How I paint and clean up my nails: a video tutorial

One of the most frequently asked questions I seem to get on this blog lately is, "How do you get that clean line at the bottom of your nails?". I've tried to explain it a few times in the comments, but I thought it would be easier to just record the process and show it to you that way.

Before you watch these videos, I want to state that, for the record, I am not advising you to use pure acetone. I'm merely showing you what I do, and if you choose to try this yourself, do it at your own risk. Even though the main ingredient in lots of nail polish removers out there is acetone, it can be drying for some, so that's why I always wash my hands thoroughly when I'm done working with acetone. If you use pure acetone, it's not the type of thing you want to leave on your skin afterward because it will dry out your skin and cuticles. So IF you try this method, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after you're done.

Alternatively, many people opt to use nail polish remover instead of acetone when cleaning up nail polish mistakes. That works too, but for me, acetone is more powerful and much quicker, so that's why I use it. Plus, for my particular skin, it doesn't seem to dry it out too much if I wash my hands thoroughly when I'm done. But I'd just like to repeat: use pure acetone at your own risk. I'm not responsible if your skin dries up and shrivels off! Got it? Good!

Oh! One more thing: I'm not claiming to have created this method myself. I've taken bits and pieces from other bloggers and YouTubers and developed a system that works for me. So please don't go around thinking that I'm claiming to have invented this technique!

Part one:

(Apologies for the grainy quality of these videos but I recorded them on my Blackberry because I don't own a video camera!)

Part two:

And as promised, here's a close-up of the nail I painted in the above videos (obviously I forgot to clean up the top portion of my thumb, so just focus on the line at the bottom!).

As you can see, the brush dipped in acetone really cuts through the polish like a hot knife to butter. This is the easiest, most effective way I've found to clean up my manicures, but if you have a way you'd like to share with us, I'd love to hear about it! Just leave it in the comments or, if you have a blog or YouTube tutorial you'd like to share, leave a link!

I hope this helps some of you to better understand how I get that clean line at the bottom of my nails. If you have any questions or need something explained further, please leave a comment and let me know!