Nail Care Products 101: The Essentials for Every
Manicure Set
At-home manicures can be a lot of fun, but when
you look at the finished product, it often doesn’t seem nearly as good as the
ones you’ve gotten in beauty salons or nail spas. Nail care is a professional
art for a reason; there are lots of tools and tricks of the trade that can
stand between you and a beautiful at-home manicure. Beyond nail polish and
sealant, we’ve broken down the rest of the nail care products you need to get
gorgeous nails without the price of going to nail salons.
Nail
Cutters
You
probably grew up with your mom using nail cutters to trim your toe and finger
nails, but those basic ones aren’t high enough quality for a good manicure.
You’re going to want stainless steel nail nippers with a salon-quality edge, or
else you’re risking a ragged edge on your nails. It’s basically the difference
between cutting your hair by snipping straight across the bottom or by getting
a cut at a salon. Sure, both get the hair shorten, but which is going to look
nicer? The same goes for nail cutters. Quality is better.
Nail
Nippers
Nail
nippers are often smaller and more precise than nail cutters, and are used for
getting a precise edge on the corners of your finger and toe nails. Particularly
if the edges of your nails bend down sharply, you’re going to want nail nippers
for those corners. Nail cutters make a nice edge on the tops of your nails, but
shaping a precise oval requires nail nippers. They’re also particularly useful
when it comes to pedicures, since those nails are often sharply sloped.
Cuticle
Nippers
Cuticle
nippers, or cuticle scissors, are much smaller and more precise than nail
nippers, and they have a flat edge to help remove excess cuticles without
actually piercing the skin and leaving a hole behind. Cuticle nippers are
essential for removing the excess without damaging your cuticles, and they’re
usually the main reason your at-home manicure doesn’t look as good as the
beauty salon’s.
Cuticle
Pushers
Orange
sticks are the most popular cuticle pushers and it’s not uncommon at nail spas
to hear someone say “orange stick” even when the cuticle pushers they’re using
are something else. Orange sticks are very good, but there are other quality
cuticle pushers and it’s usually best to experiment with a few options to find
the best ones for your nails.
If
you’re looking for a great deal on nail
care products, check out our selection at The
Shears Depot. We supply nail spas, beauty salons, and manicure and pedicure
specialists, and we think you should have the same quality nail care products
at home, too.
Julie Sullivan - July 15, 2009
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