This post is for my bestie of 48 years (ye gads, we’re ancient!), who of course knows how to paint her nails, but is a refresher course and I wanted to add in some tips and tricks I’ve learned. Of course, there’s no one right way to do things, and I am hardly an expert, but this is the routine I’ve developed and it works well for me.

You should always start with clean, prepped nails. File, do not trim with clippers, your nails to the length you want. Remove any cuticle adhering to your nail bed (see this great diagram of all the various parts of the nail for specific terms), I prefer to use a liquid cuticle remover (I like the Sally Hansen brand) and an orange stick. You can also gently use an efile around your Eponychium but be careful not to damage it or your nail bed itself when doing so.

I apply the cuticle remover around all five nails, then wait about a minute, while I scrub with the orange stick. Then I use a soft nail brush under running water to remove the detritus. Dry with a towel, then buff the nail bed surface gently with a fine grit buffer to remove any ridges.

Before applying a good base coat, wipe your nails with a 91% rubbing alcohol using a lintless wipe (you don’t want any whispies in your polish) and let dry for a minute or two.

Pick a good quality base coat, and let that dry for two to three minutes, then start applying your selected lacquer color. Alternately, you an use a ridge-filling base coat, most of which come with a slight tint to hide any signs of VNL (visible nail line), which are good to use if your polish is very sheer.

When it comes to lacquer I typically apply two to three thin coats, keeping the coats thin helps with drying time and doesn’t build up to be too thick. I wait three minutes between each layer, but be aware temperature and humidity can be a factor, adjust your time as needed. You want a thin layer of dry polish on a coat before applying another.

In the event you get some polish into your cuticle area (happens to the best of us), just use a bit of remover and a small brush to gently remove it. I like the Elf cosmetic brush, but a variety of sites sell various angled or straight brushes for cleanup.

Once you have your lacquer on, apply a good quality top coat, there are tons of good ones out there.

Depending on my schedule, I may add a layer of a Seche Vite, a really quick drying top coat over the topcoat I’m using as it hardens the mani very quickly, but it does contain Toulene, which some people prefer to avoid, so fyi on that aspect.

I also love the drying drops from Zoya, they work very well to speed up the dry time of a mani.

To remove my polish when I’m ready to redo my mani, I use plastic clips to hold a lintless pad on my nails for a couple of minutes, like these. I use Mineral Fusion, which is an acetone free remover (because I have a gel overlay on my natural nails).

I do one hand at a time, from start to finish, then the other. I generally like to carve out at least a half an hour to an hour where I’m not doing things that would smudge or dent my mani as it dries, the sofa and a good book are often my go-tos for that. Now go ye and paint your nails!