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If you’re doing your nails at home, you learn a lot of lessons real quick. 

Like, you can’t cure gel polish under a hair dryer. 

Like, no amount of regular nail polish will soak off acrylic nails. 

Or, like, your cuticle prep is the most important part of the process if you want a long-lasting manicure. 

Let me say that again for the people who got distracted: your cuticle prep is one of the most important parts of getting a manicure that doesn’t lift or pop off. 

And almost every DIY nail girl has to learn this one the hard way! 

What’s cuticle prep? (aka why newbies should care)

Whether you do hard gel nails, acrylic nails, dip powder nails, or my beloved builder gel, your cuticle prep is everythingggg. 

No matter how good your application of your nail product is, your natural nails are going to keep growing underneath the product. And if you haven’t removed all the cuticle growth from the nail plate, you’re going to get lifting within a few days. 

When I first started with DIY nails during the pandemic, I sort of blew this off. A lot of new people do. You scrape a nail file across the nail surface a couple times and figure you got it all off. And what happens — every time!–is you get lifting. ‘Lifting’ means the nail product, the beautiful artificial nail you built up, starts to pull away at the edges. 

In the image above, you can see where lifting happens — when the nail pulls away along the blue U-shaped line on the image, that’s lifting. The reason it happens is because your cuticles were not fully removed. So the artificial nail is partially adhered to the cuticle, and when the nail starts to grow out, the cuticle is left behind and the edge of the nail isn’t stuck to anything anymore. 

Lifting is actually incredibly annoying! (You probably know this already.) It doesn’t look visibly messed up, but it snags on everything, constantly. You can’t run your fingers through your hair or touch your sweater without snagging. And eventually, the artificial nails do lift off much sooner than they should have. 

Cuticle slacking is an intermediate mistake

The truth is that in your first couple of nail sets you probably made a bunch of much bigger mistakes than this. I started with polygel overlays and had to soak my first two sets off because they weren’t cured properly and appeared to be melting. 

But by the time you’re getting decent, you’re putting in enough time, energy, and expertise that you want to get the maximum amount of time out of your work. So getting cuticle prep right is an important skillbuilding step for intermediate nail artist DIYers to unlock the manicures that last a month! 

Now, let’s get into a few different ways to get your cuticles right and unlock the next level of your nail prep.

So how do I prep my cuticles? Do I need the best drill bit for cuticles?

Beginners are often using manual nail files to scuff up their nails (I did!). But this isn’t optimal for cuticle removal! It’s hard to get a flat nail file into the nooks and crannies of your cuticles. Something is almost certainly getting left behind. And if you’re using a file coarse enough to get all the dead skin, you may be damaging your natural nail in the process. 

But not everyone’s ready for a nail drill, honestly! And if you’re not ready and you don’t have a bunch of time to practice, you should wait because you can do yourself more harm than good. Let’s start with some easy options for people who might be feeling nervous. 

Cuticle pusher

Okay, let me tell you right now: you are not going to spend your one wild and precious life using orange peel sticks when this tool costs less than a latte. 

This metal cuticle pusher will last you a lifetime and get the job done forever. Before you order the one above, be sure you don’t have one of these kicking around from the first nail kit you ever ordered–I have a couple that came with various nail starter kits. 

You can get the job done with this alone. Soak your hands in warm water for a while. Use some cuticle oil if you want, especially if you have hard skin in the area. Then, use the cuticle pusher along the cuticle line, starting at the bottom of the U-shape and working up each side.  

This little thing will keep your cuticle area in check for the rest of your life. You never have to get more complicated than this if you don’t want to. 

Cuticle remover

If you’re struggling with just the cuticle pusher, the one-step-up option is the cuticle remover. The Sally Hansen product above is a classic and less harsh than some that you’ll see in nail salons in the United States. 

You’ve got to use this stuff the right way, though — apply it to the nail bed, not the skin around your nails! You should only apply this to places that you’re planning to put your gel nail polish. You’re not looking to have this stuff touch the skin around your nails. 

(A really quick nail care explainer on this: what people typically call “cuticles”, like when they say “he bites his cuticles” is actually live skin called your nail fold. The actual cuticle is the tiny bit of skin on your natural nail. That’s what we’re looking to remove.)

So, if you’ve ever gone to a salon that uses this stuff: the nail technicians put it on the client’s nails, wait 15 seconds, use a cuticle pusher to push the skin away, and then wash the hands well with soapy water. Wash it REALLY well. The first couple times you do it, do one hand at a time to get the timing right. 

So listen: this stuff is probably the easiest way to get the nail cleaner if you aren’t getting all the cuticle off with just the pusher. It’s a little harsh, and if it gets on your skin it will make the skin around your nails look awful. But if you can keep it off your skin, it will speed your cuticle prep up a lot. 

Best drill bits for cuticles 

Okay, seriously: nobody needs a drill to do their cuticles! But the right nail bits in an electric nail file can really make the whole process pretty quick and easy once you have the skills. 

First: if you’ve ever been in a salon where the tech hurt you with a drill, you know how serious the damage can be. You can burn yourself under the nail bed, and with cuticles specifically, you can give yourself a “smile line” dent in the nail if you press to hard or don’t use the right nail drill bits. 

But , if you already have an electric nail drill, or you are looking to start treating yourself to some professional-grade nail products, doing your cuticles with the drill is quick. And once you get the hang of it, it’s easy. 

So your job: 

• Use your drill for shaping, filing off old product, and polishing edges before you try to use it for your cuticles. You need to learn how lightly to use the drill before going near your cuticles. 
• The first few times you do it, be super cautious. Do one pass and then finish with the cuticle pusher. You’ll learn in time how to get the best results for your personal nails. 
• Getting the balance between a precise removal and protecting your natural nails takes time! 

Here are the best drill bits for cuticles: 

If you already have an e-file, it might have come with a dedicated cuticle drill bit. Check the different types of nail drill bits that came with your drill and see if you have one that looks like these:

(The size you use is just kind of personal preference.)

If you don’t have one, this one is super popular: 

Reviews are super positive about the safety of this bit, so it seems less aggressive and friendlier to beginners. 

This set gives you a couple different size and shape options, which is nice. I use the larger round bit on my toenails and the smaller on my fingernails. 

If you are really taking your DIY nails seriously, you can also buy several much more expensive options made from more expensive materials. The ones above are made from carbide metal, but you can get ceramic bits or even diamond bits if you go looking for them. It’s a good idea to be skeptical of Amazon products that claim to be diamond. Erica’s has one that is more reputable. 

Looking for a drill bit video to get you started with the technique? I learned from this creator and I thought it was a really easy way to learn. For your first time, you should probably do fewer small passes than she does to avoid a “smile line”!