Nia Cooper: Hi, I am Nia, a nail artist at the Erwin Gomez Salon & Spa. Today I have been taking you to the basic steps to manicuring. Now, I am going to show you how to clean up the nail bed, apply Chip Skip, base, polish and topcoat. Now, when you clean off the top of the base, you want to have your white emery buffer block to clean off the top and the base of the nail bed, you want to do this in a one stroke fashion, just because you do not want to damage the top of the nail bed. I use it to clean up the extra shadings from the nail and to smooth out the base of her nail. Again you want to take it in a one stroke fashion and clean under in the sides to remove the extra nail shadings.

Now, you want to use the nail antiseptic to clean off the nail bed. This is going to make sure her nail is free of oil, so her polish can adhere to her nail and bond to her nail. Look at the client s hands to make sure her nail bed is free of any oil. Apply the bond a Chip Skip; this is going to prevent her nail polish from chipping. You don t need too much, just a little bit. Now, you want to apply the base coat and you want to go from middle to side to side and this is going to make sure that polish lays evenly.

At the end, I am going to go back to the thumb to cap her free edge. This is going to make sure the polish on her nails doesn t chip. Now, I am going to apply her polish and before I apply the polish, I want to role it from side to side in my hands to make sure we get out the streaks, so the polish will lay evenly. Again you want to go from middle to side to side. Middle, side to side, and you want to just have a little bit of polish on the brush, just so you want to have the thickness in the polish applied so the natural nail.

Again middle, side to side, middle side to side and then you want to go back to over to the thumb, so it kept the free edge. You just need a little bit of polish on the brush for this step. Now, we are going to apply the topcoat and when you apply the topcoat, you want to go from middle to side to side. You just need a little bit of polish on the brush, middle, side to side, middle, side to side and don t forget, to take the brush, with a little bit of polish to cap the free edge. And with all that being set, next I am going to show you how to apply the Rapid Dry to seal and to maintain your perfectly finished manicure.