Doing your own nails at home has become the new norm since lockdown was put in places and salons were closed, so I wanted to share my at home easy rainbow manicure technique.
Some of the products included have been gifted to me but not for the purpose of this post.
Links marked with * are affiliate links.
I’ve been getting gel nails religiously for around two years now so when I had to remove them myself for the first time, I practically went through a period of mourning. I find painting my own nails a tedious task so I knew I had to do something to keep it interesting.
Rainbow nails in various forms have become my new go to at home mani because they look pretty and you can mix up any colour to make them look nice.
Prepping for your rainbow manicure
To prep my nails for repainting I remove my old nail varnish with a cotton pad and nail varnish remover and then trim them down to my desired length with curved nail scissors*.
I then file them into shape using a normal emery board file (mine are super cheap, like these here*) and then I work on the cuticles. I push back my cuticles with a cuticle pusher* and then I use a cuticle cutter tool* (or get both together here*) to carefully remove the excess cuticle skin around the nail. Take are not to gather too much skin and not pull too hard – little snips all the way along the cuticle is key. Make sure you don’t cut yourself!
Wash your hands after to get rid of any excess nail filings etc. so they’re clean to paint.
Painting your rainbow nails
I start off using a base coat like this one* and applying one coat to my nails and letting it dry. This one dries super fast which is handy!
I then line up the different nail varnishes I want to paint, in the order I want to paint them, and unscrew all the lids, placing them back on top for easy access. You can use any colour you have for your rainbow mani, but I love pink, purple, blue, mint and yellow. I try to order them in some sort of transitional colour order, grouping similar ones together.
The polishes I used are:
Nails INC Gel Effect in shade Lexington Gardens (no longer available but similar can be found here*)
Barry M Wildlife Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in shade Ocean Blue*
Then I apply one coat of each colour to each nail and let them dry fully. The first coat is usually a bit messy, but don’t worry about that – the second coat will usually be the smooth one. I apply one stroke of varnish in the middle and one on each side.
I then apply the second coat in the same three strokes and let that dry, before applying my top coat of choice. I switch between the CND World* and Sally Hansen* top coats, as I find these make my nails last longer than others I’ve tried.
Let them fully dry before doing anything so you don’t risk smudging or chipping your hard work! Overall the whole process takes about 30-45 minutes.
I find a well done at home mani lasts about 4-5 day before it needs re-doing, and I am very heavy handed so it may last even longer for you! Let me know what colours you include in your rainbow manicure.
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*Links are affiliate links. This does not cost you anymore or affect your purchase. See disclaimer for further details.