I was recently asked by a visually impaired friend of mine how she could go about applying nail polish without smudging.  I felt secretly pleased that she thought I could answer this question, when in fact the truth is that nobody, other than a fully qualified nail technician, can apply nail polish perfectly.

I was about to give her the advice I give to all blind and partially sighted women who ask me this question: “Apply a little Vaseline to the skin surrounding the nail – this way, when you apply the nail polish, you can easily rub away any mistakes you have made without staining the skin.” – problem solved in one easy answer.

However, I decided to do something I had never done before.  I offered to watch my friend paint her nails, take note of where she was going wrong and give her some pointers on how to make the process quicker and simpler and of course give her perfectly painted nails.

This is what I found:

1.    She was overloading her brush – Using just a small amount of polish can make application much easier and more accurate – simple but effective.

2.    She would apply nail polish right up to the skin on the sides of her nails – To create the illusion of long nails (and long tapering fingers), it is much better to apply nail polish only in the centre and on the tip of the nail.  This also makes the whole process of application much quicker and easier.

3.    She would try to get rid of smudges by using a cotton wool pad – By using a cotton wool bud (for the ears) dipped in polish remover; you can save on polish remover and get a perfect finish that looks as if you got it right first go!

…Other tips I would offer include:

1. Plan your polish application well in advance – There is no point rushing the process as this will only cause you to make more mistakes that you won’t have the time to fix.

2. Invest in a manicure – This really is the easy way out.  If you can afford it, a manicure really can cut out all the hassle!

Depending on your level of visual impairment, some of the above tips might not help you.  Do you have any tips that you would like to share?