I polish my nails about twice a year. I find the same thing happens each time. It takes about 6 months for the polish to dry. In that time it gets all sorts of nicks, hairs, pizza crusts, etc in it. Is there a fast drying, shiny polish?
OpalCat, how are you applying your polish? Some polishes take FOREVER to dry (like my Revlon and StreetWear polishes), where some are pretty quick to dry, even if they aren’t advertised as such.
Sally Hansen “Diamond Strength” is an excellent basecoat. It dries in about 5 minutes (“dry” meaning that you can tap your nails together and they don’t really stick).
Follow this with a thin coat of the colour. Let that dry for 10 minutes, then add another coat. Generally this is enough.
Now, once you have your polish on, wait for the top to set (it’s still wet, but it won’t slide off). Now run your nails under cold water from the tap for a few minutes. Cold water will help the polish to set and dry much faster. This is why I love my nailpolish in the winter, and detest it in the summer; it takes forever to dry between June and August!
Oh, and the Revlon 60-second “Top Speed” polish is quick drying (although NOT in a minute) and is pretty shiny. But I still stand by the fact that you need a shiny topcoat to have shiny nails.
zweisamkeit, owner of 175+ bottles of nail polish. Fear her obsession!
Opalcat -I have the same problem by the time it’s done, it’s full of nicks and still not dry. Actually, I can’t polish my fingernails at all any way because no matter what I try (and believe me, over the past 20 years, I’ve tried 'em all) the stuff flakes right off my nails. It’s very frustrating to spend 1/2 an hour doing my nails, and then have it flake right off two hours later.
However, I DO polish my toe nails (never leave the house bare anymore!) - and what I swear by is Maybelline Express Finish. It dries in about two minutes, tops. One thin coat, three or four minutes later another thin coat and that’s it. I have noticed that the one-minute polishes do tend to be not as shiny, so I use Sally Hansen’s Mega Shine top coat (as mentioned by a couple of other people already -it ROCKS). Again, it dries in a minute or two and it keeps the polish shiny. So, the whole process only takes about 15 minutes (and I use those little extender things between my toes so I can unload the dishwasher, whatever, while I’m waiting) and after that 15 minutes it’s totally dry and ready to go.
Try it!
make up junkie signing in.
I have a zillion bottles of polish.
here are my findings:
Big Name Polish is not worth the money. They tend to be the worst in regards to chips etc. These include: Estee Lauder, Channel, etc. NOT WORTH the money.
Wet and Wild, while cheap, is also not too good. Same problems as above. the colors also look watery. Their Glitter stuff in a clear base is good though.
Drug Store Brands make very decent products. They often have sales, too. Revlon, of the "help yourself"brands, is best. Sally Henson is good. I like their clear stuff best.
Opi and beauty store brands tend to get clumpy and gooey fast.
Orly,however, is really good. They are my prefered brand for base coats and top coats.
The brand I have found to work best for color?
Avon.
The polish lasts the longest and in the best shape. I even did a test with Avon Vs. Revlon. Avon won by almost a week.
Its also 3 dollars a bottle (and you can often find buy one get one free sales). The only down fall is picking colors via the web/catalog sucks.
The best bet is to do what Medstar said.
And I keep mine in a bathroom drawer.
No need to refridgerate them.
oh, and the important thing is to make sure each coat is DRY before adding another coat.
I usually do a base coat. It dries instantly.
I add a color coat. I wait a couple of hours. read a book, do stuff, etc.
I add a second coat. see above.
I add a top coat.
it lasts a really long time.
or, use the express stuff but use a shiny top coat. express colors tend to be a bit dull.
also: before applying polish - wipe your nails with remover. sometimes bubbles are caused by oils.
I’m flattered by the nice things people said about my advice. I don’t wipe my nails with polish remover before applying base coat. After I wash my hands with liquid soap and rinse well, I wipe my nails with vinegar. This helps to ensure no oily or solvent residue which shortens the amount of time the manicure looks nice. The odor goes away eventually.