How To Do An At Home Manicure and Pedicure For Men: A Step-By-Step Guide For Perfect Nails

Article Outline

1. Tips to clip, file and buff your nails.

2. Hangnail and cuticle mistakes.

3. Advice on keeping your nails & hands clean.

4. Proper foot and toenail care.

Gents, if you want to up your grooming game it's not just about the hair and face. You've got to be well-groomed all over, including your hands and feet. We're not going to go into a nail-biting lecture here, but keeping your hands in amazing shape is definitely something the spicy senoritas will notice. In fact, according to celebrity stylist Ashley Weston, your nails are one of the top thing’s women notice. So, get a leg up on the competition, and make sure your nails are ready to impress.

The Perfect Manicure: Step-by-Step

If you have time to go to a nail salon or a men’s spa, give it a shot. We’re vouching for the experience. But, if you don’t have the time or rather just do it at home, here’s the steps to keep those nails looking Bueno with an at-home manicure. Before we get to the first step though, you should invest in a great manicure kit so you have all the tools to make this job easy and efficient!

Clipping: After soaking your hands in water for a minute or two to soften the nails, you will want to start out with your clippers. No need to care for the nail parts that you’re cutting off right… just make sure they don’t fly all over the rug and you can’t find them later. Grab your clippers or nail scissors and take those bad boys down. Make sure to follow the natural contour of your nail. Do not clip them straight across. You want this to look natural. Clip them down to right before the nail is no longer white. Clipping any further than this is actually cutting live nail which can lead to infection and improper growth. Make sure you leave a little of the white for the filing stage.
Filing: Grab that file and get to work. This is the shaping and smoothing stage. Follow the natural contour of the nail and smooth out those cuts. Think of this step like sand paper for your hands. You’ve made your initial cuts, now just smooth it out. Make sure to focus on the lateral edges of the nail. Clipping will inevitably leave your nail with sharp corners; the file will help round them down. A good rule here is to slide your nail across a cloth once finished. Did it catch anywhere? If so, keep filing. There should be no snags anywhere once you’re done filing.
Cleaning Under the Nail: Ok, you have taken the nail down to the perfect length. It’s nice and smooth and looking amazing. Now look underneath what’s left. Is it full of gross dirt and grime? If so, time to get rid of it. With the pointed edge of the file scrap away anything gross lurking underneath the nail. Be careful not to apply too much pressure. You don’t want to lift the nail off the nail bed. That’s a bloody mess. Apply just enough pressure to remove the dirt. Also, don’t stab yourself with the nail cleaner. That’s never good. We’re guessing you knew that already, but we thought it was worth an honorable mention.
Remove Those Hangnails: The poorly named hangnail is actually not a nail at all. It is actually a skin tear that develops when a sliver of skin splits away from your cuticle or fingernail. In any case, they need to be removed. Grab your nippers and get started. The most important thing here is to avoid live skin! You will notice if you mess this up. With the nippers you want to clip and release, never pull. When you pull your hangnails, you will inescapably pull off live skin. Open tears in the skin can lead to infection and if anything, just make your hands look more unattractive. Key thing here is to be really careful with the nippers, those puppies can be sharp!
Clean Up the Cuticles: The cuticle is a layer of dry, dead skin along the bottom edge of the nail. Cuticles protect new nail growth from bacteria and infection. The only problem is it may work to well, as it tends to build up to a level of ridiculous protection. Once this build-up gets out of control it makes your nails look unattractive. Take it down a notch. Grab the cuticle tool and start removing any loose layers of skin. If you have exceptional build up you can use a cuticle remover. Gently push the cuticle back into a nice clean line, making sure not to push the live skin away from your nail.
Buff Those Nails: Buffing the nails is going to leave your nails with a nice soft shine. We wouldn’t call this a required step, but if you want your nails to have some “manly” glow for a few days it’s nice to buff them a bit. Totally up to you, but if you visit a salon, they will definitely buff your nails and we’re cool with that.
Moisturize: The final step is moisturizing those now bad-boy looking hands. Keep those mitts nice and soft. Your hands work overtime so a hand moisturizer can be key, especially for gents with more blue-collar types of gigs. Don’t be shy, let it sink-in (good hand lotions sink in fast to the skin) and you’ll be doing handshakes with pride in no time. If you got calluses on your hands, you can always try using a hand or foot callous remover, too.

Don’t Neglect Your Feet

Most dudes don’t really pay much attention to their feet. Huge mistake! The spicy senoritas definitely notice your dry, cracked feet, thick calluses, and of course, bad toenails. It’s not a pretty sight to see, guys.

The same rules apply to your toenails as they do to your fingernails. A great manicure kit will actually include two pairs of clippers: one small one for fingernails, and one larger version for your toes.

Pro Tip: A great foot file is amazing for your overall foot health. It essentially shaves off the dead skin, revealing baby-smooth feet underneath. For the best results, use a foot cream, or a foot deodorant after you file your feet.

You’ve just completed your at-home manicure, and hopefully your pedicure as well! Easy right? It only takes a few minutes and we are sure the spicy senoritas will improve. If you really want to take your nail game next level, grab yourself a Biotin supplement, which is loaded with the key ingredients for truly healthy nails. Most guys neglect their nails, don’t be that guy. It just one more thing that will set you apart from the rest!