*Photo of black manicure with green leaf in background by Valeriia Miller on Unsplash*

Updated 2024.08.11. This page contains affiliate links and this site earns from qualifying purchases made through these sponsored links.

How often do you do your nails? How often should you give yourself a manicure?

The answer to these questions all depends on your lifestyle, your nail growth patterns, and how much you enjoy a fresh manicure.

If your nails grow quickly, or if you tend to use your hands for heavy labor, such as dishwashing, gardening, or working with machinery, you may prefer to give yourself a manicure a couple of times a week.

In general, though, if you prefer to keep your nails pristine most of the time, you will want to give yourself or get a manicure every week.

If you want to make your manicure last longer than a week, extend the time of your manicure to ten days using a longwear polish and protecting your hands while you do chores.

Longwear polishes include OPI’s Infinite Shine and essie’s gel couture. Longwear polishes are typically a 2-3 part system that cures the polish to your nail without a light.

A few common questions about how often you should get a manicure -

*Photo of light lavender blue manicure by Kristina Paukshtite from Pexels, with text How Often Should You Get A Manicure?*

Is it bad to get a manicure every week?

Not at all. As most manicures last 6-10 days or around a week, this is actually normal. You might like to get or give yourself a manicure as an end-of-week routine on Fridays and Saturdays.

If you need your manicured nails to last longer than this, apply a protective top coat every 2-3 days.

How long is a manicure supposed to last?

A manicure is meant to last anywhere between 6-10 days.

If your manicured nails are chipping before this time, read our post on How To Get A Manicure To Last Longer.

Some can get their manicures to last up to two to three weeks, but keep in mind that this doesn’t work for everyone.

Caveats such as nails that tend to grow slowly, whether or not you are finishing your manicure with paint, or your nail beds tend to be on the drier side can extend your manicure time.

But usually, when a manicure lasts any longer than 1.5 weeks, your nails grow out and you may notice extra “root growth” at the base of your nail bed, where the nail meets the cuticle.

This bare nail growth tends to become visible after about seven days since you last had your nails done.

You may enjoy keeping up with your manicures, so the grow-out doesn’t show and how quickly you see out growth depends on your nail growth patterns, which can change.

How often should a man get a manicure?

If you are coming from the masculine world, the same rules apply as above, though if you are not doing paint, your manicures may last that unicorn time period of two to three weeks. Meaning, you may be able to space your manicures out to about three weeks.

Manicures are more than just paint.

They include shaping and cleaning the nail, cuticle care, and restorative treatments for the hands. When nails grow, they tend to split and chip on the ends, develop hangnails, or get longer than you prefer, and a manicure cleans all this up.

Men, and some women, don’t always finish their manicures with a color coat, but some choose clear.

If you are just doing a clear coat as a finishing touch, which does add shine, consider using a hardener to strengthen the nail, such as this nail hardener by Beauty Secrets. Without the paint, manicured nails tend to not show their ruggedness as quickly and can last about two to three weeks.

*Photo of light lavender blue manicure by Kristina Paukshtite from Pexels*

Should you take a break between manicures?

There is a myth that nails need to breathe, so they need to go naked every once and while.

While there is some wisdom to this concept, for example sometimes nails get damaged from too much acetone, what nails really need is to be nourished, moisturized, and cared for, however you choose to do that.

If you prefer to keep them covered with polish, to care for your nails, use a daily cuticle oil, like Sally Hansen’s Vitamin E Nail And Cuticle Oil.

Then, every 3rd or 4th manicure swap out your regular polish, for a nourishing base coat and polish, such as those in Sally Hansen’s Color Therapy line or in the Orly Breathable Line.

Now about pedicures -

*Photo of person with pedicured toes on black background by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels*

How often should you get a pedicure?

Feet tend to be more protected than hands and don’t deal with the daily wear and tear hands do. Although they do support our body weight, they are covered much of the time.

For this reason, it is normal to get a pedicure every two to three weeks, especially if you are showing your feet off, for example, it’s summer where you are or you’re on vacation.

If you plan to do your manicures frequently, it pays to learn how to do them yourself.

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How Often Should You Get A Manicure?