MANICURE & PEDICURE 



MANICURE & PEDICURE
Our beautiful hands do so much for us – can you imagine getting through the day without them?
They are also on show everyday and can often be one of the first parts of the body to show signs of
aging. Show some gratitude for them by taking some time each day to massage your hands with a
rich and nourishing hand cream and give yourself a full manicure every one or two weeks. If you
don’t have time for a full manicure, give yourself a re-shape and polish on a weekly basis.
What you’ll need:
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A bowl with warm water (add a couple of drops of essential oil if you wish)
A hand towel
An emery board (nail file)
An orange stick
A tissue
Cotton balls
Nail polish remover
A buffer
Nail Clippers
Nail Polish (a base coat + colour or just a nude colour)
Getting prepared:
1. Take off any rings or bracelets
2. Remove any old nail polish with cotton ball and nail polish remover
3. Set up your station so that you don’t need to move once you start including your bowl with
warm water.
Method:
1. Trim your nails using nail scissors or clippers so that all of your nails are the same length
2. File your nails using your emery board – do not go back and forth across the top of the nail
as this can weaken your nails. Instead, file your nails from one corner to the middle then the
opposite corner to the middle. Try to keep each nail the same shape – either square or
rounded.
3. Soak your hands in your bowl of warm water for at least 5 minutes, until your fingers start to
go wrinkly and your cuticles are soft.
PO Box 2441 Noosa Heads Q 4567 | W: www.shinefromwithin.com.au | Ph: 0430 035 740
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4. OPTIONAL EXTRA - you might like to give yourself a hand scrub here too, using the body
scrub we made during class. Massage the scrub in to your hands and forearms and then
rinse off with warm water.
5. Dry your hands on your hand towel.
6. Push your cuticles back gently with your orange stick (never do this without soaking first).
7. Clean underneath your nails using the pointy end of your orange stick and wipe any dirt on
your tissue.
8. Buff your nails. Buffing strengthens your nails, removes ridges and ensures a smooth and
shiny surface. Start with the rough surface of the buffer, buffing in a back-and-forth motion
and then move on to the smoother surface repeating the motion.
9. At this point you may need to go back over each nail with a nail file quickly if you’ve noticed
any sharp edges or roughage that was caught under the nail from when you filed earlier.
10. Moisturise your hands with a natural hand and cuticle cream. Take a few minutes to really
massage the cream in to your hands and in to each cuticle. If you have any extra cream,
massage it in to your elbows as this is one of the driest parts of the body.
11. Put a small amount of nail polish remover on a cotton ball and dab on top of each nail,
ensuring that no moisteriser is left on any of the nails as this can cause streaking when you
start to paint.
12. Paint your nails. Start by painting your thumb first, and then move your thumb out of the
way (under the lip of the table) and paint your pinky through to your index finger. This will
prevent you from smudging the polish as you work your way along. Repeat on the other
hand. Try to paint each nail in 3 – 4 steady strokes, starting with one in the middle and then
one on each side. Start painting each stroke at the base of the nail, but do not paint the
cuticle – give it a little bit of breathing room. If you smudge any of your nails, just leave
them and finish the rest.
13. If you need to fix up any of your nails, hold a cotton ball between your second and third
fingers (near the knuckles) and apply a small amount of nail polish remover. Gently remove
the polish from the nail that needs fixing and try again.
Tips
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If you are painting your nails with a colour, make sure you start with a base coat to ensure
that your nails do not get stained.
Make sure your nails are dry before applying a second coat of polish.
Artificial nails, such as acrylic nails, are damaging and will weaken your nails. If you decide
to get them, make sure you are prepared to invest the money in having them re-done
regularly.
Do you bite your nails?
Time to stop! With so many germs under your nails, biting your nails is like licking a toilet seat –
seriously! It’s a habit like any other and habits can be broken – YOU can do anything! Taking care
of your nails, giving yourself regular manicures and filing your nails regularly (instead of biting) all help.
Patience is also necessary as your nails grow at the rate of about 2.5mm per month so when you
are just starting to grow your nails it can take some time. Keep looking after them though and take
note of when you go to bite them. If you are biting your nails while studying, then make sure you
have a bottle of water and a bowl of seeds and nuts to snack on instead so that you are doing
something with your mouth and your hands. If you are biting your nails when you are nervous, keep
a nail file with you so that you can file your nails instead. Remember it takes 21 days to break a
habit so stay strong and you’ll have beautiful nails and hands in no time.
PO Box 2441 Noosa Heads Q 4567 | W: www.shinefromwithin.com.au | Ph: 0430 035 740
E: [email protected] | F: facebook.com/shinefromwithin
Pedicures
To give yourself a pedicure, follow the same steps as above but with your feet! You won’t need to
do a pedicure as often as a manicure but it can be such a beautiful act of self-love and very relaxing.
When soaking, you will need to soak your feet for a bit longer than your hands and can then follow
this step by using a pumice stone to remove any dead skin on your heels. You can also use the
body scrub that we made in class to give yourself a foot scrub. Enjoy!
© SHINE From Within, 2013
PO Box 2441 Noosa Heads Q 4567 | W: www.shinefromwithin.com.au | Ph: 0430 035 740
E: [email protected] | F: facebook.com/shinefromwithin