Tuesday Tips: 6 Tips to Make Nail Polish Last

Today’s Tip: 6 tips to make your nail polish last

I am obsessed with nail polish. I LOVE doing my nails. I own over a hundred and fifty nail polishes.

Yep. Obsessed. If you don’t believe me, Tamsin can confirm.

Because I love doing my nails and I love lots of different colours, I investigated the best way to do my nails, and have the colour last. And now, I will share with you! Keep in mind that this is for natural nails.

1. Prepare your nails. This means removing any prior nail polish, and washing your hands. Make sure your nails are completely dry before moving onto the next step.
2. File your nails. Get an emery board that suits your nails. If your nails are weak, get yourself a fine board. If your nails are stronger, get a medium board. Only file your nails in the one direction, not back and forth as this can cause the nail to rip.
3. Apply Chip Skip. Chip Skip is a product by OPI that you put on your nails before you put on your base coat. It prepares the nail to receive the other polishes.
4. Apply base coat. My nails are quite weak, so I apply a base coat of OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthening. This works really well on my nails. If you don’t need to strengthen your nails, any base coat will do.
5. Apply two coats of colour.
6. Apply a top coat.

A couple of other things to keep in mind:

Allow adequate time for each layer to dry. I try to do my nails on a Saturday or Sunday morning to allow my nails to completely dry before going to bed. Sheet marks are the enemy!

The more expensive your nail polish, the better it tends to be. Don’t expect a $1 nail polish to last as long as a more expensive brand. A friend of mine (thanks Cassie) has introduced me to some indie polish companies, which are really good formulas, and much cheaper than well-known brands. They have the same staying power as brands like OPI.

Practice makes perfect. You can’t expect to be ace at doing your nails straight away. I tend to do my nails every weekend, and the more regularly I do this, the better I am at keeping the polish on my nails and not painting the rest of my fingers.

Lastly, I try to let my nails breathe every now and then. Currently I have no colour, base coat or anything on them. You’ll find if you paint them too much, your nails may begin to discolour. A good base coat usually helps you avoid this.

I hope these tips are helpful! If you have any other questions, or have your own suggestions, please let us know below.

How long does your nail polish last? Any tips or tricks?