[Intro music]
Hey guys, it's me, Cristine, and today we're gonna get naked, and stay naked, for the entire video.
And also file our nails.
Now before I go on, I need to stop some ignorance in its tracks and acknowledge that, yes, I'm very aware that my nails are yellow
and I've already made another video on why my nails are yellow, and why it doesn't matter.
It sucks that I basically have to repeat myself in all my videos, but some people never learn.
Back on topic. Lots of people ask me how I file/shape my nails.
But before I show you how, I need to explain how a lot of the shape of your nail bed, like how wide or narrow or longest part of your nail is
You can't actually change. You're born with whatever size nail bed you have
and that's it, you can't change it.
Well, you're not born with like a baby and then your nails stay the same size they were when you were a baby,
But you get what I'm saying, hopefully.
You also can't change the natural curve of your nail.
Some people call this the "C-curve," that probably stands for the Cristine curve, because as you can see my nails have a very strong curve.
Basically it's how flat or curved your nails are
if you look at them from this angle.
You also can't change any natural warping of your C-curve or your nails.
So, for example, when my nails get really long like they are right now, my C-curve
gets tighter and the left side of the curve of my middle nail pulls in more.
If you have super tight C-curves like me, then using nail oil regularly will help
soften that curve when it gets too tight
I put the link down below for my favorite nail oil. A strong C-curve isn't
necessarily a bad or good thing. Some people like the way it looks and some
people prefer flatter nails. A strong C-curve is really only a problem when your
nails get too long and they start to curve too much inwards and therefore
risk breaking easier. Or if they're digging into the sides of your fingers
that can hurt.
Overall just know that it's actually quite normal to have wonky or weirdly
warped nails
we just all have naturally different shaped nail beds that we can't
change and we just got to live with it and deal with it. After all we're not
born with perfect symmetry, unless you're Russian of course, then you're born with
perfect nails and the rest of us hate you.
Blah blah blah blah blah ok now for what you CAN change is the shape of the free
edge of your nail. And we're gonna do just that.
Bahh I didn't even mention Look What's On My Other Hand!
Oh my god it's the prettiest baby holo blue ever! It's like
a unicorn sat on a robin's egg and this was hatched.
There are SO many different nail shapes out there, you could go wild with different nail shapes.
One nail shape isn't better than another, it's just completely about
personal preference.
Unless you have bubble nails. That's just stupid.
According to my number one trusted online source for all things nail health/nail care
(I put the link below)
usually the most flattering nail shape is the one that mirrors your cuticle line.
My cuticle lines are rounded but they're kind of square at the same time.
And it just so happens that I like to shape my nails as rounded squares or
"squovals" as some people call them
Okay let's do this! I'm gonna go from this, to this!
It's not that much shorter, I know, okay but I still like my nails kinda long for nail art.
First thing's first: DO NOT CUT YOUR NAILS!
Don't use nail clippers or scissors because you'll risk splitting the nail
and breaking it in places you don't want it to break.
Run away from the clippers, they are evil!
If you cut or clip your nails because you're too impatient to file them then
I'm gonna guess you haven't tried a glass file yet
Glass nail files are way quicker at filing down the nail with the right
amount of pressure and they also leave cleaner edges than your regular course emery boards.
I use this glass one and I got it from my favorite nail care shop -
I put the link below again -
Now this is how you should actually file them. File in one direction from corner to centre.
Yeah oh my good she said "One Direction."
Contrary to popular belief, do NOT file straight across in a seesaw motion.
Doing that will put a lot of pressure on your nail and the filing back and forth
motion will pull your nail from side to side.
Remember that your nail tips are the driest part of your nail and if you file
straight across back and forth, you risk splitting the ends.
If you ever find that your nails are catching on
something like a sweater or even your hair then it's probably because you had
a free edge, whether at the top or the side of your nail, that had a tiny split.
Even if it's just a hairline split you don't notice yet, but it could develop
into a bigger split. Kinda like a chip in your car windshield.
Oh, you don't drive yet 'cause you're twelve? Okay, well you'll understand one day.
File the sides, but ONLY if you need to.
Obviously if your nails are too short for this then you don't need to do this.
In fact, you really don't need and shouldn't file the sides of your nails
unless a) you have a very strong C-curve like I do - my nails will actually dig
into the sides of my skin and that can even hurt. Filing them helps soften that C-curve.
Or b) you have wide nails that flare out at the top
and so you would file the very top of the sides to make them more rectangular.
I think it's obvious, but maybe I should also point out
that you're not filing down into your skin or anything.
This is only the part of the nail that is naturally lifted or exposed.
Now I'm going back to filing down the tip of my nails, again filing in one direction-
"Oh my god she said One Direction again!"
-from corner to centre.
Because a glass file can really take off a lot in one stroke, make sure to stop
every few strokes and assess the length and evenness of your nails so you don't
make them shorter than intended or make them uneven.
When I'm getting close to done, I flip my hands over
so I can gently scrape or push out the filing scragglers from the
underside of my nail.
You may have less of this nail-shavings-collector effect going on if your nails
are flatter and less curved than mine.
So once you push them upwards then you just turn your nails around and you can kinda file the little shavings off.
So now you're done with your glass file, so you can put that away.
But you may still have a tiny bit of unevenness and fine tuning to do.
So next I actually use this random nail buffer I have, but I DON'T use it to buff the top of my nails.
Don't do that! Unless you want to weaken the layers of your nails, don't buff your nails.
But rather because the nail buffer has a super high grit,
I use it to refine the edges of my nails with a lot more control since it's
definitely not going to be filing anything down in a significant way like the glass file.
This is when I round out the corners just a bit into a squoval
shape since this is the kind of nail shape that works best for me both
practically and aesthetically in my opinion. I've tried super square nails
before but I found that the sharp corners were always snagging on things
and breaking and also sometimes digging into this side of my skin and I'm a baby!
I don't need that unnecessary pain!
And then you're done really, just go wash off your hands of all the nail shavings at this point.
Some people have asked me what the little dents in my nails are, and it's because I'm a butcher and
always use this metal tool when I'm taking off my polish with the peel-off base coat.
And I mean I did that 32 times for you guys when I made
these peel-off videos so I should probably stop using the metal tool.
I keep meaning to find a wooden stick thing, but I can't find them in the store that's under my
building and ahh laziness!
Anyways the dents are so shallow that you don't even see them through polish
So...I don't really care, 'cause just like yellow nails, I cover them up anyways.
Now on the topic of general nail care,
I know the last nail care video I made is super old but honestly
I still use mostly the same things.
The key is oil, oil, and more oil! I've put a link to my favorite nail care oil and
a bunch of other articles that I read and trust with my life and my nails on
all sorts of topics below, like how to keep your nails from breaking, how to
keep polish on and stop chipping, and all sorts of Mythbusters-style articles like
"Do nails need to breathe?" "Is acetone a safe nail polish remover?"
And whether strengtheners actually help or harm your nails.
(Hint: they harm them, go read the article) So you may have a little reading to do when
I know that's asking a lot from a person who watches YouTube videos but all the
articles I linked are super short and to the point because people need the
knowledge about the nails and about the filing of the nails
so now you take this knowledge that you've retrieved from this video
and you put it in your head
and you keep it in your head and you use it when you do your nails.
Thanks so much for watching
and listening and retaining information.
See y'all later, bye!