A Lazy Girl's Guide To No Fuss Instant Home Manicure

My whole life I have only got my nails done at the salon once and that too for free (inaugural freebie).Not because I hate spending money on manicures (which I sort of do, I'd rather buy expensive nails paints) but I find getting nails done really pretentious.

Home Manicures on the other hand are cheap and after reading this guide super quick and easy.Just the sort of thing a lazy girl looks for!

Out With Filing Your Nails And In With Trimming Them Off
Who has the time or patience to file nails to get them in perfect shape.Yeah filed nails do look great, but short nails have been in vogue for the last couple of seasons so stow away the filers and bring out the cutters.
Start by trimming off the centre of the nail starting from the top of the nail bed, straight across and then use a 45 degree angle to trim off the sides to give a rounded edge.Nails this short have no need to be filed.

Diss Soapy Water For Plain Water
So ideally the next step after filing your nails is soaking your hands in warm soapy water, but we are looking at a lazy girl's way of doing things.So apply a rich cream or body butter liberally all over your hands concentrating the cream on your nails specially the cuticles and soak your hands for a couple of minutes in the hottest water your hand can withstand (be really careful with the temp of the water though) for a couple of minutes.
Take your hands out and using an orange stick push back the cuticles(never trim cuticles).Then wipe off your hands using a thick towel making sure to get off every last bit of cream and water.

Who Needs A Basecoat When You Can Buff
Basecoat helps the colour go on smoothly and last longer.Blah Blah Blah.Better idea: using a nail buffer to bring on the shine without any chemicals.Nail Buffers usually come with 3-4 different grits to polish your nails and make them shine instantly.Plus it prevents yellowing of nails from darker nail paints and makes the nail paint adhere better.That is, it does the job of a basecoat just as well without having to wait for it to dry.
Currently I'm loving The Body Shop Nail Polishing Block (Review).It instantly makes my nails shine like nobody's business and the shine lasts for a good week.

Polish Ready Or Not
Buffed nails look great on their own but if you are a polish friendly (obsessed more like it) gal then pick your favourite shade and apply two really thin coats and let each coat air dry before reapplying.Five minutes after applying the second coat dunk your hand in ice cold water and let it air dry again.Though short nails can sport any colour they look their damned best in dark shades (think burgundy, plum, teal, navy, jade) or bright neons.Currently I'm obsessed with OPI: Lincoln Park After Dark which is a gorgeous black purple.

And ta-dah your nails have been prepped and primed for a night out.This home manicure hardly takes half an hour(including dry time) and is laziness personified.Plus is perfect for everyone from the busy working girl to the stay at home mom.

Comment and let me know your take on this fuss free way of pimping up your nails.