Sponsored Post: This post is sponsored by Lubriderm but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
Our little ones may be made of sugar and spice but they sure are squirmy! My daughter Lydia is almost 9 and she still doesn’t stop moving! BUT she does love to have a nice manicure on her fingers and toes. With that in mind we have NO TIME to wait for nail polish to dry and we definitely need to be smart when it comes to polish prep. Here are a few of our favorite mani hacks that we use when we’re doing some mother/daughter pampering!
what you’ll need
- A tub of nail polish remover
- Nail clippers
- Nail file
- Buffing cube
- Lubriderm Intense Skin Repair Lotion
- Nail polish base coat
- Liquid tape
- Zig zag stickers
- Nail polish (quick dry)
- Top coat (quick dry)
step 1
Remove old nail polish. My daughter always has remnants of old nail polish colors on her nails. Rather than using a cotton ball and liquid nail polish remover (which is always way too messy) we opt for a tub of it. You just stick your finger in the sponge, twist it around a few times and the polish comes right off. Your child can also do this on their own making them feel like a big kid.

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step 2
Prep your nails. For this step we trim our nails with clippers and file them a bit. Another step that makes Lydia feel like a big kid is using the file/buff/polish/shine cube. She can do this on her own and she says it’s like the people in the movies.
step 3
Hydrate. Hands and cuticles get dry (especially in the Winter) and it’s gross to look at. It can ruin the look of your mani! We slather A LOT of good lotion all over and then pop on some manicure gloves to help soak it all in. It’s important to pick a lotion that works to heal rough, dry skin and that isn’t greasy and goopy when it dries. We use Lubriderm because it checks all those boxes plus it’s dermatologist developed. Lydia and I both have sensitive skin so we can’t use just cream or lotion. You can easily grab Lubriderm at your local Walmart.
step 4
Prep for polish. After our hands feel super soft the next step is always to apply a base coat. Once that dries we use liquid tape to paint around our nails. That way if there are any mess ups they’ll disappear when we peel it off. You can also use regular tape for this but it’s more time consuming to get on/take off.
step 5
Paint! The BEST part! Painting on the nail polish shade of your choice. Or shades, as the case may be. We tend to use ones that are fast drying for obvious reasons. This time Lydia and I went with a neutral cream base and used a zag tape to create a design. My nails weren’t exactly dry when I did my zag so I ended up with a bit of a negative space, which actually ended up looking pretty cool!
step 6
Seal the deal! After all the painting is done let your nails dry a bit and apply a fast drying top coat. Sometimes I blast some quick dry spray on the nails also. You’ll still have to be a bit careful, but the nails won’t be anywhere near as wet as they would without it.
I hope these hacks helped you out and you’ll have an awesome mother (or father)/daughter (or son) spa day! I think it’s fun to let them do as much as possible themselves. They gotta learn sometime! 😉
What are some of your hacks for mani/pedis?
My almost 6 year old daughter is obsessed with painting her nails! Definitely loving this tips & hacks. 🙂
Fun and love the manicure hacks because my daughter is always wanting to do her nails too.
These are great hacks! I can’t wait to do this with my niece! She’s very into makeovers lately.
What a fun way to spend time together.
Aw! I can’t wait until my daughter has the patience to do at home DIY manicures.
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Aww how cute! Great hacks too!
You two are so cute!! Lubiderm is a staple for sure!!!