At Home Manicure Kits and Tips

Apparently this pandemic has turned me into a beauty blogger. First fancy shampoo and conditioners and now manicures.

Now that nail salons are of course closed I’ve started to do my own nails for the first time in roughly 20 years. As someone with terrible fine motor skills (I wish I was kidding!), my first few manicure attempts were pretty messy.

I’m getting the hang of it. Which is probably a good thing considering we could be living like this for a while in NYC.

Today I wanted to share my review of the two manicure kits I’ve tried from Sunday’s and Olive & June. I also wanted to give some tips for at-home manicures when you suck at doing your own nails…

FYI: I paid for both kits. This blog post is not sponsored.

The Manicure Kits:

Prior to the pandemic, the only nail-care item I owned was a nail file. Seriously… I didn’t even have nail clippers because a friend borrowed them a few months ago.

Since I was starting from scratch, I decided to purchase a manicure kit so I could have everything I needed all in one box. After a bit of google searching, I decided o the Non-toxic Manicure Kit from Sundays ($72) and the Studio Box from Olive and June ($50).

The two kits are similar in that they both feature non-toxic products, Sunday’s polishes are considered “10-free” whereas Olive & June at “7-free.” I’m not the most knowledgeable about non-toxic beauty products so I can’t speak deeply to the differences between the two, but from what I gather 10-free is a more recent standard for non-toxic nail polishes.

the Non-toxic Manicure Kit from Sundays ($72):

The kit includes:

• nail polish remover
• cotton for remover
• nail clipper
• file
• buffer
• base coat
• top coat
• cuticle eraser tool
• cuticle serum
• quick dry oil
• wooden stick

This kit from Sundays includes just about everything you could ever need for a manicure… minus the nail polish. That to me is pretty disappointing and ends up making things super expensive since their nail polish is $18 a bottle. When I ordered they were running a promo for $20 off all orders. Be on the lookout for any other specials they are offering!

My kit was initially missing the cuticle and quick dry serums but Sundays promptly sent me both after I reached out — and a bonus nail color which was super sweet.

The products are easy to use, once I got the hang of things I felt confident in applying a thin layer of the nail polish which has made the final product look pretty good. My biggest complaint is I don’t love the topcoat and find it’s super sticky to apply.

I’m absolutely obsessed with their turqoise-y nail color, No. 34. Sundays overall offers a more robust (and fun) assortment of nail colors than Olive and June. But I’m fully aware that that’s not something most people care about. I personally prefer fun colors to neutrals.

The Studio Box from Olive and June ($50):

The kit includes:

• nail polish remover pot
• clean-up brush
• flat-edge nail clipper
• dual grit nail file
• buffer cube
• Poppy bottle handle
• 1 nail polish
• top coat
• cuticle serum

I was super excited to try Olive and June’s kit as it comes with a Poppy — a polish bottle handle created by the company to make painting a bit easier. Although to be honest, I found the Poppy to be more cumbersome than helpful. It’s a bit tricky to line up perfectly and I felt like I never got it just right.

I absolutely love the nail polish remover pot and cuticle serum that comes in this kit. The nail polish remover made cleaning up my nails super easy. I’ve been using the cuticle serum daily to rehydrate my cuticles.

I was surprised this kit did not include a base boat, but in the end, I don’t think it made a huge difference. Maybe it’s just my poor manicure skills but I did find my nails chipped faster with this nail polish than with the ones from Sundays.

As someone that loves a BRIGHT colorful manicure (gimme ALL the turquoises!) the nail polish color selection is a bit meh. But I think that’s a “me” problem, not a universal problem 😂

 

Which One is Better?

I honestly think both are great. Going forward I’ll be more likely to use the actual polishes from Sundays but with the nail polish remover and cuticle serum from the Olive and June kit. I do want to give the Poppy another try since it’s supposed to be great when used properly.

 

At-Home Manicure Tips:

File your nails BEFORE removing nail polish: I learned this from Olive and June’s tutorial that came in my box. Filing your nails while there is still polish on them makes it much easier to visualize the shape you want.

Wipe off the polish brush every time: The key to doing your nails is applying thin layers. After dipping your brush, make sure to wipe one side off so there’s less on your brush to paint with.

Give your nails ample time to dry: Even with the quick-dry oil from Sundays waiting for my nails to dry takes FOREVER. But letting your nails dry for a few minutes after every step makes for a better final product.

Patience: My at-home manicures have become a lengthy ordeal… which is fine because I don’t have much else to do with my time. I’ve found the key to a great at-home manicure is simply patience — if a nail gets messed up I take the time to fix it. I sit for a while to let them dry before getting on with my day. So cue up the Netflix (might I suggest Mindy Kaling’s new show Never Have I Ever?) and be prepared to sit for a few episodes.