I hope it's no secret to anyone that a man's hands are not just a business card, but a whole resume. No ironed shirt and patent shoes tell more about a man than his hands, and mainly his nails.
Want to make a good impression? Forget about the keyring pliers! Your hands need care, so you need to know how to take care of a man's nails.
In this article, I propose to consider some aspects of men's manicure, to get acquainted with special tools and simple rules that will help you better take care of your nails.
Manicure basics for men
In order for us to analyze the manicure process in detail and in the same language as you, we will name the main parts of the nail:
- The nail plate is the visible part of the nail that sits on the nail bed.
- The free edge of the nail is the part of the nail plate that protrudes above the edge of the finger.
- The smile line is the natural line between the free edge of the nail and the attachment point of the nail bed.
- The cuticle is the rim of skin that surrounds the nail plate at the bottom of the nail.
In the home arsenal of men, not only a drill and a hammer should be present. A personal manicure set is the same personal hygiene product as a toothbrush, comb and razor. Therefore, in our article I will give the minimum composition of a male manicure set. An important feature of owning this set is its mandatory disinfection, before and after the procedure.
Manicure set for men:
- Manicure scissors for nails. Used to trim nails
- Manicure cuticle scissors. Used for trimming cuticles and barbs.
- Nail nippers. Used to trim the skin around the nails
- Pedicure nippers. Used to trim toenails.
- Emery or glass file.
- Scraper, or manicure spatula. Designed to work with the cuticle (leather rim, framing the nail plate). It is used when it is necessary to move the overgrown cuticle to prevent painful burrs, and can also be used to clean the free edge of the nail from dirt.
For manicure tools, their sharpness is important. Dull tools are not only useless, but also make manicure painful and very unpleasant.
How to care for a man's nails
Step 1. Wash your hands thoroughly in warm water and soap.
Tip: the thickness of a man's nail is quite dense and, to make it easier to cut off the free edge of the nail, I advise you to steam your hands a little in hot water.
Step 2. Cut off the free edge with nail scissors in a semicircle, parallel to the smile line of your nail. You should not cut your nails “to zero”, along the natural smile line, always leave half a millimeter of the free edge of the nail, the soft edge of the fingertip will tear the skin away from the nail, thereby the nail bed will decrease and your smile line will move further and further from the edge of the finger. You will get a completely unsightly hand look.
Step 3. Using a nail file, we correct the shape of the nail. To do this, with the abrasive side of the file, we make frequent movements to the left – to the right along the edge of the nail, giving it a rounded shape.
Step 4. We work with the cuticle. For this procedure, there is a rule: the cuticle must be softened. To do this, we either use soaking hands in hot water (10 minutes) to steam the skin, or use a special gel to soften the cuticle.
We take the manicure spatula at an angle to the cuticle, lightly press and move the skin towards the beginning of the nail. We remove the remaining fragments of dead skin and burrs with a cuticle manicure scissors or cuticle nippers. The main thing is to be careful not to overdo it, so as not to damage the skin and not cut the burrs too deep. Otherwise, you will only damage the skin, which will cause soreness, cut and bleeding.
Step 5. Apply hand cream. The cream perfectly moisturizes and nourishes the skin.
In conclusion
Neat, clean and well-groomed nails are an important aspect of personal hygiene, health and your attractiveness. It is important to regularly take care of nails, cuticles, as well as timely remove dirt, burrs and dead skin. A man's manicure is a guarantee not only of your presentability, but also of the health of your hands.
