At Home · DIY guides · Updated July 2026
Do your own nails. Do them well.
We spend most of this site telling you which salons deserve your money. This section is for the other weeks — the Sunday-night ritual, the between-appointments maintenance, and the people who simply like doing it themselves. Same honest treatment, kitchen-table edition.
Foundations · July 2026
The starter kit: 8 tools that actually matter
Eight tools, about $40, and a 15-minute weekly routine — everything a home manicure actually needs and nothing it doesn't.
Read the guide →Technique · July 2026
How to paint your nails like you paid for it
The three-stroke method, why thin coats always win, capping the edge, cleanup brushes, and the truth about drying time.
Read the guide →Deep dive · July 2026
Gel at home, without wrecking your nails
The kit math, why the lamp matters more than the polish, and the thin-coat rules that keep home gel safe.
Read the guide →Buyer's guide · July 2026
Press-ons are good now
Modern press-ons last up to two weeks and photograph like salon sets — the sizing, glue and removal playbook.
Read the guide →The removal bible · July 2026
How to take it all off without the damage
The foil method for gel, the dip and acrylic reality check, press-on soaks, and the never-peel commandment.
Read the guide →Meanwhile · The salon half
When DIY isn't the move
Chrome, cat-eye, Russian manicures and serious art are still salon territory — and we know exactly who's good at them in nine cities.
Find your city →