I love to polish my nails but I don't like how soon they chip and smudge.

I use all brands of polish, there is not one brand I like over the others. I file my nails & buff them. I have ridges, especially on my thumbs. I apply a clear coat to them first, the kind you are supposed to apply first so your nails don't turn yellow. I can't think of what it's called at the moment. I wait 3 min. because I heard that 3 min. is the time for them to dry enough and your polish won't bubble. Then depending on the color of the polish or how thick it is, I apply one or 2 coats. Once I put on 3 coats because my nails showed through. I wait 3 min. in between each one. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I go to the bathroom before I do my nails. if I don't, my body says "Hey, she just did her nails. Let's make her have to go so she can smudge them when she pulls down her pants." LOL Sometimes that works, sometimes I still have to go anyway. I know, my body is weird! LOL Another 3 min. and then if I don't apply decals or stickers, I apply a top coat. Then I would apply something that said my polish wouldn't chip for 5 days which really doesn't work. I am going to e-mail the company about that.

Sometimes, when I am sure my polish is dry and I go to bed, when I wake up in the morning, my polish is smudged! It wasn't when I went to bed. That's what bugs me.

I had my nails done at a place that is training people to be hair dressers, and nail people who would work at a nail salon when they finish their training. I liked what they did at first. However, they told me it takes 24-48 hours for nail polish to totally dry! Did anyone ever hear this? Who would ever do their nails if this was true? In 1/2 hour 2 or 3 nails chipped and I mean in a big way! Boy was I mad! This was free so I can't say I had to pay for it, I got ripped off but boy, 1/2 hour! What are they teaching them? I wouldn't go to them again and pay for it.

I had a nail polish dryer that I bought in the 80's when I worked in retail. I liked it but it was so loud! It would drown out the TV and my parents would yell at me not to use it even when I was in the next room. Sometimes my nails would still smudge even though I thought they were dry. I got rid of it. Then my niece bought me one. This was in the 90's or early 2000's. I figured this one had to be better. Nope. It was just as loud as the old one. They didn't improve it at all! I don't use that one either. I have heard you can put your nails in the freezer to dry them but what a waste! Your food is thawing out while your nails dry! Another suggestion was to put your nails in cold water. Okay, but when it's winter time outside even though you are inside, you don't want your hands in cold water. In the summer when it's hot and humid it's okay though. I can't remember how well that worked though.

I just hate when I do such a good job on my nails and people ask where I had them done and then a few days later they are all chipped. That stuff that isn't supposed to chip for 5 days chipped in a few days. Boy was I mad!

I had my nails done at another salon and that lasted about 5 days. That was really good. However, I couldn't figure out what they did besides putting them under a dryer that was different than what I had done.

Now that I have rambled on enough, what do I do to keep my polish looking good for more than a few days? I hate when they chip after I have just done them. Also, I notice only in the winter that they break a lot. Someone told me that because the air in the house is dry from having the heat on all the time, that is why. In the summer they grow really long and people have thought they were fake. That bugs me too but I'm sure the reason is the heat on in the house and the dry air. Anything I can do about that or do I just live w/that?

Thanks for any help you can give me. Let's share our nail stories. Do you have a fave polish you use a lot and a fave color? I love bright colors and I like to have my nails noticed.

I don't really know how to keep them from chipping, I work with my hands all day so they are bound to chip early. I will say though that I just got some great new nail polish. The brand is called "Spoiled" by Wet n Wild. Wet n Wild has always been a crappy brand, but not this nail polish, it is awesome! It works just as well as OPI/Nicole/Essie and I love the colors, they have many matte colors which is what I was looking for. Now here is the best part, it only costs $1.99! This is by far the best beauty buy I have gotten in awhile. I got these two from CVS:

Steel The Show


My Button Fell Off


You can check out more here www.cvs.com . . .=

I figure even if it does chip within a day or two, I don't mind spending time repainting them while watching TV, especially if the bottle only costs $1.99.

Any chance you have tried the Sally Hansen salon effects? They have all kinds of cool designs but they also just stick on then slowly turn into hard, finished polish over maybe 30 minutes to an hour and they last a long time!
sallyhansen.com . . .

I have tried many brands of regular nail polish, and like you found that they usually chip or smudge soon after I've finished them. I was skeptical of these salon effects too, they cost $8.50 at Target, but they are sold many other places as well like CVS, Walgreens, grocery stores, Walmart, etc. I finally decided to give them a try as they come out with some cute holiday designs as well, and man, they lived up to their promise! It says that they are easy to apply and last up to 10 days...I was sure that wouldn't be true. I am a nurse so always using my hands and washing them. But low and behold, my first set (halloween ghosts) was extremely easy to apply and lasted over 15 days! They still were in pretty good shape when I finally took them off aside from the fact that my nails had grown quite a bit! I did another set not long ago and they also lasted about 2 weeks before i took them off. I would highly recommend giving these a try. Also if you have short finger nails like me, you can get two uses out of each pack

I wait at least ten minutes between coats.

Chipping also has to do with what you do with your hands. If you hand wash dishes they will chip. If you use your nails to pry things, they will chip. Etc.

Base coat and top coats help.

I get my nails done at a shop. If I smudge one before I leave the shop, they fix it for free. I've gone back the next day for them to fix a mess up and they only charged me like $3. But generally, a shop job lasts much longer than do-it-myself.

They do a base coat, two coats of color and a top coat. A quick dry spray then goes overall and then I dry under ultaviolet lights for about 15 minutes. Rinsing your hands under cold running water also helps dry them quicker.

I try to really plan my 'nail day' so I don't do anything that will mess up my nails after I have them done. I don't do dishes after or take a shower or wash my hair. I do all that before I go to the shop. If something has to wait til the next day, then wait it does! I'm not wasting my money just to ruin my manicure. I can work on the computer or do laundry, if I'm careful. The next morning, it's usually dry enough for normal activities. I always use rubber gloves when I wash dishes or clean. And yes, I knew that about the 24 hours to fully dry thing. I get about a week out of my manicures and sometimes three weeks or more on a pedicure. Later in the week, I sometimes add a fresh top coat to get a little more life out of my manicure.

One more thing - daughter gets a gel manicure. It's much more durable than a regular manicure. Although, more expensive. Check into it!

PS - Just noticed how bad my nails look! I'm definitely getting in this week for a mani-pedi!!

kk~

Yeah, 3 minutes is not long enough for polish to dry. Here's how I do my nails (my current polish has lasted almost a week so far with just a little tip wear):
-Put on cuticle remover gel, push back cuticles
-File, buff, smooth, and shine with one of those 4-sided buffer blocks
-Rub in some cuticle oil
-Base coat (I use OPI Nail Envy, but you can use any base coat)
-Polish coat
-Wait 5-10 minutes
-Polish
-Wait
-Polish, if necessary
-Wait, if necessary
-Top coat

Now, I only do that because I can't afford to spend $20 every time I want to do my nails (which is a lot, hah), so I bought cuticle remover and oil so I could just do what they do at the salon. Breakage is definitely due to the dryness of winter air, so cuticle oil will help a LOT for that. And it's cheap-I found a tiny bottle at Sally Beauty for $.89.

The other thing that affects chipping is the brand, unfortunately. I've never had a brand that definitely does not EVER chip, but some last better than others. Both Sally Hansen Salon Effects (the strips mentioned above) and Complete Salon Manicure are good, as well as Essie and OPI. Those are all on the expensive side ($8ish); the only cheap ($1.99) brand I've found that has similar staying power and quality is Sinful Colors, which seems to be the Walgreen's version of Spoiled, the one hooray4jj mentioned.

You're putting five coats of polish on...that seems way too much to me. I never use base coat personally. I do one layer of colour, wait around 7-8 minutes, then do another coat of colour. Usualy that'll be enough - you have to judge the amount of polish on the brush properly, too little and it will streak, too much and it will gloop. I use a drying top coat, either a little bottle with a pipette/dropper or a paint-on, but I still put some cold water in the basin and immerse my hands in it a while after applying the last coat. The water stops the air getting to your nails and it dries faster.

It takes more than 9 minutes for polish to dry. Your base coat (which unless you're using a dark color, isn't necessary - light colors won't yellow your nails) is barely starting to dry in 9 minutes, and by then, you've added four more coats and a set of stickers to the top of it. There's a reason it takes an hour to go get a manicure.

And my goodness, you are a wordy thing! I got to hear a story about your niece in the 90's, just so you could ask why your polish chips so fast!

I should have said not 3 min. to dry but if I don't do the 3 min. & I even timed it on our stove, my polish would have bubbles in them. That's the only reason I do that. I will try the longer time and see how that works.

I have tons of colors of nail polish and have only a few that are a dark color. When I don't use a base coat first, which was the word I couldn't think of, my nails turn yellow. That's even when I use yellow or pink or green and those aren't dark colors, at least not the colors I have.

It's not that it bugs me how much polish costs. I'm not going to spend $10 or more for a bottle of nail polish, that's a given. I'm thinking most of you won't spend that much either. That's to expensive. It's just that it takes a lot to do my nails and have them look like a salon did them and then after all that work, 2 days later I have to do it all over again. That's what bugs me. If I only had to do them every 5 days or so that wouldn't bother me quite so much. I have nice hands and I want to show them off.

I like that Sally Hanson stuff and they have some amazing prints and colors. However, I have child sized hands. Will they still fit my nails? Are you sure you don't work for them? LOL

I know I can't use my hands for anything when I have polish on my nails. The only thing I don't use my hands for is sleeping and even then they smudge. However, sometimes you have to do things like take a shower or bath or go to the bathroom. I can't wear rubber gloves in the shower. I can wear them when I have to wash a few dishes but since I have child sized hands, they are so big they don't fit, the fingers are lots larger than mine are and water gets in them because I have tiny wrists. I wish they made them in my size.

Sorry I was wordy and told you about my niece and the nail dryer. I just wanted you to know I tried everything to get my nails dry. I even bought something that was supposed to dry your nails in 3 min. It was greasy and horrible and didn't work. They don't need to be totally dry, like diamond hard dry but dry enough to not smudge when I am sleeping. I can type and not ruin my nails at all, and I always thought that helped them dry faster but then in the morning there is a smudge from sleeping!

Why is it so hard to look nice, that's what I want to know?

Thanks for all your help and I will try a lot of what you guys said. I will let you know how they came out. Maybe I can scan them next time I do that.

I'm with Louise, it's probably partly because you're putting on so many coats. I usually don't do more than three at the most because when you really layer it on like that it just takes forever to dry and they usually end up smudging overnight or the next day because they're still not really dry.

I also wait a whole lot longer than that between coats. I probably let each coat dry for 10 or 15 minutes. And then I wait for a really long time before doing anything at all. It takes me several hours before I'm totally done with the whole process, but they turn out well and they usually last almost a week before starting to really chip.

GEL POLISH!! It is quite possibly the best thing in the entire freakin world!

My friend does gel polish and offered to do mine for free before christmas, she had been talking about how wonderful it was for a while but to be honest I didn't really believe that it was as good as she said! Well, I am hooked now... I don't think I can ever go back to normal polish!

I have had the same polish on for OVER four weeks now, NO chipping or anything... it is shiney and beautiful like they have just been done! It has made my nails so strong too! I will be taking this colour off soon and getting a new one, because the only problem is that now after four weeks my nails have grown and I can see how much up the top that they have grown and it annoys me!!

Seriously, I cannot recommend it enough!

Where I am it costs about $30 - $50. My friend does it from home so she only charges $30, but for a month worth of gorgeous nails... I think it is worth it

The Sally Hansen polish strips will fit any size nails. You peel them off the backing, press them on your nails, and then take off the extra (the packaging says to file it off, but I find it works much better to just fold it under the edge of your nail and sort of pinch it off).

I hardly give any time in between coats (I know it's bad, but I'm too impatient) and I hardly ever get bubbles or smudges and my nails usually last a good few days before they chip. What kind of top coat are you using? That may be part of the problem.

Okay, that Gel Polish sounds cool but is out of my price range. I'm not working much so that is out.

I like the Sally Hanson stuff and will invest in some. They didn't have a lot of colors left in the CVS I went to so I will try somewhere else.

What top coat do I use? Right now I have some leftover NYC Base and Top Coat in one. If you can recommend a better one, go for it.

Tonight I did my nails. I waited more than 10 min before coats to put on my next colors. I used some new colors of Spoiled that I got in my Christmas stocking. One is called Designated Driver and it's a yellow/orange color. The other is called Shuffle The Deck and it's clear w/red, silver & black large glitter dots. It looks cool. It was my niece's idea to combine the 2 and I like it. We shall see what we shall see in a few days,

Thanks for all your help guys. I am now sparkling like crazy! LOL

Most of my nail polish is Butter. I LOVE their base coat (actually all of their products that I have tried). They are expensive for nail polish, though. Regular polish is $14 a bottle. The Base and top coat is $18 each.

This is the base coat - www.butterlondon.com . . .

Thanks. I will see if I can find it somewhere cheaper. That's sounds like something I could use.

SoloJazzDancer wrote:

Thanks. I will see if I can find it somewhere cheaper. That's sounds like something I could use.

I found both for $25 (for some reason I couldn't find this earlier).

www.butterlondon.com . . .

I know they sell it at Ulta and if you can find a coupon that would work on it - you could probably get it a bit cheaper.

I use Seche Vite top coat, but I've heard good things about some of the Sally Hansen top coats. I've found that the combination top coat/base coats generally don't work as well as the ones that are specifically used as top coats.

My nail polish chipped the next morning and I all I did was wash my hands after going to the bathroom. It was such a tiny chip I repaired it. Then later on another tiny chip which I also repaired. So all is well so far.

I am going to check out all those products you guys talked about. Thanks for all your help.

May I suggest Barry M nail polish, i have found this to be the most hard wearing. you also need to make sure you apply a base coat and top coat for added protection. If you like gel polishes they do some good deals on ebay

Definitely take more time in-between coats. I wait 5 minutes after I put the base coat on, and then 10 minutes for 1st coat, 2nd coat, top coat. Don't use a fan while you're drying; it causes bubbling.

Are you swiping the brush on the tips of your nails for each coat, too? That can help "lock in" the color and prevent chipping.

Getting quality polishes and base/top coats help too. Favorite base coat / top coat combo for me is OPI Natural Nail Base Coat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top. My favorites right now for polish are China Glaze, Essie, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure (don't bother with any of the other kinds of Sally Hansen). Ironically, the Sally Hansen Extreme Wear is probably the worst formula I've ever worked with. Not a big fan of OPI--it comes out too streaky and thin for my tastes. Essie is seriously amazing and you can get it at places like Target and CVS now.

I've kind of turned into a nail polish fanatic (I seriously bought ten bottles just looking for the RIGHT shade of green) so I could talk about this all day

Dani

I let them naturally dry now. I am also waiting a long time between coats. I am going to put more polish on the tips too. I had some underneath once, just a little, but it felt so weird to have it there. I read you should do that too.

I'll try some of those polishes you've mentioned. I love colors and I love glitter. However, I don't want to spend an arm and a leg for nail polish. I can't afford it and even though I want my nails to look nice, how do I know that just because it costs a lot that it is worth what I am spending. That's why I am asking you guys. I've heard about some cosmetics that cost an arm and a leg that aren't worth the money you out out for them. Why should I spend a lot of money for stuff that doesn't work when I can spend a lesser amount, a lot less, for something that is wonderful? That's what I want.

I have lots of shades of green. I love colors, yellow being my favorite. I look for unusual shades or colors, shimmer, glitter, you get what I mean. I hate just plain colors, the kind that everyone wears, really dark colors, stuff like that. I like all colors though so the 'right' shade of green is any shade that I don't already own. I do think I like how you think. I am going to look at these companies on-line and see their colors. Thanks for mentioning them all.

There are nail polishes out there that are more superior than others. A nail polish I really recommend if you like the look of french manicures is Rimmel's Lasting Finish Pro. They sell a white colour that has a pointed narrow brush which makes application very simple. It's a personal favorite! I also really adore Essie nail polish. I find them the last well with a good top coat. Their Good to Go nail polish is fast drying and is my favorite. I used an OPI top coat before that and found it very thick and that it would dull/smudge overnight or during the first day or so.

My nail polish is gone now. I need to put new color on. It lasted quite a while. Something happened to it that I forgot to tell you guys. I've never heard of this happening to anyone else.

I just happened to look down and noticed that one whole nail had no polish! I managed to find the one that popped off but most of the time I don't. What happens I don't know but I will be looking at my nails and notice one, 2 and even 3 nails have no polish on them! Where the offending polish goes to I usually don't know. This was the first time I found the whole thing. I never feel it coming off either. It's like it peels or snaps off. I usually don't need nail polish remover for those nails because it comes off all at once, in one whole piece. Anybody got any ideas why this happens and what I can do about it?

Also, I love the nail polish remover that you dip your finger in and twist it around to get the polish off. However, what kind do I get? I don't mean a brand but what are your real nails called? Natural? There never was so many kinds to pick from before, now there is. I want to make sure I don't buy the wrong kind.

SoloJazzDancer wrote:

My nail polish is gone now. I need to put new color on. It lasted quite a while. Something happened to it that I forgot to tell you guys. I've never heard of this happening to anyone else.

I just happened to look down and noticed that one whole nail had no polish! I managed to find the one that popped off but most of the time I don't. What happens I don't know but I will be looking at my nails and notice one, 2 and even 3 nails have no polish on them! Where the offending polish goes to I usually don't know. This was the first time I found the whole thing. I never feel it coming off either. It's like it peels or snaps off. I usually don't need nail polish remover for those nails because it comes off all at once, in one whole piece. Anybody got any ideas why this happens and what I can do about it?

Also, I love the nail polish remover that you dip your finger in and twist it around to get the polish off. However, what kind do I get? I don't mean a brand but what are your real nails called? Natural? There never was so many kinds to pick from before, now there is. I want to make sure I don't buy the wrong kind.

For a few months I noticed that half of my polish on my "middle" toe was missing. It was diagonally missing the top half. It would alternate between which feet it was. I had no idea how or why it was happening. It stopped doing it after I stopped doing ballroom. I'm not sure if that was why it was happening though.

I would go for acetone-free remover.