I was around 23 years-old the very first time I actually stepped into a nail salon to receive a manicure. Being a young mom and college student, getting my nails done professionally never dawned to me as a priority. In fact, I never thought much about my nails until a relative noted I should get them done for my birthday. And done I did. It was great to pamper myself for a day, but even when I did get my nails done at a salon, I found myself only at most going in twice a year since that first time.
Perhaps sitting on the floor in the Philippines as a child while closely watching my mom get her nails done was enough for me to think, “Hey! I can do that!” So, after watching nail salon artists doing my nails, I guess subconsciously I was still saying that to myself after all these years.
While I truly enjoy talking to the nail artists or the person next to me (I once found myself sitting next to a girl who I want to say was around 5 years-old getting her nails done, too! I had to laugh inside and think, ‘Why?!!’ recalling that I was twenty-three my very first time.) Interesting world. Interesting moms out there. I suppose we truly want to love our children the way we know how or perhaps never got as a child. No judgment in love.
As for me, spending time or money to get my nails done is just not on top of my priority list as a mother of five, teacher, and wife. Nonetheless, when I am faced to meet on camera, having presentable nails, I realize, is a way to demonstrate a little self-care. Additionally, it just feels good to wash the dishes and look at my pretty nails, unafraid to ruin them when I know I didn’t pay salon price to get them done. Most importantly, when I’m out with my husband and children, I’m not sticking my hands in my pockets trying to hide peeling nails. (I know I’m not the only one when I say this!) Instead, I find myself proudly flashing them like a hand model. Far from a hand model, but at least my nails look good.
In this video, while there are some things like a cuticle trimmer or buffer that I use, showing you how I do my nails by myself at home with just the basics of nail polish remover, cotton balls for polish removal, a nail file, a base coat, nail polish of your color choice, and finally, a top coat to give you that salon finish look, you are able to replicate a nicely done manicure on your own, time and money definitely saved. And if you mess up, you don’t even have to be charged twice. Just remove the polish and start again!
I truly hope that by me allowing some vulnerability in this video, showing you how I do my own nails at home, you will have picked up a new empowerment within yourself to say, “Hey! I can do that!”
