Nails are one of the important body parts we got as we evolved. It helps in protecting the distal phalanx, the fingertip and the surrounding soft tissues. It erodes and gets damages as time passes by. While eroding, it loses it shines and hence it might appear bad.
To make it shine or look attractive, there are many ways ; one of them is nail buffing, so in this article we are going to know how to buff nails.
Nail buffing means buffing or rubbing the nails to make the nails consistent and shiny. People should know how to buff nails, or they would be degrading the nail quality without knowing.
How to buff nails – Simple techniques and tips
The people obsessed with their beauty or appearance are known to perform nail buffing. Now it is very common to use the buffer which is a simple grater and the nail is grated so that the nails shine and look good.
The buffing is a good way to maintain nails. This buffing includes rubbing the hard or damaged part of the nail to break off the main part. It is followed by filling up of the vacant spaces by a paste which hardens up to form a false nail.
Since nail also helps to grip things in compliment to fingertip, so the false nail lessens this upto some extent. This paste to make/create false nail can be dangerous when used after a limit before the body creates real nail.
Now the nail buffing is mainly used by girls or models. The buffing of nails starts by removing any polish present on nail. Then the nail grating or nail buffing is done after the extra part is terminated which is done by trimming the nails which go beyond fingertips.
Next the nail file is used to shape the nail in the desired shape the person wants. The file should be moved in a fixed direction. This should be done in both the ways in order to achieve the desired shape of the nail.
Oval shape can be obtained by filing the nail from the corner upto the middle and round up again. Next after designing the nail upto it’s desired shape, the buffer is used with larger side of the buffer to grit the nail in an unidirectional stroke. The buffing up of the nail will help to eliminate any rough edges of the nails.
After grating the nails, the finger grit side is used to increase the shine of the nails. This is one type of polishing of nail where the nails are shined and polished. Using the smooth side of the buffer, the nails are polished even more.
After the grating and brushing process, the extracts are removed by a soft cotton cloth. Then the grated nails are polished more and moisturized by application of cuticle oil. This should be applied on the skin that borders each nail.
After the use of the oil, the appearance of the nails are enhanced by a pop of favorite color after removing any excess oil of the nails. Nearly once in a month, the nails should be buffed.
If the person uses any kind of shiner or color, then the frequency of buffing can be decreased from once in a month to nearly twice a month.
To complete the buffing up of nail, there are many types of nail buffers like emery board which is a rectangular board which helps in grating nails. Another type is nail buffer board, which is a fine grade sand-paper.
There is one more known as nail buffing blocks with different textures which helps to grate different types of uneven nail surfaces. One more type to this category is nail buffer strips which comes as different strips to grate nails.
Along with buffer, in case of no access to buffer, home materials can be used. Materials like sand paper, velvet, pieces of denim, flannel or chamois cloth can also be used. Along with that, plain paper can also be used. The paper is used to grate the nails after they are softened with water.
Points to keep in mind while buffing
But no matter what we use for buffing the nails. The applying of some moisturiser is constant to take care of the nails after buffing them.
- Before the buffing process, the nails should be cleaned and dried.
- Buffing should be avoided if the nails are too weak, thin or brittle.
- The buffing should be done as a normal maintenance of body and not any kind of addiction towards perfection or beauty.
- Buffing up of nails improve blood circulation to the nails. It also helps to enhance the beauty of nails so that some might skip the polishing process.
- The buffers won’t make nail stains vanish but the very superficial stains are known to vanish.
- Buffing can’t soften cuticles, it should be done by paste and pushed back.
- Buffing of nails should be done after the nails are dried, wet nails are prone to be damaged by buffing.
- Buffing should be done in an unidirectional manner.
- Buffing should be stopped immediately if any pain, redness or heating up of nail is experienced.
- A super-fine-grate buffer should be used, the one whose grains can’t be understood through touch.
- Buffing of nails should be limited to nearly once in a month, more than that will be damaging to the nails as it will make them softer, brittle.
- Remember to push back cuticles before buffing.
- Any kind of buffer should not be applied to the cuticles.
Conclusion
Buffing nails is a habit to maintain the nails and it’s beauty. It is mainly done to enhance its shine and shape. It is not a mandatory work but it should be done to maintain the quality of one’s nails.
But in order to maintain their nails, one should properly know how to buff nails, else the buffing in incorrect way will lead to more damage than not doing it.
