I used to have a struggle with the wear-time of my manicures: I would paint my nails and after a day or two the polish would start to chip. It seems to be a problem that most people have, which can deter some from wanting to paint their nails at all. Because what’s the point of painting your nails if it isn’t going to last more than a day? Not everyone has the time to constantly changeup their nail polish.

What really sucked is when I started to do nail art; I would spend over an hour doing my nails only to have them chip after a couple days. Constantly changing your nail polish is time consuming, and I just don’t always have the time to keep changing my nail designs.

Over years of observation, I’ve noticed that there are many key factors that go into preserving a manicure and making them last. Here are my 8 tips for making your manicure last:

Cuticle Oil

Cuticle oil is very important for your nail health. It makes your nails stronger and more hydrated. This is important, because if you smack your hand against something and whack your nails, frail nails will have more probability of cracking and breaking. Hydrated and healthy nails will bend instead, which helps to keep your manicure intact. Proper nail health is also important because it will help prevent cracked and flakey nails.

Wipe off Natural Oils

While putting cuticle oil can help benefit the health of your nails, you still want to make sure that you have a dry surface when you’re painting your nails. It’s always best to wipe off any oily residue from your nails before painting them so that your nail polish properly adheres to your nails.

Don’t Use Nail Clippers

When trimming your nails, you never want to use nail clippers! This bends your nails and can make them more brittle. Instead, it is best to file your nails so that they maintain their natural shape.

Moisturize/Hydrate

While cuticle oil is great for moisturizing your nail beds, it’s also important to keep the rest of the skin on your hands moisturized as well to promote proper nail health. Don’t forget to moisturize your skin frequently with lotion and to drink plenty of water.

Cap the Edges

When painting your nails it’s always good to cap the free edge of the nail with polish to add a bit of extra protection.

Don’t Use Your Nails as Tools

This is one of the most important tips that I can recommend! Making your manicure last completely revolves around your lifestyle choices. It’s extremely important to not use your nails as a tool to pick, scrape, or push things. Some examples of not using your nails as tools include:

-       Being wary of push-button toilets.

-       Using a butter knife instead of your nails to open a soda can.

-       Investing in Goo-Gone instead of using your nails to scrape price tags off of your nail polish bottles.

Base Coat/Top Coat

Using base coat and top coat are also very important for proper nail health as well as ensuring longer lasting manicures. Base coat protects your nails from staining and provides a good surface for your nail polish to adhere to. Top coat is important because it seals in the design, and helps create good durability and shine.

Don’t Shower Naked

Bare nails can hold almost one-third of their own weight in water (more info here). Your nails will soak up water when you're in the shower which will cause the natural curve of your nails to flatten out. This bending can cause your nails to be a bit more fragile, and the water will pull out a lot of the natural oil from your nails. Please note, while water can still penetrate through nail polish but at a much slower rate than if your nails are naked. It is also always best to rehydrate your nails with cuticle oil after a long shower. With all this being said, your nails will also absorb water while you wash your dishes, so it is best to wear gloves while you do this chore!

I used to struggle with chipping nail polish and fragile nails until I started to change the way I maintained my nails. All of the above tips have allowed me to have longer lasting manicures and longer nails, which is something I never thought I'd have. I hope that you all found this post helpful so that you can all achieve longer lasting manicures as well!