At-home manicures are definitely the way to go for any frugal beauty-lover. As fun as it is to have your hands massaged and your nail art perfected by a professional, you usually have to dole out a pretty penny to get that A-list treatment. So unless it’s a special occasion and you’re treatin’ yo self, it’s best to just do it at home!

However, that doesn’t make the task of perfecting your tips any easier. We all know the struggle of attempting to paint your dominant hand with your non-dominant, or smudging your polish seconds after you completed the perfect coat.

Essentially all of our mani issues can be boiled down to ten simple mistakes, and luckily, there is a way to fix each of them. Beauty blogger xoJahtna goes over these top ten mistakes and the simple ways to remedy them!

Share your favorite at-home mani tips in the comments section below.

1. Storing Your Polish

Never store your polish on its side, as this will cause it will leak into the cap and harden. If you’d ever like to use this polish again, make sure every bottle is standing upright when stored.

2. Direct Sunlight

Try to avoid storing your polish in direct sunlight, or even in a sunny room. Sunlight will alter the consistency of your polish negatively, so keep your bottles in a cool, dark area.

3. Filing Correctly

Traditionally, you see someone using a file in a back-and-forth motion. This is actually very bad! You should only file in one direction to avoid splitting or cracking your nails.

4. Don’t Shake It Out

You might commonly see people shaking their nail polish bottles to even out the consistency, but this is actually a bad practice. This shaking motion will cause air bubbles, which are bad for the polish. Instead, warm the bottle between your hands to get the smooth finish you crave.

5. Use Polish Thinner

If polish has gotten a bit goopy, people will often thin it out with a little nail polish remover. As you may have expected, this is damaging to the polish. Instead, try actual nail polish thinner to keep the consistency at its best.

6. Applying Top Coat

Top coat is essential to lock everything in and keep everything in tip top condition. But you can’t just apply top coat to the flat of your nail, make sure to get the tip of your nail to prevent obvious chipping.

7. Dab on Glitter

Looking for a little sparkle? Glitter polish is always the way to go! When applying glitter nail polish, don’t use strokes like usual; instead, dab the glitter on to get the most sparkles to stick.

8. Always Close Up

Between coats, always close the bottle. If you don’t, you’ll allow the polish to dry out more quickly and shorten its shelf life.

9. Clean Up

Clean the neck of the bottle after every use. If some polish has gotten on here, it could harden and lock the bottle cap into place. This will make it impossible to open and allow air bubbles inside. Use nail polish remover and a cotton swab to get the job done.

10. Easy Trimmings

If you’re trimming your nails, and bits and piecing are flying all around, that’s probably because your nails were dry. To avoid this and get the best clippings possible, wet your nails and your nail clipper in water beforehand.