The Ten Day Pedicure for UNDER $5 Tutorial...

Ok, this one is not my usual brand of posts, but I just had to share it. It's not going to have a ton of pics like some nail tutorials have, but I'm going to explain how I keep mine this long, and what products I use.

I rarely have much money to spend on cosmetics, so I really do stick with mainly drug store brands. As far as polish goes, Wet n Wild has about the best staying power and a while back, they came up with an even longer lasting product called Megalast.  It really does what it says it does!  Ok, on to the good part...

These are the only two colors I've got of this polish, but believe me...I'm going to be getting several more ASAP.

The first thing you've always got to do with ANY pedicure is remove old polish, of course.  I also soak my feet in an Epsom salt and listerine bath (in a big pot of water or one of those foot bath things, but I don't have one so I just use a big pot).  I've got a pumice stone I rub off all the old gross skin after they soak and slather them with coconut oil. ALWAYS coconut oil for me, but obviously, you can use whatever you use for your regular moisturizer.  Let it soak in for a while!

Gather up all your supplies...you'll see on my tray I've got hand sanitizer, I'll explain that in just a sec, but first I want to explain the nail brush. A lot of the time even AFTER I moisturize, I have some flakes around my cuticle area, so I like to take a stiff nail brush and gently buff that off.  If your nails need to be trimmed, do that next and be sure to always cut toes straight across to avoid ingrowns because OMG they suck.  I had a horse step on my big toe when I was 18 and I'm very prone to them so I'm super careful about this.  Then take the file, and smooth out the edges.  

Next, you'll want to take the little stick you see there, or the plastic one that comes in your manicure kit and GENTLY push your cuticles back...make sure you are nice to your skin, otherwise, you're gonna end up just ripping the cuticle and making the edges of the polish bleed onto your skin.  Now here is where the hand sanitizer comes in.  Put a dab on a cotton swab and swab each and every one of your nails.  This is going to take off the extra oils on your nails and make the polish take hold REALLY WELL.  You can also use rubbing alchohol or vinegar in this step, I just prefer the scent of hand sanitizer.

Here is the easy part.  Paint those piggies. Use thin coats and make sure they dry all the way in between.  If you don't wait for them to dry, you'll get bubbles in the polish, or it'll smear, or just some bad shit is gonna happen and you're gonna have to start over again.  

How does this last ten days you ask?  On day 4 or 5, put a fresh coat on. Just one thin one, too many coats and it's going to chip off.  I use the combo of these two colors and like to put the glittery white on the last few days.  Say, day 8 or 9.  You can mix and match or whatever you'd like of course!  This pic, is day 11.

As you can see, still going strong day 11...and on day 13...this is what I've got:

Still no chips or cracks.  I didn't use any base coat, no top coat and the best part of all? This polish only costs $1.99 a bottle.  That's a ten day pedicure for UNDER FIVE BUCKS!

So there ya have it, that's my cheap pedi tutorial for you, I hope it works as well for you as it has for me. Please let me know in the comments if you try it and how it works!

Until next time...

J