When doing your nails take up a good portion of your evening, the last thing that you want to happen is for them to last half a day and end up ruined by unwanted chips and cracks! There are lots of different variables that you have to consider when thinking about the perfect nail job. It’s almost as if you need the stars to be aligned in order for you to get everything right! Here are ten ways to prevent chipped or cracked nail polish.
Snapshot Survey
Snapshot Survey
1. Wash Your Hands
Always wash your hands before you apply your nail polish It helps to get rid of all of the little bits of debris and dirt that might be too small to see with your naked eye, but that would still cause an issue with the smoothness of your colour.
2. Exfoliate
It’s always a good idea to exfoliate your cuticles and then push them back with a specially designed wooden stick. It gets rid of all the dead skin cells, and gives you a much bigger and brighter nail surface with which to work.
3. Correct Filing
If you aren’t filing your nails correctly and regularly, then they are going to be more prone to breaking and cracking. Always start on the outside edge and run the file across your nail, working your way to the corner. Always in the same direction, too!
4. Base Coat
It is essential to use a base coat as your first layer of application, so that the polish that follows doesn’t do any damage to your nail, as well as giving you a much smoother, more adhesive surface to be laid upon.
5. Buff
If you make the effort to buff your nails before applying a base coat, it will help you to achieve much longer lasting results because it makes the texture of your nails much more uniform.
6. Correct Amount
You need to apply the right amount of nail polish, not too much and not too little. Using too much can cause unnecessary early chips, and not enough just doesn’t give you the colour strength that you are looking for.
7. Top Coat
Equally as important as a base coat is a top coat. It is important to finish your nails off with a coating that helps them to last longer without cracking.
8. Seal Edges
To prevent your polish from chipping early at the edges, seal them by applying double the amount of top coat at the bottom of your nails.
9. Moisturise
If your nails are flaky and brittle, your polish is going to reflect that. Make sure to moisturise your nails with a good formula regularly to try to fight the flakiness and therefore improve your look.
10. Take Your Time
The worst thing you can do is try to rush your nails because you need to be somewhere or because you are getting bored. Commit a good half an hour to getting all of your fingers done in an even fashion, following all the other rules above to ensure long lasting polish!