Place the fingertips of one hand in the warm, soapy water. After about 30 seconds, remove your hand and dry it off well. With your file, file in one direction only for strength and to avoid peeling nails. I recommend a length no more than 1/3 of the length of your nail bed, and a shape that is relatively flat on top with slightly rounded edges. The ideal shape of your nails should approximate the shape of your cuticles. Turn your file on its side and do a quick scrape of the underside of your nail edge to remove “fuzzies,” then bevel the nail edge slightly by running the file lightly across the underside of the nail edge. Look at your nails from behind (palm facing you, fingertips up), and you can see much easier which nails might need to be shortened to match the others. Repeat with other hand.
Looking from behind is the best way to ensure that your nails are not filed unevenly. Your nail bed does not always give a true guide to follow. Another helpful tip is to hold matching fingers from each hand together, nail to nail (pointing down), matching them up at the cuticles then checking at the free edge to see if their lengths match. If you would like to wear your nails more rounded, be very careful not to file away the sides of your nail - that is where the strength lies. They will be very fragile without the sides. The nails that look best rounded have longer nail beds and are more curved from side to side. A wider flatter nail does much better if left in a “squoval” shape.
If you are doing this for the first time, you may or may not have polish on that needs to be removed. If you do not, no traces at all, then skip on to the next step. If you do:
Use the 2×2 gauze (or paper towels—remember NO COTTON BALLS) and acetone to remove your polish. Watch that furniture! Get it out completely from under your nail, and out of your cuticles and off of your skin. No stained fingertips allowed here! And get that stuff out of your cuticle area. Again, be a little aggressive here. Wash up quickly one more time to get those chemicals off of your hands. This time bring back your bowl filled with nice warm water and a squirt of liquid soap.
