Does your mood improve when your nails are manicured? But what about when that mani chips, tho. What’s your mood like then? This must stop.
To ease manicure madness, and avoid manicure mess-ups – use these 5 tips (from the pros) to extend the life of your pretty nails.
Start Strong: Get vinegar from the kitchen and soak a cotton ball with it. Yep. Wipe vinegar over each nail. (vinegar removes any oils/lotion/moisturizer –even nail polish removers have moisturizing qualities, and that shortens the life of your mani). After a few seconds, add the basecoat. Something you might not know – you want 2 layers of basecoat. The first coat is ONLY on the top half of your nail. The second coat is over the full nail. And manicurists swear by THIS base coat!
Patience: Between the base coats and polish coats, wait a FULL minute until you apply another layer. Otherwise the polish just gets gloppy. Can get lumpy. Get a wonky vibe. (however… when applying your top coat be sure to apply ASAP – see tip #4)
Thin for the Win: Think applying 1 THICK coat will save you time? Nope. Apply a few (try 3) coats of THIN polish to your nails instead. And remember to wait a minute betweet coats. It dries quicker & will last longer. Why? A thick coat dries on top first. The polish in lower layers takes a LOT longer to finally dry, aka more nail smudges.
Top it Off: When applying a top coat, make sure you do it IMMEDIATELY after your final coat of polish. The top coat needs to seep into the layers of polish to work effectively and blend into the color of your nailpolish for a flawless finish.
NOT a Fan: Want to speed up drying time? Drying nails with or near a fan can cause teeny, tiny bubbles to your mani. No bueno. Don’t do it. Did you know that a manicure can take up to 12 hours to harden? During that time avoid washing your hands in hot water – that will just make your manicure smudge or chip sooner.
💅 Thanks for stopping by! 💅
My favorite Zoya color is Brighton. So sparkly but somehow still so subtle!
Love Zoya as a brand. Their products have never disappointed me. So many colors to love!
It’s so hard to pick a favorite, because I like so many, but I think right now I’d like to try Vickie.
I am rough on my hands and switched to gel nails about a year ago. I bought some colors and all the supplies on Amazon a few years ago and that lasts for weeks, which is so nice.
Yikes! I’ve been doing my nails all wrong. I usually go to the nail salon for manicures but occasionally I do them myself. I’ve never known how long to wait between coats so thanks for clearing it all up. I’m actually looking forward to doing my own nails and using your tips and tricks.
Thanks for hosting this giveaway. I have to give this nail polish line a try. Love your tips!
Thanks for the giveaway. I have a few Zoya polishes and I usually choose my favorites based on the name. Right now the Aubrey is my fave because it’s the name of 2 of my nieces.
Going to share this with my daughter who does her nails all the time. To be honest when I do paint my nails well I have been doing it the wrong way. Good information to know.
I’ll have to show my daughter this. She does her nails more than I do. I don’t bother since I use my hands a lot, and there’s no way nail polish would stay on it.
Well this explains why my nails don’t last long. Usually my finger nails are peeling within a couple of days of when I put on the nail polish. I will definitely keep these tips in mind when I paint my nails next!
I am a DIYer so nails when i do them are done by me usually. I need to try some of the tips you gave for the next time I do my nails and see if they last longer and look better.
Since I’m an avid DIYer my nails are always a disaster. Will be trying out your tips!
I will have to let my daughter in on these tips. SHe is all about painting her nails and then two days later she has picked all the nail polish off! She needs some help with polish for her nails
These are all good tips. I never thought about using vinegar to remove oils but it would make sense that it works.
My favorite color is Nori. I love blues!
/Darby is my favorite! Thank you for the tips, my nails never last but now they just may 🙂
My nails are in need of pampering but I will wait till my gardening is done. These are all pretty colors!
These are all really great tips! I know I do not wait enough time between putting coats on and I really need to, I love the look of a nicely polished nail but mine always end up chipped right away. Thanks for the tips for me to try!
I am showing this to my 10 year old who is obsessed with her nails. She will be super excited to read this
My favorite Zoya color is Mirajane – Neon
Awesome tips for manicures to last longer! It’s always so much fun to apply nail polish yourself and I usually do all of those! That swag bag is so awesome! Filled with all the good stuff for sure!
I am so glad you shared this with me! I have been wondering if there is a way to keep my did nails longer!
Nothing beats keeping the manied nails for just a little longer. This is such a life changing post!
Hands down- DOT
Darcy!!!!
Thank you for the tips. I always try to keep my nails short and use either classic colors or bold ones.
I recently got a manicure a few weeks ago but I’m in dire need of a new one. I might actually go get my nails done this Friday.