HEY NAILFRIENDS!
Easy Ways To Make Nail Polish Last Longer & Keep Your Mani Salon-Fresh
According to the experts, there are a few nail care tweaks to help make your nail polish last longer. Here, their tips and tricks to give the mani some staying power:
1. Don't soak.
"When your nails are soaked in water, they expand," manicurist and founder of Varnish Lane, Lauren Dunne once told us. The soak can distort and widen the nails' shape, and when you paint polish over the nail and it dries "[this causes] your polish to chip prematurely." While a good soak can help soften the coarser skin on your feet, it's not totally necessary for the more delicate skin on your fingertips.
That said, you'll want to avoid soaking your fingertips after the mani, too (with warm baths, washing dishes, and the like). Not only can the water cause your nails to expand and contract, which can lift the pigment, but it can also make them brittle and dry over time.
2. Buff the nails after filing.
After clipping and shaping your nails, don't skip the buffer. Especially if you "saw" at the nail with a rough emery board, you can create tiny micro-frays along the nail—you may not be able to see the splits, but trust that when those rough edges start to peel, your polish will go along with it. That said, when you buff along the free edge of the nail, it actually helps seal the keratin layers that may have split during filing.
You can also use a glass nail file to simultaneously smooth out the edges while you shape: "Due to the fine grit of a glass/crystal file, it also closes and seals the keratin layers of the free edge of the nail," says Evelyn Lim, chief educator of Paintbox. If you use a standard emery board, though, chances are you'll need a quick buff.
3. Avoid getting polish on your cuticles.
It's easier said than done, we know, but do your best to paint inside the lines. A stray swipe of polish might not seem be-all and end-all, but you don't want the lacquer to settle into your cuticles. See, the paint on your skin will come off quicker than the paint on your nails; if your polish is sealed between your skin and nail, when the paint eventually lifts off your cuticles, the polish on your nail will chip along with it.
But mastering an error-free mani is, you know, pretty difficult. Try this fail-safe tip for a smudge-free manicure: Before applying your base coat, trace the perimeter of your nails with an oily balm, especially working it into those cuticles. The jelly substance acts as a barrier between your skin and the nail, so if you smudge a little polish into your cuticles while you paint, it'll wipe off afterward with ease.
4. Push your cuticles back.
"When polish sticks to your cuticles, it's easy to peel and ruin your mani," says Amy Lin, the founder of sundays—a nail care brand focused on wellness (as we pointed out with the predicament above). That said, pushing them back gently with a wooden stick or cuticle pusher can help create ample space on the nail plate.
"Make sure you clean any residue oil from the cuticle serum after you're done cleaning up your cuticles," Lin notes, adding, "Wash your hands or use a polish remover to clean the nail plate."
5. Use nourishing, conditioning polishes.
As a general rule: When your nails are weak and brittle, your polish will chip easier. After all, how is a lacquer going to stay on nails that frequently break and split? That said, products that impart nourishing, moisturizing ingredients (and avoid formaldehyde, camphor, toluene, and other drying chemicals) have a bit more staying power—that goes for pigments, top coats, and base coats.
"The most important being your base coat because that is what is touching your nail and seeping into the skin," says Nadine Abramcyk, co-founder of clean salon tenoverten. So if you're going to invest in one top-quality polish, perhaps it should be your base. But we suggest making the full swap to clean nail care if you can
6. Use a chip-resisting top coat.
Top coats do way more than provide a patent-leather finish. Snag a good, chip-resistant lacquer (like this protective top coat from sundays), and it'll keep your polish from peeling over time.
Better yet, you might want to touch up the top coat after a few days—the polish can start to wear off after some time, which leaves the pigment vulnerable to chips and dings. "This is an important hack for keeping your nails intact in between manicures," Lin adds.
7. Let your polish fully set.
While polish usually takes around seven to 10 minutes to dry, according to Lim, you don't want to be flailing your digits right after stowing the mani kit. You may thinkyour nails have fully dried, but as soon as you dig into your tote or put on your shoes, you're met with smudged fingertips. Tragic.
8. Dry with cool air.
On that note, you may rely on a dryer to help speed the dry time, be it a fan (electric or paper) or a hairdryer. If you choose the latter, make sure to keep the setting on cool: Heat can cause the polish to bubble, which makes it easier for it to chip down the line.
Plus, as Lin tells us about drying nails fast, cold air actually works faster, and it won't dry out the surrounding skin. "[Heat] can dry out your cuticle area, which you spent a lot of time nourishing during a manicure," she notes
By: Jamie Schneider | April 14, 2021
Visit this blog to learn more effective tips
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-to-make-nail-polish-last-longe