Do you love having a perfect manicure, but hate paying salon prices? Me too, but we all know how difficult it can be to do our nails on our own. Let’s just say that when I do my nails, people know that I did them. Starting to relate to my quandary? Don’t worry! The gals over at cutepolish have wonderful methods for anyone who may not have the steadiest hands when applying their polish.  There are some great techniques that will help you keep your polish off of the cuticle and on the nail where it belongs.

Here is the BEST way to remove excess polish from your nail area:

1. Apply a base coat to each one of the nails. I know, I know— this step is a tempting one to skip, but believe us, it’s an important one. It not only extends the life of your manicure, it also prevents staining.
2. Then, paint your nails with a white base color. Only one coat is necessary for this step.
3. Apply a liquid latex polish around your freshly painted white nails. No need to worry too much about the technique; the key here is to just slather the outside edges with the product. It will act as a liquid barrier. 
4. Dot on blobs of color from at least a few different polishes onto a makeup sponge. 
5. Sponge this over your dried white base coat. You should end up with a cool tie dye design. Remember, don’t press too hard—all you need to create this look is light pressure. Don’t worry if the polish gets on the outside skin surrounding the nail—you’ll see why in the next step!
6. Simply peel off the liquid latex polish that you applied in Step 3.
7. Apply a fast-drying top coat to your new, gorgeous nails. This will leave you with a shiny finish, as well as a long lasting manicure.

For those of you with latex allergies, don’t fret. Peel off tape is a great option, and it will still give you the same clean, flawless look as the liquid latex polish. The trick when using the peel-off tape is to use tweezers to apply it. Remember, get as close to the nail as possible, then go ahead with the tie dye polish.

If you’re not too into buying special products, then you can try the clear tape technique. To do this, just put a small piece of the scotch tape under the nail and two on the sides. Then, apply the sponge to the nails and peel off the clear tape when you finish up. Unfortunately, this technique isn’t quite as seamless as the other two. You may need to clean up the excess polish with a small paint brush and nail polish remover.

You can also use the tried and true method of taking a cotton swab dipped in nail polish remover to the edges. This might not necessarily be the fanciest way to get rid of the polish, but it does the job!

Another way to get rid of excess polish is by dipping a small paint brush into acetone and tracing the sides of the nails. This gives you more control than removing the polish with a cotton swab.

Check out the video to see these awesome methods in action!

Do you have any special techniques for removing excess nail polish? What is your favorite nail design? How often do you treat yourself to a professional manicure? Tell us your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!