It's hard enough to find time to schedule regular hair trims, let alone treat yourself to a full-blown manicure at a salon. And while you may have enough time to squeeze in a quick polish change before a night out, it can be a difficult task to make it look pretty (read: not like the work of a 4 year old) on the fly, especially for the precision-challenged and impatient ladies among us (i.e., me). Fortunately, with the rise of nail art came tons of products that make it easy and simple to recreate an almost professional looking mani without leaving your couch. Here are mani must-haves you need to stock up on right now.
The Plié Wand
Sure, your left side looks fantastic, but when it comes to painting with your non-dominant hand, things can get a little, um, messy. After too many years of having an unbalanced manicure, Julep is here to save the day. They've created an amazing ergonomic nail polishing tool that promises to bring more accuracy and control to our manicures. The Plié kit comes with a wand that has a flexible handle so you can twist and bend for a more comfortable grip. It also comes with a precision brush so you can get polish closer to your cuticles, without going outside the lines.
The Plié Wand, $25, Julep
The essie Corrector Pen
Just when you started to pat yourself on the back for doing a pretty good job at painting your nails, you realize the polish has dripped down the side of your finger. Of course. That's where the essie corrector pen steps in. This compact tool can quickly clean any excess nail polish around your nails without harming your paint job. Other perks: it's travel-friendly and refillable.
The Essie Corrector Pen, $14, Nordstrom
The butter LONDON 'Scrubbers' Nail Polish Remover
Sometimes the hardest part about achieving an at-home manicure is the prep work. These formaldehyde-free nail polish removing wipes not only remove polish, they also prep your nails, eliminating that long and messy scrub-and-soak step you're used to getting at the salon. Plus, one wipe can take care of all 10 nails, so this pack can last awhile.
Scrubbers 2-in-1 Nail Polish Remover, $10, Sephora
The Pursonic Nail Clipper
So, let's say you're SUPER lazy. And you really hate cutting your nails with clippers. Pursonic understands. Their automatic nail clipper does all the "hard" work for you. Just position your finger into the device, press the button, and voila, consider your nail clipped.
Pursonic Clipper, $11, Target
The gelshine At-Home Gel Colour System
Two of your favorite companies — Sephora and OPI — teamed up to create an easy and super effective at-home gel manicure kit so you can skip your bi-monthly visits to the salon. If you've accidentally become addicted to gel manicures, but are on a budget, this may be a really good investment to consider making. The kit promises a shiny gel mani that will last, chip-free, for up to two weeks. While there are quite a few other at-home gel kits on the market, this particular one has gotten rave reviews.
Gelshine™ At-Home Gel Colour System, $159, Sephora
