Regular nail treatments are beneficial for more than just beauty and relaxation reasons. The way you take care of your fingernails and toenails is a tell-tale sign of your personal hygiene levels. Your nails reflect your general state of health, so it is important to give them proper care and attention. To maintain nail hygiene and prevent infection, you need to indulge in a regular mani-pedi ritual. However, the costs can quickly add up to more than you’re willing to spend. Thank the stars, there are loads of tools manicure and pedicure available that make at-home nail care easy, manageable, and budget-friendly.
What Do You Need for a Salon-worthy Manicure at Home?
Nothing is better than doing your nail care routine from your couch, but getting a great-looking result isn’t as easy as it would appear. Anyway, armed with the right tools and nail care products, nailing the at-home manicure is well within reach.
Before you sit down to do your nails, experts recommend opting for all the necessary tools:
- Nail file or emery boards to shape the nail and nail buffer block to add shine to the nail.
- Cuticle tools and cuticle care products: cuticle remover, cuticle pusher, cuticle scissors, manicure sticks to clean up the excess cuticle, and cuticle oil to moisten and add vitamins to the skin.
- Nippers to trim hangnails and a tweezers tool to grab small items will not be superfluous and help to do manicures neater.
- Auxiliary materials: cotton balls, rounds, or squares to apply products, remover to take off polish and debris, lotion to moisturize your skin and nails, and polish to add protection and shine or color to the nail.
It’s not necessary to buy a professional nail tools kit; you can opt for affordable and easy-to-find alternatives to help you do your nails at home. Some tools are disposable, including emery boards and bamboo sticks, and others have to be sanitized after every use.
Instruments and Supplies for Pedicure
To achieve a home pedicure that will look professional, gather the following kit of tools:
- Supplies for foot moisturizing and sanitation: foot spa soaker to soak feet, astringent foot soak to sanitize feet, exfoliating foot scrub to remove excess skin and callouses.
- The same list of cuticle care instruments as for your hand nails: remover, pusher, scissors, manicure sticks, and cuticle oil.
- Foot file to file down callouses and remove old loose skin and toe separators to make sure toes don’t touch each other.
- Nippers, nail files, and nail buffer to give the nails the desired shape and shine.
- Other stuff to ease the process and made your toe-nails shine: moisturizing lotion, polish remover, cotton balls, nail brush, protective of color topcoat.
If you want to remove cracks or calluses you can purchase сorn planes, rasps, and files for thick and dry layers of dead skin tissue. Highly durable pedicure bars made of thick Bohemian glass are also good for regular maintenance.
What Things to Pay Attention to When Buying Mani-Pedi Tools?
You can easily find the abovementioned basic salon-like treatment supplies at your local drugstore or online, where you can find both manicure or pedicure sets and kits and single tools for hand and foot care.
No matter what place you choose to opt for tools and supplies, take into consideration the following things:
- Make sure that the tool is made of stainless steel – durable and long-lasting material. It also eliminates the risk of getting tetanus because of rust formation on the tools.
- If you are not going to spend much on complicated nail care items, give preference to basic sets as they get the job done well. They can be carried easily while traveling and are not too expensive.
- Choose instruments that are easy to use and store – tools should be light-weighted and portable to fit your handbag or travel bag. Ideal when the manicure or pedicure kit comes in a travel case.
Tips to Maintain Your Manicure and Pedicure Tools
Cleaning and sanitizing your instruments is very essential before and after each use, even when it’s only you who’s using them. The dirt and dead skin may result in the growth of bacteria and germs, thus causing infection, so it is always advisable to clean it.
To kill all the germs and help keep your tools sanitized, soak them in the warm water adding some soap or anti-bacterial essence. After cleaning clippers, glass files, and cuticle nippers, rub them with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball to disinfect. Emery boards are made of paper and can’t be properly sanitized, so you should opt for a glass nail file.
After disinfecting your implements, dry them and store them in an airtight container. Do not share your tools with others because you don’t have special instrument disinfection equipment like quartz, ultraviolet, or dry heat sterilizer.