The best accessory for a girl is to have freshly manicured nails. However sometimes it is not possible for us to schedule a weekly visit to a salon for a manicure. Nonetheless, we can schedule some time from our schedule to shape our nails.
How to start shaping your nails
The best way to give your nails a shape is by using a nail file. Some prefer trimming nails with clippers while other favor filing the nails. If you nails are long, filing them of would take a lot of time. Instead use clippers to snip them first, slightly longer than you want and then work on the shape using a nail file. The only drawback of using clippers is that you may trim too much nail. To avoid doing this trim your nails, a bit at a time to get the desired length.
There are a variety of nail files available in the market, including glass files, metal files and emery boards. A glass nail filer is made of small crystals and it lasts longer than emery or metal files. It’s fine grit also allows for a more detailed filing than a coarse file. If you want to a shape a gel or acrylic nail, choose a emery or metal file. Their rough texture will smoothen the thicker nail sooner.
Once you have reached your desired nail length using clippers, the next step is to determine the best nail shape for your fingers. While there are a lot of trendy new nail shapes that you can try, if you are looking for a safer way to determine your best nail shape, look at the shape of your cuticles. Check if they are squared, curved, or squared with rounded edges? This is the finest indicator for the nail shape that will work best for you. The most common nail shapes are- square, oval, and squoval. The less common are classic round and trendy stilettos. However, if you are new at this, it is best to look for a nail salon in Sandy Utah or somewhere near you to get your nails shaped.
Oval Nails
Recommended for: A traditional nail shape that gives an awesome feminine appearance to your hands. It is great for short fingers as it replicates the shape of the finger and gives an appearance of being long.
How to shape?
For an oval shape, file your nails in an egg shape by holding your file at an angle.
Square Nails
Recommended for: It is the most popular nail shape. A very fashionable nail shape, this is also very strong as it spans across the entire length of the nail. Hence it doesn’t chip off easily.
How to shape?
Trim your nails to the desired length and then file it in one direction straight across the entire nail. Once done, file lightly along the edges to get rid of any snags around the corners.
Round Nails
Recommended for: If you are constantly working with your hands and need to keep your fingernails short, this is the shape for you. It also a safe choice and requires low maintenance. It looks great on long fingers.
How to shape?
Trim your nails and then using a file, file the nail in a round shape by following the curve of your finger.
Squoval Nails
Recommended for: Neither a square nor an oval, this nail shape is flattering on any finger, long or short.
How to shape?
For a squoval nail, start with filing your nails as you would for an oval nail. Once done, just flatten the peak of the nail by filing it straight across in one direction, as you would for a square nail.
Stiletto Nails
Recommended for: Great for giving a long slender look to the nails. This nail shape is daring and is rocked by stars like Adele and Rihanna. While this nail shape is really trendy, it’s the weakest shape and is often done on acrylic or gel nails to avoid damaging natural nails.
How to shape?
To file nails in stiletto shape, alternately file both sides to the center of the nail. Mark the center of the nail as a point and file towards it.
Almond Nails
Recommended for: For making your fingers more elongated, almond is the shape to go. It adds a ladylike flare to short fingers.
How to shape?
Before you start shaping, mark a spot in the center of your nail and start filing towards that point. Continue filing at an angle that is just off the center of the nail, leaving a flat tip to round off. Once you have done both the sides, file the corners to smooth out the edges and blend the shape into the shape of an almond.
Which is your favorite nail shape? Please share it in the comments below.
