FAQ

Are those your real nails?
Yup! I just have very long nail beds.

How do you paint your nails?
I use the "three-swipe method" to paint and the rest is all clean up. I watched a lot of YouTube videos and practiced a LOT before I could get it to where I wanted it to be. I'll put a video from cutepolish below that was very helpful to me when I was first learning to apply nail polish. And, in my opinion, clean up is the best secret to making your at-home manicures look really good. Admittedly, I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to clean up. Sometimes I spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get everything the way I want it! 

What base/top coat do you use?
I use CND's Stickey base coat and Glisten & Glow's HK Girl Top coat. The combination of the two generally helps my manicures last at least about a week without chipping. Check out my post on how to make your at-home manicures last. 

What kind of camera do you use?
At the moment I am just using my iPhone for everything, but I hope to get a good camera soon. Check out my post on how I photograph my nails.

Any tips for growing long, healthy nails? 
Well, I am not a nail care professional, so I honestly don't know very much about that. My nails are naturally pretty strong and grow fairly fast. I don't treat them in any way (other than general grooming), nor is my diet especially healthy. 

Any tips for cuticle care?
I am all about that cuticle life, so I do have a few suggestions. To start, I never cut my cuticles. I use the Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover, which is very inexpensive, and then just push them back. And then I hydrate until the cows come home. I use several different kinds of products to keep my cuticles nice and moisturized, from oils to balms, depending on the state of my cuticles and my mood. I usually use a cuticle oil after removing my nail polish and after I finish a manicure since I've used pure acetone in both scenarios. And then throughout the week I just sort of rotate between different balms and oils. Every night I also apply a liberal amount of Aquaphor to my cuticles before going to bed. The trick to good cuticles is consistency!