7 Tips for Making Your Nail Polish Last Longer

For many women, applying nail polish is part of their grooming routine. Such women don't feel presentable if their fingernails and toenails are bare. So even though a manicure and pedicure consumes at least half a day's worth of time, these women consider it time well-spent. Some women take it even further by using their nails as canvass for nail art.

A typical problem with nail polish, however, is that while it takes a lot of time to apply properly, you can expect your polish to stay flawless for only a couple of days or so at best. Your nails can even chip a few hours after you've applied them. This can be very frustrating, and a lot of women have sworn off polishing their nails after such an occurrence.

But it is possible to prevent your nail polish from chipping and make it last longer. You can do so with these seven tips:

1. Clean your nails first before polishing them. Wash your hands and then soak your fingertips in lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. This will remove the excess oils from the surface of your fingernails. With these natural oils stripped off your nail bed, the polish is guaranteed to stick to your nails instead of sliding off. The acidic wash will additionally brighten your nails and remove any residual yellow tinge. To prevent any more oils from getting on your fingernails, avoid using or holding anything oily prior to polishing.


2. Always apply a base coat first. The base coat serves as a primer and a buffer between your nail bed and the polish, thus allowing the color coat to stick to your nails but without staining them.


3. Rather than applying your colors in one thick coat, brush them on in thin layers. And then, wait for each layer to dry before applying another coat. It's a tedious process but this method will make your nail polish more durable and resistant to chipping. For best results, brush the polish horizontally across the tips of your fingernails.


4. Protect the color coating of your fingernails with a top coat. To harden this top coat and help make your nail polish last longer, soak your fingernails in cold water for ten minutes after applying the top coat. If you have time, you should make it a daily habit to brush on a thin layer of top coat on your nails.


5. You should also moisturize your hands daily after your manicure. Oil may be bad for the nails before the manicure, but it's essential after you've put on your polish. A commercial hand lotion is good enough, but you'll get better results if you use natural oils like olive oil. If you want to pamper your hands even more, you should invest in a bottle of argan oil.


6. Take good care of the tools and products you use for your manicure. Seriously, your manicure is only as good as the tools and products you've used to attain it. So, store your polish in a cool place, preferably in the refrigerator and keep your nail brushes and files clean. Never shake your nail polish because doing so will create air bubbles in the product. Air bubbles can contribute to your polish easily chipping off your nails.


7. Never use your fingernails as tools. It goes without saying that sudden force on your nails will do more than just ruin a good manicure. It can also damage your nail bed itself. Don't do it.

It's definitely frustrating to see chips and scratches on your fingernails after you've meticulously manicured it. But if you apply your nail polish and care for your nails properly, your manicure will last for weeks.