In order to get a high-quality and beautiful manicure, you don’t have to be an adult woman. It is perfect for both very young children and school-age girls. This is the so-called children's manicure.
Many people know that little girls often love to play at being beautiful adult women. This is often reflected in their nails. They want to give them the same look as their mother, older sister or aunt. All this served as an impetus for many beauty salons to begin providing children's manicure services.
But many mothers prefer to carry out this ritual on their own at home, as they love to care for their little child. Therefore, for everything to go smoothly, it is necessary to take into account many nuances, especially when it comes to home procedures.
Careful preparation should be carried out, and special attention should be paid to the selection of all the necessary tools for the job.
How to properly do children's manicure at home. Necessary tools and care products
Do not forget that having a manicure for a child is quite specific, and many details need to be taken into account.
In order to get the right manicure, you should study popular techniques, as well as choose the appropriate design so that the procedure comes without injury or trouble.
Creating a classic version is not recommended for children under 15 years of age. This is due to the fact that when processing the nail plate, the cuticle is affected, which can be dangerous for a younger child.
For girls under ten years old, a European manicure is good. In this case, there is no need to mechanically act on the cuticle, as infection may occur, which can lead to diseases.
It is acceptable to use soft products and balms to gently dissolve the interfering cuticle. After this, it is better to treat your hands with cream or a special balm for the care of hands and nails.
After 14 years, you can carry out more complex manipulations with nails. This is due to the fact that the formation of the body is almost complete, the vessels and tissues are no longer as thin as they were before.
But do not forget that at home you should carry out the procedure very carefully, without using harmful substances to treat the nail plate.
What is the procedure
Everything is very serious here. Children's manicure requires complete treatment of the nail plate and the fingers themselves with a number of special natural products and aids with the maximum level of protection.
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Not every nail aesthetics specialist has such an assortment in his arsenal, so warn in advance about who will be doing the manicure.
Indications and contraindications
Children's manicure is a special procedure. In this case, the rules for safe processing of the nail plate must be observed. It is recommended to use a clear varnish. Sometimes options with colored coating and even some types of nail art are allowed.
This manipulation is useful for both boys and girls, since children from an early age learn to take care of themselves and observe the rules of hand hygiene. It is recommended to start visiting a salon no earlier than the age of five. It is then that the child will be able to withstand the procedure calmly and without whims.
Carrying out a manicure for a child involves the use of soft and gentle products that will not harm his health. You should not use substances that can cause deformation of the nail plate or cause its separation, as well as other unpleasant symptoms.
The surface should not be sanded. Thus, you can damage your child not only the nail, but the entire finger.
With a high-quality children's manicure, you can give your child's nails a well-groomed look, as well as protect the surface of the nail plate from destruction. Therefore, visiting a salon is a necessary procedure that will teach a child to be clean and tidy from an early age. This tradition will continue into adulthood.
Nail care tips
- A child should never have their nails cut immediately after a bath. Since the nail plate is heavily steamed, it will peel off after cutting.
- You need to take your child for a manicure once every four weeks.
- Before you make an appointment with a specialist, find out what method he uses for children’s manicures.
- A child should not paint their nails with adult varnish, as it contains dangerous triphenyl phosphate, which does not penetrate into the blood of adults since their nail plate is already formed. But children don’t. Therefore, such a dangerous material penetrating into the child’s blood can disrupt the functioning of the endocrine system.
Stages of unedged children's manicure
Before proceeding to the main stage, it is necessary to disinfect the working surface. This is necessary in order to disinfect the nails, since the baby’s immune system is still weak and not strong enough. Therefore, it is always better to play it safe once again.
Next, you need to process the edges of the nail. It is recommended to use special nail files intended for children. Be sure to leave at least 1 mm of nail length.
After this, you can begin processing the cuticle. To do this, you need to apply a softening agent to your nails. Next, you can push back the cuticle with an orange stick and carefully trim it with small nail scissors.
The coating also needs to be selected wisely. It can stop your child from biting their nails. Such varnishes contain substances that discourage children from biting their nails. When developing most of these products, technologies are used that extend the life of the varnish. Thus, manicures can be done less often.
The final and important touch is the application of a protective agent on the nails, which gently cares for delicate young skin. Do not forget that caring for the hands of a little fashionista must be carried out constantly and accustom her to this from an early age.
Mandatory conditions for performing manicure on children's nails
- Children's nails and all instruments are treated with an antiseptic.
- It is not recommended to cut your nail too short. You need to leave 1-2 millimeters of free edge. It is necessary to select scissors with rounded tips to reduce the risk of injury.
- It is necessary to file thin and soft nail plates in one direction, using a file with an abrasiveness of 240. Experts recommend using glass files, which cause less discomfort.
- Warm hand baths have a beneficial effect on the condition of the nails and skin of the hands. But it is important to choose mild hypoallergenic products that do not cause irritation. Herbal decoctions of calendula, celandine, and chamomile are perfect. They have an antiseptic effect, soften the skin, and heal small wounds and cuts. The water temperature should be comfortable for the child - 36-37 degrees.
- Using a hand bath will remove hangnails without damaging the cuticle. To do this, use wire cutters or scissors with rounded ends. At this stage it is necessary to work especially carefully. If damage is accidentally caused, immediately wash the wound with hydrogen peroxide.
Is it possible to use the manicure machine for children?
It is not recommended to use a special device on a child’s nails. The principle of its action involves the removal of dead cells from the cuticle, which will be harmful to the baby. In this case, damage may occur. Also, the cuticle will have an unaesthetic thickened appearance.
With hardware exposure, deformation of the nail plate or more serious problems is possible. Therefore, it is better to save such methods of nail treatment for an older period. There are special devices designed for girls over 14 years old.
Procedure based on the “do no harm” principle
Important! Children should not have trimmed manicures!
You can remove the overgrown edge of the nail with scissors (or nippers), but you cannot remove the skin in the matrix area (the area where the nail plate is formed).
If you don’t adhere to this rule, you can deform the plate and the nail will remain crooked forever!
Children need a dry manicure. But he will be somewhat different from a similar adult. The difference is that children's nails cannot be sanded or polished, because the nail plate is still very thin and unformed.
These manipulations will be available at fifteen to sixteen years old, when the nail plate is strengthened. At this age, you can also get a spa manicure, edged or hardware.
- Another distinctive feature of children's nails is that a large pterygium grows at the plate, and the cuticle and skin along the edge of the periungual fold are very thin.
- Do not be afraid of such a feature as the appearance of white spots on the nails. Doctors often call this phenomenon “false leukonychia,” because the nail growth zone is not always of sufficient length and, as a result, spots may appear.
Children's manicure with varnish
Many young mothers often wonder if it is possible to coat their child’s nails with varnish? Or is it better to do without it? In salons, masters use special manicure varnishes. Therefore, it is not prohibited to cover your nails with them.
It is recommended to purchase varnish only in a special store. Preferably from a reputable manufacturer. In this way, you can protect yourself from fakes, which can adversely affect the health of your child’s nails.
It is important that the baby also takes part in the process of choosing a varnish. Let her choose the option she likes. This way she can brag to everyone that her nails were painted with a polish that she chose herself.
Home manicure for children - safe and beautiful
As mentioned above, a salon or home manicure for children should be performed in an unedged manner. Firstly, you won’t worry about cutting off excess tissue for your child, and secondly, it’s safe and beautiful. This will be a favorite process for the baby. She will look forward to the next procedure, and then tell her friends that she is getting a manicure like an adult girl.
Important: When a girl is happy with her appearance from childhood, she will grow up without complexes. Therefore, give yourself and your daughter such pleasure as a children's manicure.
Simple and spectacular designs
How to create a manicure for short nails and choose the optimal length? Now there are many different designs and options that have a pleasant aesthetic appearance and are perfect for little ones.
Manicure for very young ladies
The simplest and most obvious option would be to use transfer stickers. They can depict plants, animals, birds, stars. Designers offer other solutions. You can choose options with famous comic or cartoon characters. And you can decorate just one nail or all of them.
One of the simple and attractive ideas is drawing with a toothpick. This way you can create a unique and inimitable design with your own hands.
You can use a sponge and apply an unusual gradient in a space style. These simple and uncomplicated options will help diversify the life of a young fashionista and make you feel like an adult.
Nail design for teenage girl
Starting from the age of 13, you can already select more adult options that are not devoid of childish fervor. Bright pictures should reflect the character and personality of the girl.
It is better to use transparent coatings or pastel-colored varnishes as a base. For school, it is recommended to choose natural shades that will not stand out too much from the work atmosphere.
For school, a classic jacket that can be decorated with floral patterns will be beautiful and effective. Various stickers in the form of blots or paintings will look good.
You can make seasonal pictures in the form of snowflakes, the sun, falling leaves. You don't have to be a master to do this. A similar manicure can be done at home, giving your child bright emotions.
It will be very beautiful if the manicure is combined with the school uniform. Scottish designs in the form of a cage or a chessboard have become very popular. But this option is more suitable as a holiday one.
Stages of child nail treatment
The first is hand disinfection with an antiseptic spray. There is always a risk of infection. And this is dangerous for children’s fragile immune system. This is especially true for fungal infections.
Next comes filing the nails with a file or cutting them with clippers. After all, not all children like the sound of a nail file. When trimming nails, leave at least 1 millimeter of their length. But you shouldn’t go beyond the three-millimeter length of your nails. Our children love active games and caution, this is not about them.
Nails that are longer than required prevent them from enjoying time with their peers. Even while changing clothes, children will have to control themselves so as not to accidentally damage the beauty of the applied manicure or break it. Children at their age need to move more, and not constantly watch their nails.
For the same reason, a pointed shape is not suitable for children’s nails, which can easily cause accidental injury to yourself or other children during games. The nail plate is rounded or left square.
You should ensure that during filing, cracks do not form and the nail plates do not delaminate. Only its edges are sanded.
Next in line is work with the cuticle, which begins with softening it by applying special products and a bath with herbal decoctions. After softening, the cuticle is moved to the edge of the nail, the excess is protected with an orange tree stick. Manicure scissors with rounded edges or nippers are used to remove any hangnails that have formed. Fingers are treated with any antiseptic. In case of damage to the skin, the wounds are filled with glue intended for this purpose.
After all these manipulations, we proceed to applying a coating to children’s nails, which should not contain aggressive substances that can lead to deformation of the nail plates, disruption of their structure, delamination, and fragility.
Do not apply varnishes containing solvents to children's nails. The coating should be washed off with a warm soap solution without the use of chemicals. It should not contain formaldehyde, toluene, or dibutyl phthalate, which not only have a harmful effect on the structure of the nail plate, but can also cause allergies in a child. Children's polishes should be based on water.
Varnishes for children are bottled in plastic tubes with dispensers and in molds in the form of sippy bottles. You can buy varnish in one specific color. Sets of multi-colored varnishes with a set of stickers, glitter, and decals are also sold.
When buying nail polish, mothers should definitely pay attention to the packaging. It contains recommendations regarding the age of the child for whom this coating is suitable.
The final touch to the manicure of children's nails is the finishing coat of oil, which takes care of the structure of the child's nails and skin.
Themed children's nail art
It would be original to cover your nails with gel polish and decorate them with a themed picture. On the first of September it can be a bow, a book, a letter or any other image associated with school.
For a birthday, you can afford a more extravagant option - place prints with cakes, fireworks, and various ribbons.
In winter, drawings with snowflakes, Christmas trees, New Year's themes, stars or the moon will be relevant.
There are also interesting ideas for holidays such as Halloween, Valentine's Day and others. This will give your baby unusualness, romance and individuality. You can use various simple techniques to create lace images using foil. Here everything is limited only by your imagination and capabilities.
It is very rare to use special false nails for children. But for this you need to carefully treat the nail. On the positive side, the child will definitely wean himself from the bad habit of biting his nails. But if you carry out such a procedure too often, then damage to the nail plate is possible.
Therefore, experiment, choose different looks, but do not abuse harmful substances that can harm the health of your child’s nails.
Features of hand care for children
You can start teaching your child about manicure from the age of five. This is the age when a girl can already understand why this procedure is needed and what benefits it brings. Until this age, nails are simply trimmed and cleaned of dirt.
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But when teaching your baby how to care for her nails, mom needs to know some rules:
- A file for filing children's nails is only suitable with very fine grain from 240 grit and below according to the grain table.
- The cuticles on children's fingers are not cut; the only thing that is allowed to be done is to remove the hangnails that have formed with thin nail scissors, and then only after first soaking them in a bath with a warm decoction of herbs. The appearance of hangnails occurs due to the rapid growth of the cuticle. An infection gets into the damaged skin around the nail plates, which leads to inflammatory processes in children's fingers.
- The growth of bacteria can also be caused by wet hands. Therefore, the child must be taught to wipe them well, without leaving water.
- In the summer, when heating is on, dry indoor air can cause brittle nail plates. The nails begin to peel and the cuticles dry out excessively. Any cream designed for children's skin will help cope with dry skin and prevent brittle nails.
- For children, special water-based children's varnishes are produced without solvents, with essential oils and vitamins to strengthen children's nails. Children should not be allowed to use adult coatings, as well as liquid to remove them. They disrupt the structure of the nail plate, making it brittle.
Before the age of 15, it is not worth subjecting the nails of teenagers to an adult manicure, since by this age the nail plate is just finishing its formation.
Also, do not forget that the condition of your baby’s nails largely depends on nutrition. The child’s diet should include vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin B7: cucumbers, cabbage, bananas, strawberries, raspberries in the summer; fruits are replaced with juices in winter.
Sea fish will help saturate the body and strengthen nails with polyunsaturated fatty acids, which should be included in the diet of children, as well as adults, at least twice a week.
Little girls, of course, are big monkeys, striving to be like their mother in everything. And painting your nails is no exception. There is nothing reprehensible in wanting to be like a mother, but when starting a manicure procedure, the child needs to explain that not every color will suit her elegant dress.
In general, every mother decides for herself whether to give her girl a manicure or let her grow up first. But if you still decide to take part in this event, then do not disappoint your baby. Let the child’s first acquaintance with manicure bring positive emotions and a desire to repeat the procedure. The girl’s future attitude towards caring for her hands will depend on this.
For teenage girls who have not yet turned 14 years old, the European manicure technique is suitable, which involves removing the cuticle by applying a special remover liquid.
Its principle is based on the action of fruit acids, which, falling on the keratinized part of the cuticle, soften it to such an extent that all that remains is to remove it with an orange tree stick.
A European manicure does not injure the cuticle, unlike a trimmed one; it only moves it closer to the edge of the nail plate. After it, no wounds remain on the skin, and there is no risk of infection.
Older teenagers can already try other manicure techniques, but they need to find out how close the blood vessels are to the surface of the skin so as not to harm them.
False nails for children
To prepare for a big holiday celebration, you can use children's false nails. There are various sets with a wide variety of designs. This way you can create an extraordinary style for the girl.
It is not recommended to use false nails very often as this can make the nail structure brittle and brittle.
Combination with other types of design solutions
Since the style of young ladies is still in the process of formation, you can choose a manicure design based on the girl’s preferences in clothes and accessories, as well as taking into account her area of interests and hobbies.
- Make interesting accents in your manicure, taking into account the color scheme of your jewelry.
- Your daughter's favorite accessory can become an idea for a creative manicure with her favorite cartoon character.
- The print on your favorite T-shirt can be displayed in a manicure or you can choose the same color scheme for it.
- It's hard to find a modern girl who doesn't love accessories with her favorite cartoon character Hello Kitty. Give your little girl a cute cat face manicure in this style!
- The same stylized manicure will go perfectly with fashionable hair clips.
We hope that our photos with fashionable ideas have inspired you to create a beautiful manicure for your daughter. Be sure to follow the recommendations for performing a hygienic manicure so as not to injure children’s delicate fingers and turn this procedure into a pleasure. We look forward to your feedback and comments.
It is forbidden
When caring for your nails, it is worth remembering that you do not need to cut them immediately after swimming. The steamed nail plate is too tender and prone to delamination.
There is also a chance that you will cut your child’s nail to look like meat, since the edges of the nails are blurred and the area that needs to be cut is difficult to see. It is worth trimming your nails carefully, respecting the anatomical shape.
Use only special tools that are purchased from appropriate stores. It is better to choose a file special for the child.
Treat nails with special tenderness and caution so as not to delaminate the surface. The main thing is to accustom your child to caring for nails from an early age.
Treat cuticles carefully. Under 15 years of age, it is not recommended to carry out complex manipulations with the cuticle, since it acts as a protective layer at the base of the nail. But here everything depends on the individual characteristics of the child’s structure.
A special approach is sought for each child. If the skin is very thin, then special products are used to have a gentle effect on the cuticle. If it’s thicker, you can use an orange stick and carefully push it away.
After this, it can be trimmed with nail scissors. It is always recommended to have such tools at home to perform basic nail care yourself.
Don't judge mom harshly
Is a manicure really necessary for children of preschool and school age? This is a secondary question. But whether it can be done in principle is the most important thing.
Despite everything, it turns out that it really can be done, and there are special varnishes for children's manicure for this purpose.
Of course, at first glance the phrase itself sounds crazy, but it is true, apparently while we were busy with our own affairs, the nail aesthetics industry has stepped far forward.
Young beauties who want to look even better try to take care of their appearance from an early age.
When it comes to nails and the procedure for bringing them into the proper “adult” appearance, there are some rules to follow.
In addition, even simply cutting the nails can cause harm to the nail plate, since its excessive tenderness is not yet able to adapt to mechanical influences.
If the nail is damaged, then in adult life it will grow uneven and ugly.
What is possible?
It's always a good idea to use cuticle emollients. They have a gentle effect on this area and also prevent rapid further growth of the cuticle.
Before taking a bath, be sure to take care of your child's nails. Using an orange stick, gently push back cuticles and scrape away any remaining skin on your nails using gentle, circular motions. Apply polish to your nails, but be sure to use a gentle one. The use of pastel-colored coatings is not prohibited. If your child wants a more permanent manicure, you can try options with gel polish. But this option is not recommended for children under 16 years old. This coating will help develop aesthetic senses in a girl, as well as wean her from the habit of biting her nails.
Design options
Many interesting design options can be made for a child during the holidays and recreation. Most likely, every girl knows what her nails should look like. You can allow your child to make drawings on his own, and if it doesn’t work out, then help him with it.
For lovers of numerous cartoons, you can try to portray cartoon characters. Drawings with various butterflies, flowers and animals will look beautiful. The child should like all these ideas. If you can’t draw pictures on your own, then stickers or slides can always help. But before you start gluing them, you need to make a contrasting base so that all parts of the design are visible.
Contrasting designs
For a teenager, it is important not only to look beautiful on weekdays, but on holidays you also want to highlight your manicure. Here is an example of a few popular decorations or designs that your child will definitely love:
- Neon varnish. It will always look bright and noticeable.
- French manicure. Not only older girls like this classic, children love it too.
- Glitter. They can decorate absolutely any design.
- Drawings. Here you will need to use your imagination; the child can also take part in this.
- Thematic design. It can be dedicated to different holidays: New Year, Halloween, any party.
A children's manicure done together with parents can bring pleasure not only to the child, but also to the person doing it. But in any case, you need to listen to the wishes of your child.
Popular manicure ideas
The nails of a child, as well as an adult, attract a lot of attention, so they should always be clean and neat, because most often it is by them that others first of all judge a person and his inner qualities. Here are some ideas on how you can diversify your child’s manicure:
- Drawn fruits and vegetables.
- Spot manicure. Dots are always in trend, and a manicure for children decorated with them will look fun and beautiful.
- Flowers of various sizes. They can also be drawn or pasted.
- Interesting and funny cartoon characters.
