I've been on a lifelong quest to find little hacks that help extend the life of my nail polish. I envy those women who are able to enjoy unchipped nail polish for days or weeks at a time. Whenever I go to the salon, I try to buy the exact polishes they used in hopes of recreating a similar outcome but never seems to work out for me.
This afternoon, I looked down at my nails that were painted just days ago and have already started to chip. Before painting my nails again, I decided to seek the help of the nail polish queens on social media for any bit of advice that could change the game for me....and I think I may have found exactly what I was looking for.
Because I was short on time, I opted to go to Tik Tok. Within minutes, I learned two little tricks that could make all the difference.
HACK #1. CAP YOUR TIPS WITH POLISH.
Capping is basically the practice of applying nail polish to the very tips (edges) of your nails. We do this to add an extra layer of protection to the ends of our nails because that's where chipping typically starts.
I've capped my nails before but haven't really noticed the benefit of doing so. That's because I was doing it all wrong. Check out the video below to see what I'm talking about. Pay close attention to how she caps her polish.
@sonailicious Reply to @natimcmack this is how I do my nails to make my manicure last... ##nails ##diymanicure ##nailtok ##nailtutorial ##diynailsathome ##foryoupage
♬ Fire for You - Cannons
I've always capped my nails last. I certainly didn't cap my nails with every coat of polish. That's probably why my tips start chipping within 24 hours of application. When I tried this method of capping my tips first, I could see how bad my technique was. When I painted the length first, I couldn't tell how poor my attention to detail was whenever I capped my nails. It's no wonder why my polish chipped so quickly.
HACK # 2// FLOAT YOUR TOPCOAT
I thought I knew how to apply topcoat until I found this wonderful video that rocked my world.
Topcoat floating is the art of applying your topcoat in a way that creates a greater protective layer to prevent chipping. I had to pay close attention to the video to spot the difference between normal topcoat application and the "floating" technique. While "floating" she barely presses down with the brush. This produces a thicker layer of topcoat. A thicker layer means greater protection which leads to longer-lasting nail color.@ibdbeautyofficial Try this topcoat technique called floating! This makes your nail polish last longer! 💅🏽 ##nailcheck ##nails ##selfcare
♬ death bed (coffee for your head) - Powfu & beabadoobee
I'm hoping that combining these two techniques will change the entire game for me. Another tip I found while scoping out the comments was to make sure we allow ample time for the polish to dry fully before adding a new layer.
I'm extremely confident that by combining these tips, I'm extending the life of my polish by at least a few more days. Who knows, I might even join that elusive club of women that boasts of an at-home manicure that lasts over a week.
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