Women flock to their manicurist to achieve the best looking nails possible without realizing that they have the tools at their very own disposal to give themselves gorgeous looking nails at a fraction of the cost! Yes, even you can give yourself a quality and long-lasting acrylic nail manicure in as little time as a professional nail technician. Here’s how:

1) Remove any and all excess nail polish – this includes and base coats or nail strengtheners that may have been applied. Try to remove it with a nail polish remover that contains “acetate” and other moisturizing properties and avoid “acetone” removers so that your nail is kept stronger for longer.

2) Wash your hands thoroughly and trim, shape, and file the nails as necessary. When filing, be sure to move in one direction only and not in a back-and-forth “sawing” motion. The “sawing” method of filing will only weaken your nail.

TIP: You may want to soak your hands in warm water for up to 5 minutes before filing and clipping your nails to make your nails easier to shape.

3) Massage a cuticle cream into your cuticles and then gently push the cuticle back with an orange stick (you can find orange sticks in any drug store). If you have not soaked your hands in warm water yet, try soaking them now so that your nails are malleable (this will help with the application of your acrylic nails).

4) Be sure to remove any excess oils and/or moisturizing agents with a towel or with a nail preparation.

5) Now is the time to put on your acrylics! If you are choosing to do a French manicure, you may want to choose “tips” that can be adhered with both a glue and a resin-based paste. Otherwise, you may want to select a “full nail” to be glued to your finger.

6) Apply your choice of nail or nail tip with an adhesive and hold each in place for 5 to 10 seconds.

7) Once the false nails or nail tips are applied, sweep the primer over the natural nail and wait until the primer dries to a chalky-white color.

8) Once the primer is a chalky white, drip your brush in a monomer solution and sweep it over your entire nail. Draw one single line from base to tip through the powder through the powder until you collect a bead of powder.

9) At the “smile line” (the base of your nail tip) flatten the bead of powder and brush it straight to the tip. Use the brush to then flatten each side to make your nails look more natural.

10) Repeat the process on each nail and file down any unnecessary or excess acrylic.

From that point you can then add what ever different polishes or designs to your nails as you would like! The first couple of times that you apply acrylic nails may be rather nerve wracking and take longer than the salon, but soon before you know it you will be whizzing through the process and be giving yourself picture-perfect nails that everyone will envy.