Is your beautiful manicure growing out too fast too soon? Depending on how you treat your nails, a manicure could chip within a matter of days or even minutes after your treatment. At the end of the day, polish isn’t meant to last forever, but there are ways to maximize the life of your manicure with these tips and tricks.
Some people soak nails before painting them to soften cuticles, in fact it’s best to avoid water entirely before polishing your nails. Putting your hands under water can cause nails to expand, so if you paint right after you wet your hands, the nail polish will shrink and no longer fit your nails once it’s dried. So always keep your hands dry pre-manicure and use cuticle oil instead. On the other hand, you need to keep the nails and cuticles moisturized after the manicure is done. Try to apply nail oil daily to prevent your nails enamel drying out and splitting.
Use a cotton swab to wipe down your nails with white vinegar before applying basecoat. This can remove leftover hand cream on your nail beds that can create a barrier between the polish and the nails. Vinegar also helps to clean up around your nails without adding additional chemicals.
Before using nail polish that has been sitting stagnant for a while, a lot of people like to shake the bottle to mix the formula. However according to profession manicurist that is a big no no! Shaking your nail polish can cause air bubbles in the paint, and if you pain air bubbles onto your nails, they will chip faster. So simple roll the bottle between your hands will do the job.
Did you know it can actually take up to 12 hours for your nails to fully dry? Yup, you read that correctly, it takes that long. Until your nail polish is fully dry, avoid adding excess heat to your hands. Because hot air can cause the manicure to smudge or chip. Try to air dry your nails, dipping fingertips in ice water for a minute or two can also speed up drying.
