3 Pedicure Mistakes to Avoid (and 6 Other Tips)

Don't trim toenails too short—it can cause ingrowns. Using a clipper, cut nails straight across, in line with the edge of your toes. Then file them to your desired length with an emery board (which gives you more control than clippers), says celebrity nail artist Tracylee.

Don't cut your cuticles. Instead, massage cuticle oil or remover onto each nail, and with an orange stick push back the skin on the nail plate, says celebrity manicurist Deborah Lippmann.

Don't layer on a thick coat of polish. "You might be tempted to cover the nail in a dense coat to get the color to look the way it appears in the bottle," says Lippmann. "But that makes polish more prone to chipping." After the base coat, apply two thin layers of lacquer using three strokes per nail (center, side, side). Make sure to wait one to two minutes between coats so the polish can dry. Seal in color with a topcoat.