Sunday, December 19, 2010

Ready, Set, FILE! - Squoval

Here is another addition to the series discussing how to shape the nail free edge. I have previously covered, taking down length, square shape, oval shape, and the files I prefer to use (links below).

If you missed the other posts.
1. Become familiar with different nail shapes and what free edge nail shape suits your nail bed shape here.
2. You need the right nail file for the job. Here I discuss what I prefer and why.
3. Even if you are not interested in certain free edge nail shapes I recommend you peruse the following posts for general useful advice:
Taking down nail length
Square
Oval
Sealing the nail plate 

Personally, I prefer the squoval shape on my hands and nail bed so I am uber excited about going back to this shape :)

As always lets look at what I started with and the finished look of the nail.



Pardon the scratched up surface, the file slipped in this long night of filing from square to oval to squoval!

The before nail on the left is round/oval shaped, at least my best version of such since I have a pretty high C-curve on that particular nail.

The squoval has rounded corners and a semi-flat to flat top, depends on your preference I guess. 

So to go from one to the other you just need to make the top less oval/round like by filing straight across in one direction with your file of choice.  My file of choice is 320 for thick hard nails or a 400 file for thin weak nails.




If you are going from square to squoval, just round the corners, as pictured.















Start with the file at a 45 degree angle and file from corner to middle. By bringing the file perpendicular to the nail at the end of the sweep you can achieve a more flat top tip while keeping the corners rounded.

















Thus far this series of posts have showed how to file a healthy nail free edge into different shapes.  If your nails are problematic, peeling, cracking, chipping, etc you will need to be careful with the types of files you use to shape, i.e. the higher the grit (the more fine) the better in order to prevent further nail plate damage. I will however, do a proper post later.  

After you have shaped your nails free edge, you will want to seal it after taking off the polish.  This will be the next and final post in the series and can be found here.

What shape do you like best on your nails?

11 comments:

  1. Great tutorial! I prefer to keep my nails squoval, they look awful when I try to round them, and I don't like how they look when they are stark square either.

    P.S. You asked me about my blog's follow button, but I don't have one. Unfortunately, it's not possible to use GFC with wordpress.com. :/

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  2. I like mine squovaled too. Sometimes it ends up going into a softened square like I have now. Good tut!

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  3. I think i prefer square just because i couldn't get it right everytime when i try to file it. Its always out of shape and i ended up with shorter nails. But after reading your tutorial, i decided to try it again!!!

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  4. Hey there! your tutorial was really helpful :D
    I always failed filing my nails in a squoval shape so I normally filed them square shaped (which is easier for me but gets dangerous sometimes, hehe)..
    I'm re-trying this coz I think it's prettier ^_^
    One request thought: can you make a video tutorial and post it on youtube? If it isn't any bother :)
    Thanks! I'll be visiting the blog some more .. ciao!

    PS: sorry for "anonymous" profile, I just don't have any profile anywhere.

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  5. it's "anonymous" again :P

    btw I always have these white things staying on the edge of my nails when I file. It's like the rest of a layer which is still stuck on the nail :S
    I have no idea what I should do with that, normally I take them off with a metallic filer but doesn't it ruin the nail?
    any advices? :)

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  6. Hi Anonymous! I am so happy you found it useful. :D I will definitely make a tubie veeeedio for ya!

    If you have a gmail account (or sign up for one) you can comment and follow with that, otherwise no worries about being anonymous. The other advantage of having an account is the list of blogs that you follow are all in one place for you.

    Yeay! Come visit anytime!

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  7. Hi! I think you are referring to what I call "nail shavings". This I cover in the "square shape nail post, link below.

    http://loodieloodieloodie.blogspot.com/2010/11/ready-set-file-square.html

    If you have time read the entire series because there are tips and tricks pertinent to all nail shapes. :)

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  8. Ty I learned alot. I've heard u should file the sides of nail. One of ur video's said not too. What do I do?

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  9. Thank you dear admin for writing about this please also writ about Best Squoval Nails

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  10. Thank you dear admin for writing about this please also writ about Best Squoval Nails
    in 2019

    ReplyDelete