This Classic Trick Can Help You Achieve The Perfect At-Home Mani, Every Time 

Whenever I get up the gumption to attempt an at-home manicure, it looks like two very, very different people painted my nails. See, one hand looks near-perfect—nary a smudge in sight, if I do say so myself—and the other? Let's just say I've colored outside the lines. I'm surely not alone: Painting with your nondominant hand is hard! Your fingers shake, the angle feels strange, and the result, well, it's less than cute. 

First, prep your nails for polish as you normally would (clip, file, cuticle oil, the works). But before applying your base coat, you'll want to trace the perimeter of your nails with a jellylike balm—especially working it into those cuticles. Then as you sweep on the polish, any wide strokes should land right on top of the balm.   

Many proponents of this mani trick tout Vaseline (a popular traditional occlusive), but you can use any clean jelly you like, so long as it's oily enough to repel the pigment—Pipette's Baby Balm mimics the feel of Vaseline almost perfectly. 

Once you have your product of choice, just apply the substance around the nailbed, using a cotton swab to spread it out. "After polish application, wipe it off using a cotton swab, and it will clear away the polish residuals," says Amy Lin, the founder of sundays—a nail care brand focused on wellness.