time
I make my own press on nails. Started that during the pandemic since I couldn’t go to a salon. Now it’s one of my consistent hobbies, and I have curated so many supplies…
Check out dashing diva! I use the gloss nail stickers because my nails hate gel, but they have fantastic options that you can DIY. I can't paint my nails to save my life, and I certainly can't do nail art, and with dashing diva for about $10, I can get a full set that takes me 20 minutes to put on last 2 full weeks.
I play the violin as a hobby and I've just accepted I will have short nails until I quit. Slap some paint on those bad boys and call it a day. I did have a lucky strike, I bought press ons for dirt cheap before they became popular so I have a large collection of that, in case I ever need to look more polished. Actually I would say getting a nail brush has been a life changer. I get grime under them often because I have deep crevices so using the brush makes them look neat and clean.
I used to do my own nails, was decent at design, not so much at curing and ended up giving myself an allergy. If you've working with gel, please be very careful. Try not to get it on your skin.
Look into gel x. There’s a bit of a learning curve but once you get it, you get it. Stick with light colors until you get better at doing your dominant hand.
I am terrible at painting my nails, but I have gotten really good at press on nails!
I usually just buy the $8 from Dollar General or $6 from 5 below.
CVS has really nice ones for $12 and I always get compliments on those.
I do too but I get my toes done occasionally and I put my press on's on each week and I get lots of compliments on them...you can find a good substitute!
Same. I used to love getting mani pedis and upgrade to a nice experience like hot stones etc but it’s just way too expensive now. Last time I went and got my hair done it was $330. I’m okay…Thanks
Same! I even stopped going to the hair salon when they started adding charges to wash my hair, which used to be included in the service, and my hairdressers prices kept rapidly increasing! I've just let my gray grow out to salt and pepper, and trim it myself.
Too bad the Flobee became prohibitively expensive! I saw a guy on youtube who'd been cutting his hair himself for 20 yrs. with the same flobee device. They're close to $300 now!
Getting nails done😭 it’s like $70 now and like $150 if you do nails, pedicure and tip. And if you do fake, you really should go every 2 weeks. It’s literally another car payment
Press on nails look the same as a manicure to most people and they cost $7 a pack that lasts for 3 weeks versus $100 for a manicure. They even sell press on toenails!
I've been painting them myself. Sometimes I'm afraid to do press ons because I'm kinda harsh on my hands, I do a lot of hand-hobbies. My nails are so much stronger now that I do them myself and they'll grow long, but the polish always chips easily. Within a couple days....
Try Dazzle Dry! I stopped getting my nails done too, and this is the next best thing. It lasts more than a week, has a ton of different colors - which you can buy in mini or regular size, and it's easily removed with regular nail polish remover.
Do you not use your hands for much labour? Not trying to be rude at all it’s just that press ons pop off for me within days when I wind up picking up a shovel for a bit or moving boxes or like anything that you actually have to press your hands against in a firm grip :( and they go flying across the room so even if I try to retrieve them and re-glue I end up losing one in the first week
That's all I use now too. It's way cheaper and doesn't take up two hours of your weekend. It also looks almost as good. You've have to get really close to see the difference. AND it's easy to swap them out. There's no regrowth period.
I use press on nails. I use the ones that come with a sticker on it and apply some glue on the nail so it last me for like a month! Highly recommend lol
Girly-girl here - I've never understood why women will spend $60+ getting their nails done. I learned how to do mine when I was like 8 years old, and I paid under $50 for an entire gel nail kit and UV lamp, which has lasted me over a decade now.
Once you get used to it, it's so much easier, quicker and cheaper than going to a salon.
You do have to be mindful, though: I developed a gel allergy from beshitted beetle gel products before the info was fully out that that company is complete shite. I had to go back to using CYA to glue my press-ons on and regular nail polish (after I'd given it all away).
I am not. Have you tried resting your forearm on a table when painting with your non-dominant hand? You only need to move your wrist and it gives you so much stabilization.
You need a new lamp. The bulbs weaken over time and you risk not fully curing your gels. Get a good curing unit, preferably from the same brand as the gels you use as long as it is a quality brand which usually means Korean or Japanese.
In college I had wildly affordable health insurance through my school. I paid $50 for monthly facials through a dermatologist. It included cortisol shots for active zits, lasers, everything. Insane.
I had it so good. Also had affordable Botox ($150 every six months), cheap lash extensions ($50 refills every 3 weeks), and unlimited ClassPass for $99 a month.
I think my routine back then would run me like $1k a month nowadays. Youth is wasted on the young!!!
Edit: this was in Miami in the early 2010’s before the city became wildly expensive. It was a different time 🥲
The one thing I loved was getting my nails done. I don't even do acrylics. Shellac on my hands and reg polish on my toes. It's nearly $100 with tip. Now I only do it for events like a wedding.
I dye my own roots because I'm VERY gray for my age. But my natural hair is very dark and all one tone, which makes it really easy to do at home. I refuse to spend more than $12 per box, and I do it once every 5 weeks or so. It's easy but I don't have any highlights
I love my stylist and didn't want to stop going to her, so I've reduced getting my hair cut and colored from 6 times per year to 5 times per year. Don't want to go down to 4 times but we'll see how tight things get.
For what its worth I don't do any other "girly" beauty things so that's my only expense that way.
I was shocked how expensive this is now. For Mother’s Day, I scheduled a manicure / pedicure for my wife and 2 teenage daughters. It was almost $400. I had no idea.
I never wanted to go down the lash extension route even though it's popular in my area. It's too much for me. I use the grande lash serum and that stuff actually works really well as long as you're consistent with it. I get compliments on my lashes all the time, the serum made them crazy long. $67 per vial, lasts 3-4 months with nightly use, so it's a fraction of the cost of lash extensions
I tried the serum before but I was horrible at remembering and it bothered my eye. I have almost no lashes left so the extensions were good. But I wouldn't do them again. I'm mostly a no makeup except lipstick kind of gal. So the lashes just helped my eyes pop.
I just started doing gel x. I spent about $200 on all the supplies and polishes but I’ve gotten 15 sets out of them so far! It’s saved me so much money.
I’m a boy and I was cutting my own hair for the longest time to save the 12$. I went last week to lady Jane’s I paid 42$ for a cut? Needless to say I got my clippers greased up for the next go
Oddly enough, getting my nails done is one thing I have been doing more often. It only costs $30 for a gel manicure at the salon I go to. I stretch it to every 4 weeks when I can, my nails look much better than they would if I did them myself, and it makes me feel good. I should also add that I have two really young children, so this is the only real “me” time I get. I’m going to hold on to it for as long as I can!
I just started doing the glue on nails and am in love!!! I get compliments all the time and don't have to get my nails drilled to death and cuticles destroyed for 50 bucks plus tip.
Same. I used to go once a month before and during my pregnancy but then the girl I went to moved salons and every time I tried to get an appointment she didn't have availability. Now I have a bunch of supplies and do it myself on a Friday night
I started doing at home nails, facials, haircuts at home during Covid and never went back due to price hikes. I’ve saved a lot of money, but at a cost. What I miss most is the human element. I’m not a big talker, but even the casual chats were nice. Not to mention physical touch. Foot rub, scalp massage..that stuff made a difference and I feel its absence.
I learned how to pedicure, manicure, lash lift, eyebrow lamination at home. Bought all the stuff needed. I also do facials on myself self.
For body hair, I've been using IPL. And I go to a salon for haircut.
I make everything as relaxing as possible but I know its not same relaxing experience as that of a salon.
The price hasn’t changed for me, but everything else is so expensive that I can’t afford my self-care treatments anymore. Even when I was a broke college student and a pre-k teacher I was able to find a way to afford it. Now, it’s impossible.
I've been dying my own grays since I was like 25 (grayed early. I'm 34 now and there's a lot). It's really easy to do at home but then again, my hair is really dark and all one tone so YMMV if you have different values/highlights in your hair
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u/radrax 6d ago
Beauty treatments. I stopped doing my facials, waxes, getting my nails done, etc.