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Nail Care Essentials for the Perfect Natural Nails At Home Manicure 💅

31 items

Courtney Witmer

I used to get my nails done with gel every two weeks, religiously. Increasing prices and decreasing time availability led me to stop cold turkey and switch to doing my own nails at home with regular polish, and I’ve never looked back! I regularly get...

Sections

Nail Care

Base Coats

Top Coats

Resources

Polish Removal

Polishes

Nail Care

Keeping the nails and cuticles healthy and strong is the literal foundation of a good at-home manicure.

My cuticles may not be perfect, but this cuticle removing cream gets them pretty close. Every manicure I do includes leaving this on for 1-2 minutes, followed by pushing my cuticles back with a glass file.

Cuticle Remover

A good glass cuticle pusher is an indispensable tool in keeping your nail beds healthy, safely. I find a glass cuticle pusher to be the best option to balance effectiveness and gentleness.

Glass Cuticle Pusher

A glass nail file is a superior option to the typical emery board in terms of gentleness, durability, and sustainability.

Glass Nail File

A multi-sided buffing block is a useful tool for smoothing the tops of nails to ensure polish lays smoothly when applied.

Manicure Buffing Block

I prefer an angled nail clipper to the large cuticle clippers for getting hang nails and other dead skin that needs to be removed.

Slanted Tip Nail Clipper

I prefer a rollerball style cuticle oil applicator, but they also come in droppers, brushes, and pens. Experiment to find what you like best! Apply oil at least 1-2 times a day for optimal cuticle health, in addition to as a last step in each manicur...

Cuticle Oil Rollerball

This is my favorite nail treatment. I put a layer down before whatever base coat I’m using to protect and treat my nails.

Nourishing Elixir Base Coat

Base Coats

Don’t skip this step! Base costs protect your nail, keep it from getting dyed by polish, and can even make removing your polish easier.

This smoothing base ensures a flawless application for any polish and a slight blurring effect on the nail line. Sometimes I leave it on for a day or more before I add a new colorful polish.

Pink Smoothing Base Base Coat - Holo Taco | Ulta Beauty

I use this when I paint my daughters’ nails. Kids nails are so healthy and slippery, nothing lasts! I dehydrate their nails with remover, do a coat of this, followed by polish and top coat to get the longest possible manicure on their busy little han...

Bonder Rubberized Basecoat - Orly | Ulta Beauty

Another sheer option for a smoothing base coat without the pink, if you feel it doesn’t go as well with your skin tone.

KBShimmer - Nail Polish - Fillin' Groovy Ridge Filling Base Coat

A peel off base coat is a big help if you plan to not wear a polish for more than a day or two (because you know you have something coming up, etc), or for if you want to wear a super glittery polish (which are notoriously annoying to remove).

Olive & June Gel Nail Polish - Peel Off Base Coat - 0.46 fl oz

Top Coats

A top coat is a necessity for a long-lasting, beautiful manicure.

A quick dry top coat (or QDTC) is a a huge help! You’ll still need to be mindful to not really abuse your nails, but they’ll make your manicure dry to the touch much faster than air drying alone!

Sec N' Dry - Orly | Ulta Beauty

I use this and the Sec N Dry interchangeably. Honestly, all of the Orly base and top coats are pretty great!

Orly Quick Dry - In-A-Snap .6 oz

A high shine top coat is a great option to extend the life of your manicure or liven up polishes that look dulled. Glittery polishes can also feel gritty once dry, and a glossy top coat helps smooth that out!

Glossy Taco - Top Coat - Holo Taco | Ulta Beauty

An easy to find glossy top coat that protects your polish, extends your manicure, and adds a high shine, glassy effect.

Gel Couture Top Coat - Essie | Ulta Beauty

Expand your collection the easy way with a matte top coat! Instead of a shiny finish, this top coat mattifies any polish for a different effect. It can be especially striking over glitter or flakie polishes!

Gel Couture Matte Top Coat - Essie | Ulta Beauty

For those of us that need a little extra help being patient, drying drops can help speed up the polish setting process!

0.3 oz Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops - OPI | Ulta Beauty

Resources

Here are some great, free resources to learn more about doing your own nails at home with regular polish!

A great resource of nail polish lovers and at-home manicurists using regular polish to create beautiful manicures. I’ve learned so much from this group of helpful, passionate folks!

RedditLaquerist(a)s

For those who want to gamify their collection, or if you find yourself too far down the nail polish rabbit hole, this group provides encouragement to use your beautiful collection, and not just keep adding to it!

r/WeGotPolishAtHome

A community for those interested in the history of nail polish, or vintage and antique collections of polish.

r/vintagenailpolish

Polish Removal

Clean, painless polish removal that minimizes damage to the cuticle, nail, and skin around the nail should be the goal at all times.

These are a game changer for polish removal. No fighting through thick layers or stubborn glitter, using multiple cotton pads to remove all your polish. Instead, just cut up a round or split a cotton ball, soak it in acetone, and put the clips on for...

Nail Clips

This is my absolute favorite remover! It doesn’t dry out my nail beds the way pure acetone does, and works perfectly with nail clips to remove all the polish in a single swipe without being too harsh.

Cutex Nourishing Nail Polish Remover - 10.1 fl oz

Any brand of pure acetone is good to have on hand for cleanup with a small brush. A large bottle should last you a long time if you’re just using it to clean up slips of polish along the way.

Pure Acetone Manicurist Solvent 32 oz.

A cleanup brush is the big secret to a professional looking manicure, especially as you’re perfecting your technique. Just dip the brush in pure acetone and use it to clean up any color “outside the lines.” I prefer a stiff, short bristled clean up b...

Kolinsky Professional Nail Cleaning Brush Size #2

Polishes

The fun part! Collecting polishes can get addictive, so proceed with caution as you build your collection.

Holo Taco is an indie darling for a reason! One of the first indie polishes to be offered in a boutique, if you’re interested in gorgeous effects and fancy glitters, Holo Taco is available at Ulta to dip your toe into the indie and boutique polish wo...

Missed-Shift Specialty Nail Polish - Holo Taco | Ulta Beauty

If you want to dip your toes into at home polish for a lower price, LA Colors is readily available at big box stores and dollar tree, and has pretty incredible staying power and range for a $2 nail polish. The jellies and special effect polishes are ...

L.A. COLORS Color Shifting Nail Polish, Meteorite, 0.44 fl oz

Mooncat was my gateway into indie and boutique polishes. Who needs gel when there are SO MANY gorgeous polishes out there? I want to change my nails every day (I settle for 2-3 times a week), but people get great longevity from these fabulous polishe...

Maelstrom

Polish pickup is open once a month and is a great way to try several different unique indie polish brands, colors, finishes, etc.

Polish Pickup

Cirque Colors has beautiful polishes that come in a somewhat smaller bottle. Thermals, magnetic, jellies… too many gorgeous options to list here.

Star Crossed Lovers

ILNP (I Love Nail Polish) is a fan favorite for its great price point and shunning of FOMO marketing. Their formula and their catalogue are OUTSTANDING.

ILNP Sweet Tooth - Cotton Candy Pink Shimmer Nail Polish

Another polish brand with a ton of finishes and effects. I love their Nail Elixir as my base coat.

Lights Lacquer