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I used to have this struggle. I would paint my nails, wait forever for them to dry, only to chip them the next day. Sound familiar? I used to think I just had really weak nails and was too rough on my hands, but it turns out that wasn't the problem. I just didn't know how to paint my nails correctly! Here are three tips to getting better at-home manicures:
- Use nail polish remover liberally. For some reason, I always thought you had to wash nail polish remover off of your hands. So I would do all of the steps for an at-home manicure, use nail polish remover to get my nails really clean before I put on polish, and then wash and dry my hands. Umm, d'oh. You don't have to wash off the polish remover, and by washing and drying your hands after using it you may end up with extra gunk or fibers on your nails that stop the polish from adhering properly. Just swab your nails with polish remover and start painting!
- Don't let the polish dry. Seriously. I used to let my polish sit between each coat, thinking this helped it dry better. I was totally wrong. When you get a manicure, they don't let your nails sit for five or ten minutes between coats. Just make sure you're using thin coats of polish, and go right into the next coat without leaving drying time.
- Use the right base & top coats. I used to skip base coat, and would always use no-chip topcoat, and my nails always chipped and would get dents or scratches across the polish. Now I use strengthening base coat, which helps keep my nails strong under the polish, as well as quick dry topcoat, which helps my nails dry quickly without getting any dents or chips. With quick dry topcoat (I prefer Essie's Good to Go) I only need about 10 minutes of drying time before I can use my hands again.
Do you use any of these tips already? Have any other tricks for making your at-home manis look better?
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