(Part 3) Reddit mentions: The best nail files & buffers

Origami with little notes inside!

Also, little doodles, especially if they mean something (ie, my boyfriend sent me that rawr mean I love you picture for Valentine's day...now we leave each other sticky notes with dinosaurs and "RAWR!" on them).

Pop Rocks.

Got her nail polish? What about one of those multi sided buffing stick things? (I use one every day and still do not know what to call it).

Thought everyone might enjoy a good glass nail file, we make them in Czech Rep., get them here

Nail Buffer Use this weekly. It'll remove stains, get rid of ridges and shines. It's a 3 part process. Only do it once a week, any more and your nails will get too thin.

Vitamin E oil, they sell it at Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, and Dollar General. Rib a little on your cuticles before bed each night.

Cuticle Remover If you have an excess amount of cuticle growth. Rub this into your cuticles and let it set for several minutes. Then push back your cuticles carefully with these thingys.

The two brands I've seen recommended most are Cheeky (like these) and Czech Republic Nail Files (like these). Oh, and Nail Tek isn't quite as popular but I've seen good things about their files, too!

These are quite cheap. If you're in the US, you're probably not far from a Radio Shack. That's where I got my set. It's a little aluminum tube with screw caps and a tube of very tiny drill bits inside. One of the screw caps has a collet sticking through it, and twisting the cap tight tightens the collet. It's hand-powered, and will take quite awhile, but for delicate work like this, it might be worth it.

STRUCTURE

Bonder - ibd led/uv bonder

Hard gel - ibd hard gel led/uv builder gel clear

POLISH

Shimmering baby blue gel polish - max estrada’s 124 gwiyeo from the HALLYU! metallic collection

Holo flake taco - max estrada’s sexy graffiti 177

Glossy taco - shine e by max estrada

MISC

lamp - USpicy 48W LED Nail Dryer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079NNL6P2?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Gel brush - DDLBiz Gel Brush https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNTR2SH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_g-rSBbH4JB8G6

I use a manipro, a little pricey, but definitely worth it.

Kupa ManiPro Passport Portable Nail Filing System White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C93O7XG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_UmILzb05XA0JN

ill show you how to get it cheaper if you're interested.
brand new 300$.

That's more-or-less what I did, except I used one of those multi-grit nail file things. The "sandpaper" on it is backed with foam, so I was probably exerting a little less pressure on it.

This is what mine looks like now. I'm trying to encourage the patina.

I bought this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEIGHTON-DENNY-Crystal-Nail-Aluminimum/dp/B003H77IAS

It's hands-down (lol) the greatest nail file on the planet. So I snip them back then go to town on them with that.

I've been doing a stiletto shape on my natural nails for years now and I love it. I get way less breakage than I did with square or oval nails. My nails were never this long back when I had a more standard shape.

It takes a lot of patience but is not so difficult to achieve. I like to use a glass file to get the basic shape down--gradual filing upward in each direction, beginning as close to the nail bed as I can so the stiletto shape flows out from the nail bed as opposed to looking square at first and then stiletto. I use the glass file until I get about 90% of the way there and then I use a buffing block block with a good amount of grit, like the standard black and orange ones, to finish the shape. This allows me to achieve a really fine/sharp point without filing the nail down too much.

It takes a long time to file them stiletto from square or oval, but once they're shaped they are pretty easy to maintain. I just file the new growth and buff them back to a sharp point.

I do not recommend using clippers or anything harsher than a file to get the stiletto shape. That can go wrong too quickly.

I used one like this but ended up going for a set of seperate files as I was hitting things with step 2 from the side as I was trying to use step 6.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Nail-file-Polishing-Professional-Availability/dp/B07HK7KS9M/ref=sr_1_16_s_it?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1550695360&sr=1-16&keywords=nail+file

Eskimo sex. :D

This is my favorite style, no I CANNOT do it!

I really need a nail buffer like dis

the paradas have a good file, but it's very small, and hard to use because of course it's on the back of the lever, and the lever is very thick. i picked up a couple of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NJMRI6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[1] and they work great. cuts fast, and will never wear out.

Just got these in and they are amazing! I've been using shitty supermarket emery boards and this blows those out of the water. Thanks for the suggestion!

I use one of these - it's a large nail file with different roughnesses and is easier for my husband's giant man-paws to grasp and our daughter doesn't hate it.

This. Christmas related because they look similar to coal and I always got coal for Christmas. :p

Thanks for the contest!

Yes, apparently! Not all of them from what I read though. Revlon sells them.

https://www.amazon.com/Revlon-File-Peel-0-05-Ounce/dp/B00B0YXF3E

This is what I use and it only takes seconds per nail, even if I've let them get long. It you file them more frequently then a glass nail file works really well too.

I recommend this set. Since I have a tendency to lose files, I like to buy them in a larger set. I've been using them for about 2 months now and the grit does not wear down and it feels a lot smoother on my nails than the OPI file I used to have. The only down side is that it takes about 2-4 weeks to get since they're coming from China.

I swear by this file:


https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003H77IAS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509644242&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=leighton+denny+crystal+nail+file&psc=1


You pay a bit more initially but you can file both ways and there's a lifetime warranty :).