How to Keep Nail Polish From Chipping in 5 Simple Steps
Don’t you hate it when you have a fresh and beautiful coat of your favourite polish on your nails and within the day you find cracks and chips?
So annoying.
If only you knew how to keep nail polish from chipping so you can have your nails picture-perfect for days to come.
We want to offer up some ideas for how to maintain a manicure even when you’re doing it at home. DIY nails don’t have to mean chipped nails.
Keep reading for 5 steps that you can take to prevent nail polish from chipping before you’re ready to re-paint.
1. Do Your Prep Work
When you’re getting ready to paint a house you’re not just going to dive in with paint, right?
Probably not.
The house can be dirty or sticky. It could be wet or scratched on the surface. You need to get the house in good condition so you have a solid starting point.
Your nails are no different. Before you start to paint you should ensure that your nails are clean, dry, and filed. They shouldn’t have any catches in the tips and they should be free of any oils that could disrupt a good paint job.
2. Lay Down a Base
Too many people neglect the base coat.
We get it. You want to get to your sparkly polish as soon as possible. Who has time to wait a few extra minutes for a base coat to dry?
You do if you want to have lasting polish. Base coats can help provide a better seal and “sticking power” to your nail polish and some come with extra features like nail health and strengthening effects or even the ability to peel them off (this feature isn’t useful for a long-wear manicure but it’s great for single-day manicures!).
3. Use High-Quality Polish
Not all nail polish is alike. You don’t have to break the bank to get a nice polish, but you should stay away from anything too cheap.
These polishes are often streaky and require many coats to build opacity. They’ll have either a brittle surface texture or they’ll never dry down. Both of these lead to chips and cracks.
4. Cap Your Nails
Many of our chips happen on the top curve of our fingernails. To help avoid this problem you’re going to want to cap them.
If you have a nail polish with a thick brush and good opacity you can just cap the nail as you’re painting. Bring the paint up the nail and over the tip so there’s a small amount of paint on the inside as well.
This gives your nail a little “envelope” and gets rid of the break between polish and nail that makes it easier for cracks to happen.
5. Use a Top Coat
Without a top coat, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Like the base coat, the top coat gives your nails a firm seal. It also gives you a nice finish to add that extra boost to your manicure.
Top coats are usually clear nail polish options that come in either glossy or matte finishes depending on your personal preferences. They add an extra layer of protection against those pesky chips!
How to Keep Nail Polish From Chipping? It’s Easy!
Learning how to keep nail polish from chipping is as simple as investing in a base coat, a top coat, and some nicer polishes.
There are skills involved in painting nails, but these steps are a great starting point for anyone looking to prolong their manicure.
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