How to manage your hair, nails and eyebrows during self-isolation

As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world more and more people are turning to DIY beauty solutions from the safe haven of their own homes, as salons remain shut.

Yahoo Lifestyle spoke with the experts to find out how you can maintain your hair, nails and eyebrows during self-isolation.

How to remove Shellac, SNS or gel nail polish at home

If, like many of us here on the Yahoo Lifestyle team, you were three weeks into your gel nail polish manicure when nail salons shut up shop, then here’s how you can remove it yourself from the comfort of your own couch.

Nadia Eizadi, who is the founder of Bat Your Lash salon in Victoria, said you’ll need to get yourself a rough nail file, some acetone (make sure you open the windows when using this), cotton wool, foil, a cuticle stick, a block buffer and some cuticle oil.

First, take the nail file and run it over the surface of your manicure to remove the shiny layer. This only needs to be done lightly.

Next, soak ten cotton balls in the acetone and put them on each nail. Follow that up by wrapping each finger with a small piece of foil to set them in place and leave them for about ten or 15 minutes.

According to Nadia, once you unfold the foil, the gel polosh should slide off. If not, you can use the cuticle pusher to gently scrape off the excess.

Once you’ve managed to remove all the product from your nails, slightly buff the nail bed and finish off with some cuticle oil.

How to maintain your hair at home

With the government saying we could be facing six months of disruption to our day-to-day lives, it’s looking more and more likely that home treatments for our tresses could be the way forward.

Carolyn Gahan, who is a guest artist at Joico, said if you're thinking of cutting your own hair during this time, maybe just stick to trimming your fringe.

“I’m all about leaving things to professionals to do. A fringe trim would be the most,” she said.

Jaimi, a hairdresser who works in a salon in North Sydney, said people should avoid at-home hair dye jobs at all costs.

“Don’t do it. Just don’t do it. It will end in a disaster and [if salons close] you’ll have nowhere to go to fix it,” she said.

“If salons get shut down for six months and everyone box-dyes their hair it’s just going to be a nightmare. The colour corrections will cost you a bucket-load of money.”

If your hair is growing out and you’re tempted to reach for the scissors Jaimi says just pop it in a ponytail or bun and use some pins or clips to get it out of the way. “Just don’t cut it yourself. It will end in tears,” she said.

Carolyn agrees, saying people should put a hat if you’re going for a walk, so your colour doesn’t fade, or use a UV protectant spray to protect your hair.

She also recommends people try to train their hair not to be washed as often, keeping it to twice a week. If you’re concerned about getting oily hair, use dry shampoo in between washes.

“Less washing will elongate the strength of your colour and will keep your colour as fresh as possible.”

Ghd Creative Artists Brodie-Lee Tsiknaris’ says not to “underestimate the power of dry shampooing and a quick blast with your hair dryer”.

“This will give you that beautiful and fresh blown out look with lots of volume – no matter how dirty your hair is.” she said.

When it comes to treatments, Carolyn recommends sleeping with a hair mask in for extra hydration while you’re at home and avoiding hot tools so you limit the damage done to your hair.

“If you need to use hot tools, tools under 150 degrees are recommended because you can burn the moisture out of the hair which in turn makes the hair very dry. This will help your ends so you won’t need a trim as often,” she said.

Instead of using heat, try air drying as Carolyn says it reduces the amount of heat put on your scalp, which can be very drying.

How to keep your eyebrows in shape during self-isolation

For those looking for home maintenance tips on how to deal with their brows at home for the foreseeable future , celebrity go-to ‘Arch Angel’ Amy Jean gave us the rundown.

First, Amy said you should brush your hairs to angle them in an upward and outward direction and set them in place.

Then, fill in your brows using your favourite pencil, powder or pomade, before tweezing around the outline and any hairs that have spread above the brow you’ve filled in.

“It’s imperative you tweeze after your brows are filled in so you have a guide and cannot get overly ‘pluck happy’,” Amy said.

Then, brush the hairs straight up towards the hairline. Any excessively long brow hairs can be tweezed out individually and cautiously.

“These are rogue hairs that cause inconsistencies in the upward and outward ‘flow’ of well positioned hairs.,” Amy continued.

To set your brows, place a clear or coloured brow gel for volume and 3D texture.

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