My nails routine is an hour long! How in the world can I be more efficient?
PREP
1. Remove polish with 100% acetone
2. Clippers + file to reshape
3. Cuticle remover, push back with a metal tool, wipe down with a cotton pad, then trim excess with cuticle scissors
4. Wash hands thoroughly and scrub with a gentle nail brush
PAINT
* One hand at a time. I paint one hand, allow to dry, then paint the other hand. I never paint my dry hand while the polish is drying on my wet hand. The dry times listed are per hand.
5. Base coat (nail hardening): dry time 3 mins
6. Colour (optional): dry time 4 to 5 mins
7. Top coat (clear): dry time 5 mins
- Cuticle oil
Any advice?
Background: I bit my nails my entire life, until last year. In 8 months advance of my wedding, I started getting extensions, and they absolutely worked to cut the habit. I haven't bit my nails since, but I stopped getting my nails done professionally about 6 months ago, and have been doing them myself ever since. I adore the way they look.
Photo 1 is my wedding nails, unrelated just wanted to show off! My normal nails are nowhere near as impressive, you can see them in photo 2, it was my first time trying this colour and I hate it.
by Mermaid_Natalia
8 Comments
Honestly, I think that if you want to do all these steps an hour is not too bad. Depends on your hands, of course, but I feel like cutting cuticles is not necessary and maybe even bad. To take advantage of your time maybe you should do both hands at once. Ex: paint left then right hand, by the time you’re done you can start on the next coat left then right, etc.
PREP: I often do my shaping before I remove polish and not always even as part of the overall “mani time”. Sometimes I’ll shape ’em the night before or throughout the day as I have a few minutes so that they’re ready to go when it’s time to mani, esp if I’m planning a “full” (cuticle care and whatnot) mani and not just a color change. I try to avoid washing my hands/getting bare nails wet for at least 30 min before I’m ready to polish.
COLOR: When I paint I do all 10 fingers in one go. By the time I get to the 10th finger, the 1st finger is ready for the next coat. I do not have “wait and dry” times for any coats (unless I’m magnetizing). You don’t mention which top coat you’re using, but QDTC saved me from wanting to quit doing my nails.
You don’t mention how often you’re doing your nails. If it’s once a week, an hour seems about right, esp if you’re doing careful shaping and cuticle care as part of your routine (and doubly true if you want to just do one hand at a time — that’s losing you time). I can do a full color change in just under 20 min if I’m not doing the cuticle care and shaping at the same time.
Don’t trim the excess, paint with a wet hand, base coat only needs 1 minute.
Tbh an hour to do a mani is pretty average I’d say. Honestly I lean into the time it takes to do my nails, I think its relaxing and gives me time to decompress from my day.
If you really want to cut some time I’d say you don’t have to do your cuticles every time, and don’t use a metal tool! Get some orange sticks from a beauty supply store, that is going to save your nail plate in the long run. I also wash my hands first and then remove my old polish, I found that personally after I washed my hands after acetone the new polish did not grip my nails as well. Also you should get into the practice of doing both hands at the same time, the time it takes to paint one hand the other should be dry. If you aren’t sure then just give your hands an extra min or so.
An hour sounds about right. You could speed it up by painting both hands at the same time. By the time you finish a coat on one hand, the other hand should be dry enough for the next coat. I usually throw on a longer podcast to make use of the downtime.
🫣I can spend an hour just magnetizing.
haha an hour would be amazing to me – i started doing this last summer and I remember settling down with all my stuff at 8:45pm and then being done at 1am… and my nails were not particularly impressive.
I have improved, partly technique but also because I guess I’m more “fluent” in what I’m doing. I levelled up some of the tools and they helped… glass file, cuticle softener etc. If it’s a slow day at work I will take a little time to remove my last mani and oil my nails, maybe do a little filing and then pick up the lacquer in the evening. It saves a little time and the light is much better!
An hour doesn’t seem wildly unreasonable
Yeah, that’s how long it takes. Unless you’re magnetizing, in which case it takes longer.