I’ve had a few friends comment on the colour of my nails lately and this is what I’ve been using.
Found this polish for $2 in Woolworths a couple of weeks ago during a grocery shop, and boy does it have staying power. It lasts longer than the OPI polishes I own, which retail for $10-20. I have found the OPI chips fairly quickly, but this cheapo variety wears off rather than chipping, and lasts days longer.
Why the cheap one lasted longer
That sounds like it cannot be right, and there is an actual reason for it.
Chipping and wearing are two different kinds of failure, and they come from opposite qualities in the polish.
A thick, heavily pigmented, hard-drying polish (which is what you are paying for in a salon brand) sits on the nail as a rigid film. It gives you that glassy, opaque finish in two coats. But a rigid film cannot flex, and your nails flex constantly. When it gives way, it goes all at once, and you get a chip at the tip that is visible from across a room.
A thinner, cheaper formula goes on in a more flexible layer. It is less impressive on day one, but it moves with the nail rather than fighting it, so instead of a dramatic chip you get gradual, even wear at the very tip. That wear is far less noticeable, which is why it looks like it lasted longer, and in practical terms it genuinely did, because the point at which you have to redo it is the point at which it looks bad.
So the honest summary: expensive polish looks better for three days, cheap polish looks acceptable for eight. For everyday life the second one wins.
How to make any polish last twice as long
The formula matters far less than the preparation. This is where nearly everyone goes wrong.
Wipe the nail with something that strips it. Nail polish remover, or vinegar on a cotton pad, right before you paint. Natural oil on the nail plate is the single biggest cause of early chipping, and hand cream is its best friend.
Thin coats, and let them dry properly. Two thin coats beat one thick coat every time. A thick coat is dry on the surface and soft underneath for hours, which is why perfect nails wreck themselves in bed.
Cap the free edge. Run the brush along the very tip of the nail, the thin edge you would file. It seals the polish and it is the difference between chipping on day two and day six.
Top coat again on day three. Not a fresh manicure, just a new layer of clear over the top. Thirty seconds, and it resets the whole thing.
Wear gloves for the washing up. Hot water and detergent do more damage to a manicure than anything else you will do all week.
Do those five and a $2 polish will comfortably outlast a $20 one applied carelessly.
Found these $1 Maybelline bargains at a chemist in The Concourse in Beaumaris. I’ll test drive them and let you know how they go.
Where cheap is fine and where it is not
As any fashionista worth her weight in Jimmy Choo heels will tell you, dressing well extends all the way from your head to your toes, including nails, of course.
Not every part of a manicure is worth economising on, though, and the split is fairly clear.
Buy cheap: colour. This is the whole point. Colour is fashion, you will tire of it, and a $2 bottle lets you try a shade you are unsure about without commitment. My collection exists because none of it cost anything.
Spend a little: base coat and top coat. These are the ones doing the structural work, and the difference between a good top coat and a bad one is genuinely visible. Even here, “a little” means about $12, not $30.
Do not bother with: quick-dry drops, nail strengtheners that promise miracles, and anything sold as a treatment. Time and a bit of oil at bedtime will do more.
The other thing worth knowing is that dark colours show chips far more than pale ones. If you want a manicure that survives a working week without attention, a soft nude or a sheer pink will look fine on day seven when a navy will not.
Colour, and what actually goes with an outfit
Sadly, my creativity is being stymied thanks to my vast nailpolish collection being packed away and out of reach … that was until I discovered a $1 polish sale yesterday!
While we are here. The rule I use for nail colour is the same as for jewellery. It is an accessory, so it either matches the outfit’s mood or deliberately breaks it, and both work.
A deep mud brown or oxblood like this reads as considered with almost anything, and it is far more wearable than people expect. It also does the useful trick of making hands look tidier, because a dark, well-defined nail looks intentional in a way a chipped bright does not.
I’m overdue for a good mani and pedi and used to pay $40 for both at a great Asian nail bar in Mentone. Do you have a favourite nail bar? Please let us know where you go.
(This one is from 2014, that $2 Woolworths bottle and the $1 Maybelline sale belong to that year. The technique is what still holds.)
And now you’re Looking Good Girls!
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” Psalms 55: 22