Manicure Guide for Teenagers (A step by step process to doing it right)

From early childhood, girls try to imitate their mothers; trying on outfits, shoes, secretly wearing their mother’s lipstick and trying on nail polishes. It is not surprising, especially when the beauty-interest period starts. It's a time when every girl tries to express herself. With this manicure guide for teenagers, I hope to help you understand what to do to avoid damaging your nails.

Every girl in her teen years starts to investigate mother’s make-up bag. I remember myself when I was 12, that was the first time when I tried lipstick and nail polish. Thankfully, she wasn’t angry with me at all. Moreover, she revealed to me every secret she knew about beauty routine.

That was the most valuable advice I’ve gotten about nails and nail polishes. I was so impressed that I’ve remembered every word to this day. In this blog post, I want to show you everything my mother told me about the teenage manicure and nail care routine. In addition, I’ll add some information about stylish nail shapes for teenagers. Keep reading!

Manicure Guide for Teenagers (General Info)

When it comes to the manicure for teenagers, the main goal is to take care of nail protection. Teenage manicures requires a special approach since the nails in this age group are still very elastic and contain much more moisture than the nail plate of the adult woman. Therefore, nail’s care at teenage age is necessary to prevent fragility and brittleness in the future. If you broke your nail, check out my 6 easy steps to fix them.

Tips for Teenage Nail Care

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    Always keep your nails clean and dry to prevent different infections.
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    Never bite your nails. The damaged nail plate is exposed to a high risk of infection.
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    Avoid the use a nail polish remover based on acetone. The harmful substance will dry out nails, so nail plate will be brittle and fragile in the future. Natural nail polish removers are important.
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    Carefully sterilize all the tools for nail care: nail files, buffers, tweezers, etc. Otherwise, you can get an infection.
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    Always wash hands thoroughly with soap; moisturize them with protective and moisturizing hand cream.

Manicure for teens is important as well as for adults. Try to have nails that always look nice, well-groomed and healthy. It doesn’t matter if you are at school, on holidays or at home.

Nail Shape for Teenagers

In many cases, the shape of the nails becomes a fundamental element for the future manicure. So it is important to find the perfect one in the early teenage age.

Compare your nails to the shapes below to figure out which ones you have. Remember that the shape can always be changed but it is better for nails to stick with one for a long time.

1. Round nails shape

A round nail shape is the ideal shape for those who have big hands, big fingers and wide palms. Round nail shapes look good with short nails. It is suitable for any occasion and occupation.

2. Square nails shape

The square shape will look great on the hands with thin, long fingers. Choosing this nail form, a teenage girl can decide what length she wants. As the square nails look good with both; short and long nails.

3. Square nails shape with rounded ends

This form is similar to the previous one, the selection rules are identical. The difference is that there is no inconvenience with sharp edges. This is the most stable nail shape. Also, rounded corners help achieve a natural look.

4. Oval nails shape

This form can be given to any nails type. Oval nail shape visually lengthens short nails. It looks better on the short nails. If the fingers are short, it is the best shape you can ever find. Oval nail shape creates an elegant look of your hands.

5. Almond nails shape

Almond-shaped nails look feminine and visually make the fingers look thinner and more delicate. Nowadays, this form is the most popular among teenagers.

It is worth remembering when you choose this form. The fingers should be thin and long. If the fingers are small, you will disrupt the overall proportions of the hand.

As you see, all forms are good, but you should not forget that all nails should be the same length. Different lengths will ruin a perfect manicure look.

Everyday Manicure for Teenagers

Like for grown women, an everyday manicure for a teenager should be in neutral colors (beige, pearl, pale pink, or pearl). As the neutral nail coating is very easy to remove, and it can be changed as often as the teenager wishes.

Some schools do not allow nail polishes for the pupils. In that case, transparent nail polish saves the day. A girl can get more nail elegance with some nail decor. Nail sliders or a few rhinestones on the ring finger can totally change the look of the manicure.

Bright Manicure for Teenagers

Teenage girls always want to be noticed. Young fashionista girls copy nail ideas from the popular bloggers and celebrities on their Instagram, Tumblr, or Pinterest accounts. Of course, bright and shiny manicure makes you feel stylish, fashionable, and attractive. Therefore, a bright festive manicure is a way of self-expression and self-affirmation for many teens.

Teenage girls can try gelish gel. A long lasting manicure will be appropriate for a trip to the sea or for camp; especially, when the girl will not be able to take care of nails and apply new nail polishes layers regularly.

Birthdays, beach parties, disco eves - these are perfect events for bright, flashy nails or nail sliders, which can be decorated with any stamps or stickers.

Manicures are not only for nail care but are a great way to express individuality. If you plan on doing a manicure soon, familiarize yourself with the 5 basic things every manicurist should know.

Nail polish products and techniques for teenagers.

Being a teenager, it is important to know everything about tools and products thata we can use for our day-to-day manicure. Nail polishes, files, scissors, oils, and other products in the routine play an important role in creating a good and efficient manicure. 

Let’s start our journey to the perfect manicure with information about basic tools like nail files, buffers, and scissors.

How to Choose your First Manicure Tools

When you are looking for your first manicure set, you are faced with hundreds of proposals. All of them look similar and the main difference is the price. I have collected everything I know about manicure tools to help you understand how to buy high-quality products for the best price.

The set must contain the basic manicure tools: a pair of nail scissors, cuticle nail clipper, cuticle trimmer for moving away cuticles, and a nail file. If you want to get a professional set with more specialized tools, your kit has to include a nail nipper, nail clipper, cuticle scissors, and a pedicure machine.

For choosing high-quality products, you need to pay attention to the material from which they are made. The most common types of metals which companies use for the manicure tools are medical steel, zinc, and nickel. Medical steel is the best choice because it can be sterilized in any way. Moreover, manicure tools from medical steel are long lasting and have a small price.

The second thing you need to pay attention to is usability. To understand which manicure tools are better for you, you just need to try to hold, open, and close them several times. For example, scissors should fit your hand,  not be too loose and not cause any discomfort during the use.

The last important thing in manicure tools is their look. You need carefully check the product for damage.

Nail File - Your best friend in any situation

The nail file is a key to an ideal manicure. The sooner you start using it the better it will be for your nails.

Nail files have two main characteristics: abrasiveness and the material. Different combinations of these criteria will allow you to choose the "right" nail file. 

Abrasion is a special coating on the nail file, it is measured in grit and usually, indicates on the packaging of the product. The more grit, the softer the nail file.

The best nail file for the teenager has high abrasion - from 200 to 300 grit. This type of nail file fits all types of nails. Also, It is recommended for fragile, weak, and thin nails. Meanwhile, the nail file from 80 up to 180 grit is dangerous for a girls nails. This nail file type can cause large problems with nails such as fragility and weakness.

If you are looking for a polishing nail file, also known as a buffer, take one with the highest abrasiveness. The best one has up to 1200 grit. But you should note for yourself, polishing is a dangerous procedure. Do it very carefully if you don’t want to damage the surface of your nail. Also, don’t polish your nails more than 2 times per month.

I reviewed a Czech Crystal Nail File recently, and I've got to say, I love using it.

What Nail Polishes Teenagers Should Use

Since you now know everything about manicure tools, we can move to nail polishes and their removers.

Nail polish is a fun and easy way to change your appearance. Especially now, with so many quality brands which are constantly releasing new shades every season. Unfortunately, nail polishes have a dark side. Some components have toxic interaction with the human body. These elements are dangerous not only for teenagers but for adults too.

Fortunately, beauty industry released new age nail polishes. You’ll see them defined on the package. Marks like “3-free”, “5-free”, or “7-free” on them. It means that nail polishes with signs like these don’t have harmful elements. Here are some of my top choices for best gel nail polish brands.

“3-free” nail polishes don’t have next elements: formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and toluene. “5-free” note means that the nail polish does not contain formaldehyde, formaldehyde resins, toluene, dibutyl phthalates (DBP), and camphor. These are the five most common toxins which are commonly found in traditional, inexpensive nail polishes.

But the best choice will be to buy “7-free” nail polish. This one doesn’t include the next elements: formaldehyde, formaldehyde resins, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, camphor, xylene, and ethyl tosylamide.

Deborah Lippman is one of the brands known for being "7-free".

Check out my Gelish vs Shellac post for more details regarding the two.​

Now that you know which nail polishes you should buy, let's discuss the next product, the nail polish remover.

A Safe Nail Polish Remover

The one and only function of nail polish remover is to dissolve nail polish, such as different soak off gel nail polish brands. Unfortunately, this product contains harmful elements too. The most famous one is the acetone. The dangerous ingredients harm the nails and make them thin and brittle.

You can avoid this situation by using natural nail polish removers. These do not have the next harmful ingredients: Acetone, Isopropyl alcohol, Propylene glycol, and Ethyl acetate. In return, a safe nail polish remover should contain natural essential oils (for humidifying and feeding the nail plate) and vitamins (typically A, E, and B).

The nail polish remover market has a lot of types of this products. Some of them are in the form of a gel or cream, but as the practice shows, the liquid nail polish remover is the most convenient option.

Selecting your first set for a manicure isn’t easy job. You will have to take all the responsibility because most of the products will stay with you for a couple of years. Low-quality tools and products not only will work horribly, but they can endanger the health.

Lastly, you want to make sure you find the best nail art brushes for you. I personally, went through about 50 or so until I found some that I am satisfied with.​

I revealed a number of aspects on which you should pay attention during shopping at a beauty store. If you aspire to become a nail technician, start by organizing your nail polish with a rack, finding the right kind of lamp (either UV or LED) and perhaps even get a portable manicure table.

Remember, buying high-quality products doesn’t always mean an expensive purchase, spend a little time reading online and you’ll find the “best friends” for your hands.

Manicure is the special carrying process of fingernails. This well-known technique has been around for 5,000 years. In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh had his own beauty professionals who treated his hands every 9 days. Thankfully, nowadays, anyone is capable of creating the perfect manicure at home. 

Lets get into starting the manicure where we will go over the tools and techniques you should be using to keep your nails looking great and healthy.

Teenage girls need to remember that hands are always in sight. Even the best look can be spoiled with dirty and not well-maintained nails. That’s why everyone needs to keep their nails healthy.

The manicure procedure is not difficult, so if you do not want to spend much money on the salons, you should get some beauty tools.

Teenager Guide to Starting the Manicure - Tools

A manicure kit can be purchased anywhere online. The manicure set includes scissors, cuticle trimmer, nail clipper, pusher, and few nail files. After 3-4 manicure procedures, you will gain the basic skills and the process will take a minimum of your time.

There is one important information about manicure tools. You should always clean your manicure tools with antiseptic before use. This treatment allows to disinfect tools and wipe out all harmful bacteria from the tool’s surface. This precaution will save you from different skin diseases like fungus.

Let’s now consider what each tool does:

Scissors and cuticle trimmer. With their help, you can remove the thin skin around the nail. Cut it very carefully, because the blood vessels are very close to the surface of the skin and you can easily damage them.

Nail files. They are used to create the shape and polish nails. There are few types of nail files. The best considered is the salon nail files. They are completely harmless and long lasting. While iron nail files from inexpensive manicure sets may worsen the condition of your nails.

Many nail professionals work with crystal or glass nail file. This is due to its abrasive coating which is safe for the nail plate.

To polish your nails, you can use a specially created buff nail file. But use it only 1-2 times per month.

Manicure Techniques for Teenagers

Step #1 - Preparing

This is very important part of the process. To prevent any bacterial diseases you should wash your hands with soap and water before the manicure. After, take your set of manicure tools and start your first procedure.

To remove old nail polish, take a cotton ball, apply it to a liquid or cream nail polish remover and rub each nail.

Step #2 - Nail length and shape correction

Now, take a pair of scissors and a nail file. Give your nails a desirable shape and length. You can give it any shape you want: oval, square or almond.

The first two are perfect for long thin fingers. If you prefer a round shape of the nails, do not grow the nails too long.

Step #3 - Bath for nails

Don’t use extremely hot water for the nails’ bath. This procedure will soften the skin and clean the space under the nails from the dirt. You can add sea salt, lemon juice, or herbals to your nails’ bath.

When the bath is ready, dip your hands in it and hold for 5 minutes. It is not necessary to steam the skin for too long, it will become very soft, and you may accidentally damage the nail’s surface during the manicure.

Step #4 - Moving away the cuticles

Cuticles - are one of the most difficult nail treatments. To operate this procedure you need to have more advanced skills. If you are afraid to do this, you can skip this step or ask someone to help you.

Take a pusher from your manicure set and start moving away cuticles. Once it’s done, cuticles can be removed. You can do this procedure with scissors or a cuticle trimmer. But before you start, be sure to disinfect the skin around the nails.

Step #5 - Polishing

To make your nails shine and smooth you will need a special polishing nail file. It will help eliminate the remaining roughness and make the nail smooth. However, the polishing procedure isn’t healthy for teenagers. Such manipulation will make your nail thin and brittle. To prevent this use restorative baths for your nails.

Step #6 - Apply nail polish

Final and the most exciting step for every girl. This step consists of three parts:

You can either choose regular nail polish, or a "soak off gel nail polish"

Best Gel Nail Polish Brands

Soak Off Gel Nail Polish Brands​

Base coat. Its application is necessary for a quality manicure and to keep nails healthy. The base coat helps to hide all nail imperfections and protects the nail from the harmful elements of the nail polish.

Color coat. At this step, you can choose all colors and textures you like. But don’t forget, for teenagers, it is better to have 5 or 7-free nail polishes. They don’t have any harmful ingredients.

Top coat. Finish your bright manicure with the final touch. Top coat is created to save a color coat. It will not scratch, crack and crumble if you apply it. If you skip the topcoat, your fancy new nails will most likely chip very quickly.

Now you see how easy and interesting starting the manicure is. Follow these steps and you will enjoy the beauty of your hands.

Also, I would like to know, do you have additional steps in your manicure routine? Write down in the comment box below. I’ll be happy to see your beauty secrets here!

Manicure Guide for Teenagers

Every woman wants to feel pretty and beautiful. Nowadays, there are a lot of things you can do for yourself. One of the best ways is to get fashionable and neat nails. I am sure that most of you girls would agree with me. Let's continue with the teenager guide to a manicure by finally finishing the manicure, and cleaning up.

You've just finished applying your nail polish. You're pretty much done the manicure, but now you have to pamper your hands a little to keep them fresh and to make sure that your nails will stay healthy while they have several layers of base coats, color coats, and top coats on them.

Finishing the Manicure

The most important thing in my opinion to is consistently look after your cuticles. If you properly applied the topcoat, there's not much else you can do for your nails, so you must do everything you can to keep the surrounding area as healthy as possible.

One way is by applying solar oil, it contains mostly almond oil. I do this about 4 times a day. Alternatively, you can use Jojoba Oil, which has similar benefits.

You can apply the oil to your nails, but the top coat will prevent the majority of it from being absorbed into your nail plate.​ Applying the oils to your natural nail will give them a beautiful natural nail shine.

Moisturize your hands as well, they get really dry after all intense work that's been done.

By looking after yourself, eating properly, and moisturizing your cuticles, you will grow long and healthy nails.

Cleaning and Sterilizing

Let's move on the the final step in your manicure. That is to clean everything up, and to sterilize your tools for use the next time you give yourself a mani.

I recently bought 2 things, an ultrasonic cleaner, and a ball quartz sterilizer.

The ultrasonic cleaner, ensures that your tools do not have any dead skin particles or pretty much anything on them once you take them out of the short cleaning cycle.

The next step is to put the tools into a ball quartz sterilizer. The little machine heats up the objects inside up to 250 ⁰C. However, if you want to better sterilize the tools, you will have to get equipment that uses UV rays. It is slightly more expensive.

Dipping tools into acetone is what you would typically do if you lack the proper equipment. However, if you plan on becoming a nail tech, or doing manis often, invest! They don't cost much.​

Important things to Consider​

This is the end of my Teenager Manicure Guide. If you know someone that needs the proper guidance, send them here so they can read up and avoid future nail problems. Otherwise, if you have any questions, leave them down below and I will get back to you quickly!

Step #1 - Preparing

This is very important part of the process. To prevent any bacterial diseases you should wash your hands with soap and water before the manicure. After, take your set of manicure tools and start your first procedure.

To remove old nail polish, take a cotton ball, apply it to a liquid or cream nail polish remover and rub each nail.

Step #2 - Nail length and shape correction

Now, take a pair of scissors and a nail file. Give your nails desirable shape and length. You can give it any shape you want: oval, square or almond.

The first two are perfect for long thin fingers. If you prefer a round shape of the nails, do not grow the nails too long.

Step #3 - Bath for nails

Don’t use extremely hot water for the nails’ bath. This procedure will soften the skin and clean the space under the nails from the dirt. You can add sea salt, lemon juice, or herbals to your nails’ bath.

When the bath is ready, dip your hands in it and hold for 5 minutes. It is not necessary to steam the skin for too long, it will become very soft, and you may accidentally damage the nail’s surface during the manicure.

Step #4 - Moving away the cuticles

Cuticle - is one of the most difficult nail treatments. To operate this procedure you need to have more advanced skills. If you are afraid to do this, you can skip this step or ask someone to help you.

Take a pusher from your manicure set and start moving away cuticles. Once it’s done cuticle can be removed. You can do this procedure with scissors or cuticle trimmer. But before you start, be sure to disinfect the skin around the nails.

Step #5 - Polishing

To make your nails shine and smooth you will need a special polishing nail file. It will help eliminate the remaining roughness and make the nail smooth. However, the polishing procedure isn’t healthy for teenagers. Such manipulation will make your nail thin and brittle. To prevent this use restorative baths for your nails.

Step #6 - Apply nail polish

Final and the most exciting step for every girl. This step consists of three parts:

You can either choose regular nail polish, or a "soak off gel nail polish"

Best Gel Nail Polish Brands

Soak Off Gel Nail Polish Brands​

Base coat. Its application is necessary for a quality manicure and to keep nails healthy. The base coat helps to hide all nail imperfections and protects the nail from the harmful elements of the nail polish.

Color coat. At this step, you can choose all colors and textures you like. But don’t forget, for teenagers, it is better to have 5 or 7-free nail polishes. They don’t have any harmful ingredients.

Top coat. Finish your bright manicure with the final touch. Top coat is created to save a color coat. It will not scratch, crack and crumble if you apply it. If you skip the topcoat, your fancy new nails will most likely chip very quickly.

Now you see how easy and interesting starting the manicure is. Follow these steps and you will enjoy the beauty of your hands.

Also, I would like to know, do you have additional steps in your manicure routine? Write down in the comment box below. I’ll be happy to see your beauty secrets here!

Manicure Guide for Teenagers

Every woman wants to feel pretty and beautiful. Nowadays, there are a lot of things you can do for yourself. One of the best ways is to get fashionable and neat nails. I am sure that most of you girls would agree with me. Let's continue with the teenager guide to a manicure by finally finishing the manicure, and cleaning up.

You've just finished applying your nail polish. You're pretty much done the manicure, but now you have to pamper your hands a little to keep them fresh and to make sure that your nails will stay healthy while they have several layers of base coats, color coats, and top coats on them.

Finishing the Manicure

The most important thing in my opinion to is consistently look after your cuticles. If you properly applied the topcoat, there's not much else you can do for your nails, so you must do everything you can to keep the surrounding area as healthy as possible.

One way is by applying solar oil, it contains mostly almond oil. I do this about 4 times a day. Alternatively, you can use Jojoba Oil, which has similar benefits.

You can apply the oil to your nails, but the top coat will prevent the majority of it from being absorbed into your nail plate.​ Applying the oils to your natural nail will give them a beautiful natural nail shine.

Moisturize your hands as well, they get really dry after all intense work that's been done.

By looking after yourself, eating properly, and moisturizing your cuticles, you will grow long and healthy nails.

Cleaning and Sterilizing

Let's move on the the final step in your manicure. That is to clean everything up, and to sterilize your tools for use the next time you give yourself a mani.

I recently bought 2 things, an ultrasonic cleaner, and a ball quartz sterilizer.

The ultrasonic cleaner, ensures that your tools do not have any dead skin particles or pretty much anything on them once you take them out of the short cleaning cycle.

The next step is to put the tools into a ball quartz sterilizer. The little machine heats up the objects inside up to 250 ⁰C. However, if you want to better sterilize the tools, you will have to get equipment that uses UV rays. It is slightly more expensive.

Dipping tools into acetone is what you would typically do if you lack the proper equipment. However, if you plan on becoming a nail tech, or doing manis often, invest! They don't cost much.​

Important things to Consider​

This is the end of my Teenager Manicure Guide. If you know someone that needs the proper guidance, send them here so they can read up and avoid future nail problems. Otherwise, if you have any questions, leave them down below and I will get back to you quickly!

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