Manicuring has changed...I guess

All of the nail pages/YouTubers I follow have been capping the free end of the nail.  This is a new concept for me.  When I was in beauty school we learned to "feather edge," which meant taking the orange wood stick wrapped in cotton over the free edge to remove any polish that as there.  That was supposed to help prevent chipping.  Now, all the nail people say that capping the free edge helps prevent chipping.

So I'm doing an experiment.  Because most of my nails are pretty short, I knew it would be hard for me to get the free edge without getting a ton of polish on my skin.  So I took some nail forms and did one hand at a time.  It was annoying and messy, but I'm interested to see if it keeps my polish from chipping longer than my usual way.

These pictures were taken on day 2 of the manicure after I washed my hands all day at work and gave Violet a bath.  I have one little chip or wear mark on my left thumb.

We'll see what happens.

Scotch tape manicure

Well, thanks to Pinterest, I'm obsessed with doing nails again.  Where was Pinterest when I was a nail tech?  Anyway, I did the sponge ombre gradient that's pretty popular, but I wasn't too happy with it.  I'm going to try to find different sponges next time.  My makeup sponge was a little too thick and heavy.

This time, I did the Scotch tape manicure, although I recommend doing it without tape.  Maybe I was using the wrong kind of tape?  I was definitely waiting long enough for my nails to dry (without waiting a day, that is) but taking the tape off really effed them up.  Especially after the second pink color; it pulled off both layers.  Unless you have a few days to kill (and even then, I'm not sure the tape wouldn't pull some polish off), I recommend just free-handing it.  I know for the OPI colors I used for the stripes, their professional wide brush made it super easy to get a nice line.  I'm not sure how it would work with other brands, but I'm sure after some practice it would be fine.  I've done free-hand French manicures for all of my nail technician career (and the years after) so I do have some practice.

I also picked up a brush to make a better line at the cuticle.  Seven or eight years ago when I was hired at some rinky-dink salon the nail tech there used a brush and I thought she was weird.  After using it the other night, though, it does make a better line at the cuticle than a orange wood stick and cotton.  Cotton on a stick works better for getting polish off the sides and tips of fingers, though (if you have short nails like me and overshoot the ends of your nails).

Essie Fiji [Essie Nail Polish - Pinks/Roses (Google Affiliate Ad)] at base, OPI Pinking of You for the first stripe, and OPI Kiss me on my Tulips for the second stripe.  I do love pink.  :)