I have been doing my nails at home since I can remember. I typically only go to the nail salon maybe once or twice a year for a special event or to treat myself. I hate the time it takes to sit in the salon to get them professionally done, but I love how long they last afterwards! I finally found a brand that gives you the salon gel manicure look just using polish and actually lasts longer than just a few days! I discovered Olive and June nail polish when shopping at Target but they have more products on their own website. I am one of those people who try to buy clean beauty products when possible, so I love that their polish is 7-free, vegan, and cruelty-free. I started following them on Instagram and their tutorials have completely up-leveled my at-home mani game. I’m sharing the 7 tips I learned from their tutorials in this post, but make sure to follow them on Instagram for more detailed instructions!
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Step 1: Shape your nails 90% of the way with clippers
Olive and June recommends clipping your nails before you remove your old polish because the whites of your nails can trick you into a crooked shape. I absolutely love their flat edge clippers because it’s so much easier to achieve square, oval, or almond shaped nails when you aren’t using curved clippers that force you into a rounded shape!
Step 2: File the last 10% of your desired nail shape
Use a nail file to smooth out any rough edges and perfect the shape of your nails. O&J tip – go slow and file in the same direction to avoid shaving off too much.
Step 3: Remove polish
I got the nail polish remover pot in their mani system kit and I LOVE! It comes off so quickly and I’m never going back to cotton balls. It’s perfect because if you mess up you can just stick one nail in the pot and you don’t risk messing up your other nails when you grab the cotton ball. Also, I don’t have the issue of getting cotton ball fuzz stuck in my nail polish brush, which is the actual worst.
Step 4: Buff!
This helps smooth your nails, get rids of hang nails, and erases cuticles.
Step 5: Dehydrate
This part is soo important and something I have been doing wrong forever! Olive and June taught me that rinsing your hands with water is the number one way to guarantee a chipped manicure. Water expands your nail bed and when they dry out, your nail basically shrinks which leads to chipping. Instead, you want to dehydrate your nails by sticking them back in the remover pot to get rid of any moisture or excess oil on your nails.
Step 6: Paint
Start with a thin coat and finish up with 2 more thin coats or 1 more thick coat. Make sure you give each coat time to dry before applying another. Place the brush in the center of your nail, push towards your cuticle, then pull backwards. Make one stroke down the center then swipe on both sides.
Step 7: Top coat & repeat every few days!
If you only purchase one product from Olive and June I highly recommend their super glossy top coat! It’s so shiny and dries so fast! They recommend applying the top coat about every 2 days to protect your mani and prevent chipping!
I was so impressed with Olive and June’s long lasting polish that I ended up purchasing their mani system kit which includes 6 colors of your choice and all of the tools you will need! I highly recommend getting the entire kit and adding on the dry drops! Use the code thehomeblondy20 to save 20% off your system! If you would like to see an unboxing of the kit and a tutorial using these products make sure to check out my YouTube video below!
Thank you so much for reading! Make sure to find me on Instagram and send me your mani pics after following these steps 🙂
Xo, Ciara
