How to Make Your At Home Manicure Last

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When we were DINKs, I was at the nail salon like clockwork. Once the kids came around, time and money weren’t as discretionary so I cut the salon in favor of at home manicures.

I own a gel set with the UV light, but that remains as time consuming as a salon visit. There is definitely an art to the at home gel manicure that needs to be perfected if you want your manicure to last as long as a salon gel manicure.

Once I noticed that trend, I decided to focus efforts on making a typical at home manicure last. This is the most time sensitive and cost effective way to get that fresh from the salon look. That being said, any at home manicure is going to have a shorter life than a salon gel. So set your expectations accordingly, and buckle up!

Here are the steps I take and extra tips to make your manicure last a solid 5-6 days chip free.

Prep

This is the most overlooked step and the most important. Before every at home manicure, I do the following in this order:

Trim nails

Soak your hands in warm water long enough to get your cuticles pliable. Just a few minutes. Push back your cuticles and trim skin as necessary ( I rarely actually trim the cuticles but now would be the time to do so)

Pro Tip: If you don’t like to sit and soak, do this set as you get out of the shower. Your cuticles will be pliable.

File nails in a uniform fashion.

Buff your nails.

Wash your hands of all the nail residue and extra skin.

Use a cotton pad with nail polish remover to get any remaining residue off the nail

This is essential. ESSENTIAL.

Polish

Choosing a quality polish is key. I have tried every product under the sun. The only readily available polish that will last more than 2 days chip free is Essie Gel Couture. I will be trying Olive + June next, but haven’t been able to find it easily.

Start with thin layers. Essie Gel Couture dries quickly itself but regardless of the product, more thin layers will be better than fewer thicker layers.

Stay away from your cuticles. If you get polish on your cuticles, it will be more likely to lift. It is better to have a little bit of bare nail showing vs. lifting polish in a day.

This realization is a game changer. Just plan on leaving a bit of bare nail showing.

Extra Tips

If you do get a chip early on, buff that part of your nail. It will be less obvious and the polish around the chip will be less likely to peel.

If you have to buff a large portion, add another layer of top coat on to make all your nails look uniform and shiny.

Try to keep it to 3 layers maximum. Some sheer colors won’t allow this, but those manicures are likely to chip sooner.

My Favorite Colors

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