Beauty Tips: Nails

I enjoy wearing nail polish and doing my nails.  Over the years I have made some discoveries (through trial and error) on how to make sure that my nail polishes and manicures give me my time and money's worth.

My collection of nail polishes. I've had some polishes for over 3 years and they are still like the day I bought them.

Nail polishes

• Invest in buying good quality nail polishes.  Buying better quality ones means they won't age too quickly, which usually means that they start separating and drying up before you are even half way through a bottle.
• Clean the necks of your bottles after every application.  This ensures that the nail polish is airtight when you close it and won't dry out.  
• Every month or so shake the bottles to minimize product separation.
• If possible, store your nail polishes in a cool cupboard.  Exposing them to too much light or heat does affect the colour and ageing of the nail polish

Painting Your Nails

• After doing your usual manicure, wipe each nail with some nail polish remover.  In fact, each time you paint your nails give them a good wipe down to remove any oils and grease.  This will ensure that your base coat applies well to the nail and will also ensure that you get the most out of your nail polish.
• Apply thinner coats instead of 1 or 2 thick coats.  You get a more consistent colour and thinner coats also means quicker drying times. 
• Before applying each coat, make sure that the previous coat is properly dry and has hardened.  If the bottom coat is still wet it means it'll take longer for the next coat to dry and you are more likely to smudge all your handy work.
• If you are in a rush invest in a great quick drying top coat.  Personally I love Essie's To Dry For because it actually penetrates all the layers of nail polish and speeds up the hardening.  A lot of people think that once you apply these products you are good to go, just because it's dry does not mean that the nail polish has had enough time to hardened.
• Apply a top coat to your nails every 2nd or 3rd day.  This further protects your polish and keeps it looking fresh.  I am usually able to double the life of my manicures by doing this.

Hope these tips help and I'd definitely love to hear any tips you might have.  Please share them by leaving a comment below or send me a tweet.