1. Prepare and Soften the Skin:
• Wash your hands and dry your nails thoroughly.
• Apply a cuticle remover, softener, or soak your fingertips in warm soapy water for a few minutes to soften the dead skin.
2. Push Back the Cuticles:
• Use a cuticle pusher to gently push back the proximal fold and reveal the dead keratinized skin sticking to the nail plate.
3. Position the Scissors:
• Hold the cuticle scissors firmly (using your thumb and ring/middle fingers for control, with your index finger stabilizing near the screw).
• Position the bottom blade underneath the lifted line of dead skin.
• Keep the scissors at a 90-degree angle (perpendicular to the skin) rather than laying them flat. Using straight extra-fine blades requires careful alignment, especially around the corners.
4. Trim with a Gliding/Sliding Motion:
• Use only the top 2 millimeters of the scissor blades.
• Avoid deep or large chops. Instead, move millimeter by millimeter (from right to left or along the contour), taking tiny, unhurried snips to remove the dead skin in one cohesive strip if possible.
• Do not cut into the live skin or pull/yacht the skin, which can cause bleeding or infection