1. Avoid Bold Shades

Avoid colours such as red, black, blue, yellow and orange as they are commonly known to leave a stain. If you're going to use these colours, make sure you use a good base coat before you apply any polish.

2. Use a Base Coat

Skipping a base coat will lessen the quality of your nails over time as well as weaken them, so it's always better to use one and be safe than sorry! Apply the base coat onto your natural nails, before you apply your first coat of nail polish.

Base coats are great for providing a protective layer over your nails to reduce (and even prevent completely) discoloured stains. It's probably not a surprise to hear that nail polish is quite damaging anyway, so if you're going to use a bright or bold nail polish colour, you should definitely use a base coat beforehand for extra protection.

I would recommend using China Glaze's 'strong adhesive' base coat because it dries quickly and does a great job of protecting your nails, especially against those harsh, bold nail polishes.

3. Use a Top Coat

Top coats are important for maintaining your nail polish and making it last longer. It protects your nail polish from chipping, weakening and splintering as well as maintaining the shine and vibrant colour of your polish.

This is a vital step since our nails are at full exposure on a daily basis since we use our hands for almost everything. There's nothing more annoying that spending ages doing your nails, only to have them chipping and falling away as soon as you start cleaning dishes after dinner or even washing your hands.

Top coats are different to base coats and each have different purpose it's not a good idea to try using a base coat as a top coat or vice versa. You should really have both and this will ensure you're everything you can to protect your nails.

I would recommend using Seche Vite's 'dry fast' top coat because it dries quickly and does a great job of preserving nail polish and prevents most cases of chipping.

4. Opt for Soft Shades

Use light, soft and pastel colours which rarely leave a stain, especially in comparison to bright and bold colours. Aim for light pinks, beige, cream, white, light brown, soft silvers and golds.

5. File Your Nails

File your nails at least once every couple of days to maintain the shape and to minimise splits and snags in the nail. For your left hand, file in the left direction and the opposite is true for your right hand. Always file in the same, one direction and never 'saw' back and forth as this will weaken the nail and leave them prone to damage.

6. Use Cuticle Oil

Buy an affordable cuticle oil and apply or rub this all over your cuticles daily for maximum results. This will leave your nails hydrated and healthy, making them stronger and less prone to general damage.

7. Let Your Nails Breathe

Give your nails a break and allow them to breath by laying off any nail polish for at least a couple of weeks at a time. This is especially true if you have just removed nail polish, as your nails will already be quite weak due to the recent chemicals it's been exposed to (both in the nail polish you used and the remover).