Gel manicures might look great, but not everyone has the time to have them regularly – or the inclination to go through professional removal.
But that doesn’t mean we’re happy for our carefully painted talons to chip within minutes of an at-home manicure.
There are steps you can take to make sure things last though:
The boring tips you always read about prep are right – swipe some remover over nails to make sure they aren’t oily and use a good base coat.
Orly Nail Bonder grips onto nail polish and is rubberised, so sort of stretches with it and helps polish last much longer than normal.
When you paint nails to make sure you do the outer edge, leaving it bare makes it much easier for the colour to lift.
“The best tip ever is to re-apply a top coat on the third day of your manicure and again on the sixth day,” Queila Doyle, CEO and Founder My Beauty Squad, told us.
“That helps to create a protective barrier between the polish and water which is the main reason your nails wear off.
“Wearing gloves while doing the dishes or any other manual labour also
Keeping nails healthy is also important, with Queila suggesting: “Maintaining a consistent regime is the key to keeping your nails healthy.
“Moisturise your cuticle daily with cuticle oil, spend one to two days a week without any polish, use a nail treatment base coat, and drink loads of water.”
Of course, if you’re making your mani last you want to make sure you love the colour you’re rocking too.
Nail expert Leighton Denny explains that if a colour looks good on your mate but doesn’t work for you, it’s not necessarily because your mani skills aren’t up to scratch.
He explained: “As an easy to follow, general rule, choose your nail colours according to your hair/skin colour.
“Those with light skin and blonde hair should go for all shades of orange, pink, purple. Those with dark skin and dark hair suit all shades of red and violet.
“If you have light skin and dark hair, try all shades of brown and beige, and redheads look great in coral-red, brown and bronze colours.”
