Neat nails are the basis of any manicure. Tool, gesture, frequency … We explain how to properly file your nails. To your files!
Whether you simply want to properly maintain your hands by taking care of their appearance and that of the nails at the end of our ten fingers or that you want to have a perfect homemade manicure, the filing of the nails is not to be neglected. (just like cuticle care for that matter!). It greatly participates in allowing us to display clean hands and constitutes a good essential basis for the realization of a classic manicure or a nail art.
Filing will both make it possible to standardize the length of your nails – especially in the event of breakage or uneven regrowth – but also to give them a particular and clear shape.
1. Choose a soft file with the fingernails
Before even filing your nails, be sure to choose the right tool to do it. Not all types of nail files are created equal to even out your nails without risking damaging them. Among the different types of nail files, avoid metal nail files which tend to heat the natural nail and weaken it when they do not favor its splitting altogether. Instead, reserve them for false nails on which they are very effective and are not likely to cause damage. To file your natural nails, opt instead for a cardboard nail file which will be more flexible and therefore softer on your nails, but choose a quality one, namely straight and thick so that it offers a good grip. and facilitates the filing of the nails. We recommend that you choose it with a fine grain – for example, with a grain referenced 180, that's perfect – because the finer the grain of your file, the smoother your file is with your natural nails. This type of nail file is therefore ideal for maintaining your nails by equalizing their length, and it is well suited to all types of nails, including the most fragile. If your nails are brittle or damaged, watch out for cardboard files with thicker grains as they are more aggressive and could weaken your unhealthy nails. Finally, remember to use a good cardboard file as this type of file tends to break down faster than hard files. However, to ensure a flawless filing, it is imperative to have an accessory that is not too worn for the file to be effective and not risk weakening your nails.
Rest assured if your budget is tight, you can find this type of file for just a few dollars on Amazon.
2. Choose a nail shape suitable for your nails
You never file your nails at random! Before you get hold of your nail file, you need to determine the shape you are going to give your nails. There are indeed several shapes of nails: the nails can have a round shape when they are short, they can also be filed square, or have a shape between the two namely square but rounded, they can also be filed in order to to have an oval shape, or to display a similar almond shape but more pointed on the tip of the nail. But contrary to popular belief, the choice between these different nail shapes does not only depend on the length of your nails! Indeed, your nails already have a natural shape which it is advisable to respect to a certain extent at least. Generally, natural nails can either have edges that are very parallel in nature, or have a more rounded shape naturally and therefore edges that are not really parallel and a slightly flared end of the nail. In principle, nails that are naturally more square have every interest in favoring square shapes, rounded square or even an oval shape even if in reality it is possible to file your nails in any desired shape. With nails with non-parallel edges, your best bet is to opt for a rounded shape (round or oval-shaped nails) but it is also possible to bet on a rounded square image which allows your fingers to refine. The idea being that the shape of your nails is in accordance with your base but also in harmony with the morphology of your hands and fingers.
Finally, it is also possible to use the shape of your nails to give the illusion that they are a little long than they are in reality: for this, adopt rather an oval or almond shape rather than square-filed nails!
3. Adopt good gestures
Once you have the right file in your possession and you have a clear idea of the shape you want to give your nails, you still need to use the right gestures to file your nails correctly. If you are in the habit of going back and forth on the tips of your nails with your file: stop right away, you risk weakening your nails and promoting their splitting! To properly file your nails, start by placing your file on the edge of the nail, tilting it slightly, then slide it towards the end of the nail – even to the other end of a single one. gesture if you can manage it – by passing it in one and only direction. If you do not manage to file the entire end of the nail at once, then repeat the same operation but starting from the other edge of the nail to join the end of the nail again, always in passing the file in one motion so that you only file in one direction each time. It is even a two-step gesture to promote if you are having trouble giving your nails the right shape you want because it allows you to work on it more easily. This basic gesture is to be adopted whatever the desired form. You just have to adapt it a little bit by tilting your file more or less and by “rounding” the gesture more or less according to the shape you want to give your nails. To give a nice shape, be careful to gradually file your nails while watching the general shape of the nail and not that of your finger, because the fingers can be slightly curved or deformed and therefore distort the gestures.
In any case, always make gentle gestures because you should not press hard on the nails with the file. The filing should be delicate. It is better to do it several times to gently file the nail than to adopt a too aggressive gesture from the start.
4. Do it neither too little nor not enough
While it's important to do the right thing when filing your nails, how often we do it is also important. Indeed, it is preferable to file your nails regularly so that they remain clear and of a length less prone to breakage, but it is on the other hand not advisable to do it too often either because the filing can end up weaken the nails if it is done in excess (and this even if it is done according to the rules of the art).
Knowing that the nails grow about a millimeter every ten to fifteen days (the rate of growth of the nail varies from one person to another), it is considered that it is good to file your nails every two weeks or so (even if you let them grow to have them longer because you don't have to file them a lot each time). This frequency will allow you to maintain your nails well and preserve the pretty shape you have given them.
5. Take the correct reference points to determine the length of the nails.
If the choice of the length of your nails is of course up to you according to your tastes, however, we have a few tips for you to choose the perfect one. First, be aware that if your nails are damaged or fragile and therefore rather prone to breakage, it is best to file them short enough to prevent them from becoming more fragile. Then, we generally choose the length of the nails also according to the morphology of the hands (length and fineness of the fingers) to highlight the whole hand. For example, you can wear long fingernails to refine your hands or give the illusion of having longer fingers. Conversely, you can file your rather short nails when you already naturally have very long fingers or very thin hands so as not to accentuate this feature. Filing is then one of the very practical tips for getting a top manicure!
Finally, also know that you should not file your nails in the same way if you plan to wear varnish often or if you prefer to leave your nails natural. If your fingernails are left bare most of the time, it is best to make sure that the free edge of your fingernails – the part of the nail that sticks out of the finger – is filed down so that the white part of the nail is the same length on all your fingers for a harmonious result (although you can shorten it very slightly on the little fingers of the hands which are shorter for a really flawless result). If you tend to wear nail polish, on the other hand, adapt the length of the free edge of the nail in relation to your fingertips so that the free edge of the nail is the same length on all fingers. . This is because the nail plate (pink part of the nail) is not always the same length on all fingers. As a result, the white part of the nail sometimes starts just at the fingertips, sometimes a little before. By taking your fingertips as a reference point to adapt the length of the free edge of the nail rather than the length of the white part, you ensure a more harmonious filing for nails that are going to be varnished. The length of the free edge will be more balanced on the ten fingers of your hands and it doesn't matter if the white part is a little less because it will be hidden by the color of your nail polish! The overall look then prevails to dictate the length to ensure you get the most beautiful manicure.
Our advices :
- Once your nails are perfectly filed, it is best to apply a nourishing treatment to your nails to hydrate them and make them more beautiful and more resistant. If you leave your nails bare, this treatment will allow you to beautify them, and if you are a fan of polish, it will help strengthen the nail that needs it.
- After filing your nails and before applying the treatment, also think about polishing once a month! This step, which is carried out with a polisher (and not a nail file especially) is very useful to standardize the surface of the nail by smoothing it, to remove the slightly yellow appearance that it can sometimes take with the poses. successive varnishes and make it shine (a real asset when it remains naked!). Again, do not abuse it because just like a file, a polisher used in excess can do more harm than good. But at the frequency we recommend, it will just give you shinier nails and an even sharper base for all of your manicures.
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