Start with fingernails that are completely clear of nail polish. After removing the polish, wash your hands with very warm water and dry thoroughly. The water should help to soften the cuticle.



I start with the cuticle pusher tool.



The left-sided arrows point to the area where the cuticle region is. The right-sided arrows just show where there's gunk to clean out. Eww.

If you haven't ever pushed back your cuticle, it will be quite long. Mine isn't there because I do this a lot.



You push the cuticle against the edge of your nailbed. Do not push hard - the area is very sensitive and you do not want to wound the nailbed.



This is the result you're after.



Use the cuticle nipper to gently remove the cuticle you pushed. Be extremely careful - the cuticle nipper is very sharp. DO NOT WOUND THE NAILBED EDGE! If you do, it will bleed and be open to infection. It'll also sting like hell when you apply the polish.



Nip nip nip.



Result!



Clean the underside of the nail. Just cuz you're covering it up doesn't mean you should let it get nasty under there. Just sayin'....



File the nail. Use a horizontal motion starting from the centre, moving out to the edge. Do not use an up and down motion as it will weaken the nail. I do not bother to clean up the nailbed area after the nipping because everything will be buffed.

So here's how the buffer works:









So,









Shiny shiny nails:



You should always file, buff and shine the nails before you do the polishing. The polish will take better and stay longer.



Get the nail polish guides ready.



You can cut these to size. I usually use about 5 in total for the entire manicure, and I can usually use every strip 3 times in total. I'm very conservative with them because I'm a cheapskate.



Place the guide in the centre just below the area you want to polish.



Completely finish the manicure for one hand before going on to the next. That way you can avoid too many mistakes. Set up all the nail guides.



This is the colour I'm using. It's a cheap £1.69 bottle from Boots' Natural Collection range. I don't see the point in spending a lot of money on a colour for nail tips because I'll never get through the whole bottle and I often get bored with white tips anyway.







This is Ratty's really good tip number 1. After you've done both coats for the nail tip, take the polish brush and coat the edge of the fingernail - as in, the very edge of the nail. It doesn't matter if you get some underneath. This will help protect the nail edge from chipping. You may get some of the polish on your skin under the nail - don't worry about it for now, and DO NOT go near your fingertips with a nail corrector pen or a q-tip dipped in polish remover. You're more likely to touch the edge you've just coated and ruin the hard work you've just done. Just chill with whatever mistakes you've made for a bit.



It goes without saying that you do nothing while you're waiting for the hand to dry. But you do have the other hand free to do whatever you want, so you're not completely unable to move around. Just be careful.

When you pull the strip, do it very slowly. If you're not careful you can easily rip up the edge of the polish along the nail guide. So do it slowly and gently.



Paint over the nail - including the nail tip. Do one coat and wait for it to dry. Do another coat if you need to - you probably will. Seal the edge of the nail too, just as you did with the nail tip colour. This will help prevent cracks, breakage and chips.



Finished with the painting. Not finished with the hand just yet though.



If you've got spillage on the edges, I recommend trying an emery board first. The reason is that when you're using your non-dominant hand on your dominant hand, you will not have as much (or any) control. The chances of getting acetone on the nails is very high, and that's counterproductive.

The other option is to wait until you're absolutely sure everything is dry and then wash your hands. Nail polish can be easily sloughed from skin just by soaping/washing the finger tips and then rubbing gently into a terrycloth towel.

After you do the corrections, it's time to moisturise. Nipping the cuticle and all the washing/acetone will dry the hell out of your nails. Time to baby them.



In case you hadn't picked up on this yet, I'm a cheapskate. I could buy really nice cuticle oil, but what's the point? It'll get washed off the next time I use the toilet. So anything emollient will work. Many people swear by olive oil or almond oil. The point I'm trying to make is that you don't necessarily have to splash out on expensive products to keep your nails healthy and happy.



Use a cotton bud. It's more hygienic and it's easy to work a q-tip into the cuticle edge.



Be liberal with the amount.



Admire your work.



And you're done with that hand. On to the next hand - same as the first only a little bit harder since it will probably be your dominant hand. The nail guides help a lot though, so hopefully you'll have pretty, perfect French nails and money in your pocket to buy yourself a well deserved scotch afterwards.