How to do your nails at home

It can be daunting to start doing your nails at home. With the wide variety of information, different methods, equipment and advise it can be hard to know where to start. It can feel like you need to spend a lot of money for all of the equipment to be able to do your own nails at home. This is not the case. I will show you what you need to get started plus a few fun add ons so that you can do your nails at home, save a bit of money and have fun!

This post will be a bit longer then what I usually write but I’m hoping that it answers all of your questions in regards to doing your nails at home. If you have any other questions leave a comment below and I will respond as soon as I can.

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The biggest question is where to start. It depends on what type of nails you will be doing. For beginners, I recommend starting with nail polish as it’s easy to remove. This is also my personal preference. The other option is a gel polish which lasts longer but takes longer to remove. I will touch on the needs of gel polish as well. Once you have chosen your personal polish preference you can move onto building your shopping list.

At a minimum, you will need:

Clear topcoat
Clear base coat
Colour polish
Nail polish remover
A cheap eye make up brush (I’ll explain this one below in the section: Instructions for doing your nails)
Makeup remover pads
UV Lamp (if you’re using Gel Polish)

How to save money on nail art supplies

The list may seem long however most of the items can be purchased cheaply especially if you spend some time looking around. For example for the make up remover pads, at my local major food shop (Coles/Woolworths) I could spend between $3 to $5 per packet. Whereas at Aldi Australia the packs are about $2. If you are in Australia I recommend going with the Aldi packs and not the ones from Kmart. They are the same price but the Aldi brand is of a much higher quality. It might take a little bit of experimenting to find which products are the best.

For the top and base coat, you can just purchase what is often called clear polish. I did this for many years and found that I achieved a similar result. However, if you are using a highly pigmented colour a dedicated base coat may be the way to go as this will protect your nails from being stained. No matter what you use don’t skip the step of applying a base polish. I’ve learnt this the hard way.

The other technique is to search for online stores where you can often buy the same products but cheaper. In Australia, I use a site called Catch of the Day for some of my basics including base and topcoat. I can also get OPI polish, for example, a lot cheaper because of it being the end of the season.

My other favourite site is Beauty Big Bang. They offer a lot of nail art supplies at a cheap price. You can read about my experience with them in my review.

With colours, be careful with the cheaper unknown brands. Brands such as Rimmel are great because they are affordable and of good quality. I have picked up a few super cheap polishes that have been great. But I have also purchased some that just fell off my nails. I wish I was kidding about this. So take care when purchasing really cheap polish. I also recommend checking local shops like Target for discount polish, sometimes you can be lucky and snag a bargain.

Additional Supplies for Nail Art

Once you start getting the hang of doing your own nails at home you might want to consider adding on some nail art.

The simplest method to start with is either nail stickers or water decals. There are some great online sites where you can get these at an affordable price including Beauty Big Bang which I’ve mentioned above. If you use water decals, take a look at my guide to using water decals. Another brand that you could take a look for stickers and decals is Maniology.

Another option for nail art is ombre, where the colour goes from a dark to light shade. This is achieved with sponges that can be purchased fairly cheaply. If you try this technique I highly recommend using some liquid latex to minimise the clean up as this does get messy. If you want to give it a go take a read of my ombre guide.

For a more advanced technique, there is nail stamping. This is where you use images on a metal plate and special polish to transfer the image onto your nail. You can get even more creative with reverse stamping where you colour in the images. There are heaps of places you can get nail stamping supplies. My favourite brand is Maniology.

Once you start exploring nail art techniques the options are endless.

Instructions for doing your nails at home

So now onto the exciting part. How to do your nails at home! Its been a long post but you need the base to be successful.

I recommend having everything laid out ready. Try to have a clear workspace/area. A desk or the dining table works well. Pop a placemat or some sort of cover on your work area just in case you have a spill. A stamping mat can also work to protect your work surface as well.

Start by applying a base coat of your choice. Allow this to fully dry.
Add a colour polish. Even if the polish is fully opaque, I recommend applying two coats to ensure it lasts as long as possible.
Once the colour is fully dried add some nail art. This step is optional. This could include water decals, ombre or stamping.
When you finished your nail art, add the topcoat. This will protect your design. If you want it to last longer, I recommend adding another layer of topcoat to your nails.
If you have a little polish on your cuticles, I recommend using an eye makeup brush dipped in nail polish remover to clean around your nail. It will allow you to clean the area without damaging the nail design.

Overall

I hope you find this guide useful! If you have any questions pop them in the comments below and I will answer as soon as I can. Alternatively, send me a message on my Instagram @theNailChronicle.

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How to do your nails at home | Save money and have fun!