7 Essential Nail Grooming Tools Male Grooming Tips Nails
How to Take Care of Your Nails
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Hi.
I'm Antonio Centeno.
I'm the founder of Real Men Real Style.
Today, guys, I'm going to be giving you seven essential nail grooming tools that I think
every man should own.
In support of this video, I've got an article over at Real Men Real Style.
Go check it out.
I've also got a quick little infographic that you can see these seven tools.
I break out why you want to grab them.
And I also linked vendors that I trust.
Okay.
And stick around for the end of this video, I've got a really cool story of how I actually
performed minor surgery with some of these tools that I have here.
Yeah, it's an interesting story.
Okay.
So tool number one, what is the first thing every man needs to own?
Well, many of you guys -- I'm sure most of you actually have this.
Clippers.
Nail clippers, toe nail clippers.
I like to have one of each.
Obviously, hand nail clippers are going to be smaller, toe nail clippers are going to
be bigger.
The reason being is we want to be able to get a little bit more leverage to be able
to cut a tougher nail.
Now, there are three types of clippers out there.
You're going to see ones like these more of the standard regular ones.
You're going to see the French Style and you're also going to see the Ring Lock.
Expect to pay a little bit more for the French Style and the Ring Lock.
And usually, they're going to be of higher quality made by more specialty manufacturers.
You want to make sure though whenever you're purchasing something like these tools I'm
going to be discussing, you try to go with the best that you can afford.
I'm a big fan of a man actually investing in quality tools, getting a nice kit so he
knows where they're at when he needs them and he has the right tool for the right job.
So the benefits of clippers is they're relatively inexpensive compared to many of the other
tools I'm going to talk about.
The problem with clippers is that they actually touch the point's touch continuously and they
can dull over a relatively fast amount of time unless they're made from a hardened steel
such as this pair I got from Zamberg and they usually come from Solingen, Germany is where
you can see a lot of blades coming out of.
So go check out, again, Zamberg.
It's a good company.
I'm going to recommend them.
They're not paying me for this video, but I do have products from them.
So if you're going to make a decision of how to choose a good pair of clippers, number
one, look for tension.
It should have tension.
Number two: make sure that there is no gap.
There should be no gap whenever they come together.
And three: there shouldn't be like a snapping noise.
Whenever you bring this together like this, you should not hear a snapping noise because
that snapping noise basically means there's an overbite in the nail clipper and that's
a bad thing.
That can damage your nail.
Okay.
So the number one tool -- I didn't start off with this because I know most of you guys
aren't using this on your nails based off other videos I've seen and we've talked about,
but nail scissors.
This is the best tool.
Why?
They can use a more hardened steel, a better steel and you're going to basically ensure
-- I mean these can last decades if they're made from a reputable company.
Again, anything coming out of Solingen, Germany is most likely going to be of very high quality.
Also, when you look at these scissors you want to make sure they're lined up correctly
like this.
You want to look at the little screw that's in there.
It should be about of contrasting color or there shouldn't be any scratches on it.
And when you look at this, you want to make sure it's got a nice sharp edge.
Again, the harder steel you can go decades without having to sharpen this.
The advantage of it is it's very unlikely to ever crack your nails compared with the
nail clippers which can especially if they start to dull.
Those can also tear your nails.
On a good pair of scissors, you're never going to see them actually tear your nail.
You also have a larger cutting surface which is greatly appreciated.
So you're going to see different types of scissors out there.
You are going to see just for your top nail, you're also going to see toe nail scissors.
They're going to be a little bit larger, sometimes give you a little bit more leverage for tougher
toe nails.
And you're also going to see a variety called "nizzers."
Nizzers are a mix between nail scissors and what I'm about to talk about next which is
tool number three -- nail nippers.
Now, if you someone using nail nippers, this is pretty much for professionals.
You can hurt yourself.
I mean these are almost -- they look like wire cutters.
These are not wire cutters though.
They are made often times from a softer steel, but then they're going to be harden afterwards,
basically tempered.
And what we see with this is that they will be when you're choosing a good quality pair
of nail nippers, you want to look for the grip right in here.
Look for a little bit of space, just a tad.
They almost come together.
And that's okay on these nail nippers because these are precision instruments.
Another nice thing about them, they've got, like the scissors, a vice nice cutting surface.
But when they come together there needs to be a little bit of tension right here.
So they're going to have the spring that comes in here and allows it to basically bounce
out.
Also, we want to look at the joint.
So there's two types of joints out there you're going to see on something like nail nippers.
You're going to a see a lap versus a box joint.
I prefer the box joint.
Go check out the article where I go into more detail about what the difference is.
Tool number four: nail file.
You don't see guys using files quite a bit which is too bad.
And if you don't have an issue with your nails, file is maybe something that you can skip
on.
But there are men out there, you know who you are, that you've just got issues with
your nails cracking.
Maybe it's a hereditary thing.
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And a file is going to be a great tool.
Anyone that has worked on wood, you understand the difference between actually sanding something
down and scraping it down.
And you want to file, it's going to triple cut.
And what that is if you can image an X, they're going to have another line right through it.
Triple cut usually going to be of higher quality.
And files like that often times are going to be crystal or glass.
Those are mostly coming out of the Czech Republic.
Those are going to be the best files out there.
Glass simply because they don't wear down and they can be sterilized again and again.
Metal files, the issue with metal files is if you sterilize them on a daily basis multiple
times, they can overtime begin to rust.
Another thing to look at for your file is can the top of it actually be used as a nail
cleaner.
This one's a multi-tool and can be used in that and I'll talk about nail cleaners here
at the end.
Let's talk about tweezers.
Tweezers are something you should have in your kit.
You're going to see multiple types.
I like it when a pair of tweezers actually has a cover on it.
The only exception to it not having a cover is if it comes in a particular kit like this
one right here.
Notice how this kit -- and I got this from my friend, Alex, over at Zamberg.
You can check it out.
Everything is held in its place.
I've got a couple of the instruments out.
But that, the thing with tweezers is they can be damaged easily.
All of these instruments I've talked about can be damaged easily.
So that's why if you're going to buy something nice, buy of high quality.
Make sure you get a protective kit or if you buy them piecemeal, you make sure that they've
got little covers.
And different types of tweezers out there.
These are going to be needle nose.
I like to have a pair of these handy just in case I have to get a splinter.
You also have angled edge tweezers and you're going to have rounded edge tweezers.
And there are some other specialty tweezers, but those are the three I think a man should
have in his kit.
So we've talked about that.
Let's go on to cuticle scissors.
These are going to be different than nail scissors.
They're going to be more petite, more narrow.
These are actually made to be able to cut the cuticles if need be or to pack them back
down.
Again, if you're not having hang nails or parts of your cuticle come out, then you're
not really going to know what I'm talking about here.
But there are certain people out there that have issues.
The last thing is going to be basically the nail cleaner.
The nail cleaner, if you actually have a file some of them do have nail cleaners on them.
But I find that a nail cleaner is a great way to do basic, quick maintenance on a daily
basis.
Or when you jump in the shower, also make sure you maybe have a nail brush.
That can actually do a great job cleaning.
You want to be careful though not having it too rough.
Otherwise, you can start to get redness on your fingers.
What do you guys think?
So I talked about at the beginning talking about how I performed minor surgery in Ukraine
using this kit.
And that's why it's important to have quality tools.
So my daughter, she got basically an earring.
It got pulled and the back of it lodged -- very small backing and it got lodged into her ear.
She's crying.
It's 8:00 at night.
We're in rural Ukraine and we can't, you know.
Basically, I don't know any of the doctors in the area.
We're about three hours from Kiev.
And my wife is trying to use -- basically, her grandmother had some instruments to try
to pull the stuff out.
It was bad.
They couldn't get to it.
So I happen to have my kit.
And I used scissors, basically a pair of cuticle scissors and needle nose tweezers.
I was able to get in there, pull it right out.
And you would think needle nose, they would break.
And in fact, they had issues with just not being able to reach it with the tools that
they had.
I brought in quality tools, got the job done.
My daughter, she screamed.
She wasn't very happy, but definitely after we sterilized everything, it was good to go.
Guys, you want good quality tools.
You never know when you're going to need them.
And go check out the article.
Go check out the infographic.
I'm going to go into more details there.
Let me know what you think in the comments down below and I'll see you in the next video.
Take care.
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