Manicure advice

[mamadeb]

Okay. I did the manicure thing. Twice (current color is OPI "A Man in Every Portugal" - a slightly less dark red than before.) The first time, I got it done on Thursday and they were chipping by Friday night. The second time was Monday evening and the chipping started this morning.

I really like the dark colors, but it's going to look really bad by tomorrow.

What do I do to preserve my nailcolor so I only have to go once a week? Was I wrong to do the quick dry thing that I did the second time? Because it did last a bit longer. Do I buy a bottle of the nail polish? Do I do overcoats of clear?

While I'm asking - it's winter. I wear shoes and tights. I'd like to get my toenails polished. How is that managed?

Comments

[rachel-wilder.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if this will answer your question, but I just had my third manicure on Friday and this one has held up better than any I've had before. My stylist put several protective coats on after she did two coats of the polish (I'm not sure what they were) and then I had my hair cut, so I didn't do anything with my hands for another half hour - 45 minutes. Usually I smudge the manicure before I get out of the shop, so I'm feeling pretty good about this one. My nails are also really short right now, so I'm not sure if that's also helping me keep the polish.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

first of all, you should get a bottle of nailpolish that matches the color you have on. Second of all, there's a protective coat they can do over it to help keep it from chipping and peeling. Third of all, two days is ridiculous. There's no reason that should be happening. Try another nail place. Lastly, you need to let the nails dry for a LONG time before you start using your hands normally. So that's part of it.

Don't know if this will help or not.

If you find an answer to the pedicure question, I'd love to know it.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Second manicure was at a different nail place because, yeah, two days is ridiculous. And both times it was topcoated. Let's see. After the second time, I had coffee in a coffee house and avoided putting on gloves until after. And they did the oil thing, too.

Maybe it's me? Maybe nail polish doesn't like me?

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

the oil thing shouldn't change anything. That's for your cuticles, if I'm thinking of the right thing.

shouldn't be you. If the manicurist speaks good enough English, try asking them about it. Do try to pick up a bottle of nailpolish though. That'll help.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'll get the extra top coat or something. My nails are short, and will always be short, which is how I prefer it. But I do use them a lot - my hands are, after all, tools. :)

I managed not to smudge it - but maybe that's just a virtue of dark polish.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

She put oil on my nails after the UV quick dry, so things wouldn't stick.

Okay. Bottle of polish. Will do.

English is a challenge. :)

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

oh that. Yeah. Um, don't think that would have a negative affect.

[otherdeb.livejournal.com]

Hey, Deb!

I manicure a lot, even when my nails are short. 1) I always buy a bottle of the polish used, so that I can do touch ups, as needed. 2) I have the lady put an extra coat of clear on when she does it. 3) When I have to do a touchup, I do just the area where it's chipped unless a whole lot has chipped away really fast. Then after it dries, I put clear over the whole nail. If it's really bad, I just redo the nail entirely.

As for the toenails, wait until you can wear knee socks instead of tights. I know there are modesty issues involved, and honestly think that it would work better. I suppose you could try to do them yourself, but I find it hard to do that and have them look neat.

Anyway, enjoy the color, and the pampering. You deserve it.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Funny -- I just treated myself to a manicure this morning. ::admires shiny nails::

I usually ask for a coat of protective clear polish on top of two coats of the color (which, in turn, is on top of a first coat of clear). That seems to last pretty well.

I don't know an answer to the pedicure question. My mother taught me that one shouldn't wear shoes for an hour after a pedicure or the polish will smudge; that's easy enough in the summertime (sandals!) but I haven't figured out how to make it work in the snow. I do my own toenails sometimes at home in the winter, right after a hot bath, and then sit by the fire while they dry -- but I can't imagine how I would get them done at the beauty parlor, because I'd have to walk through snow to get back to my car, and I'm just not willing to suffer that much for pretty feet. *g*

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

there should be a base coat and a top coat, and you do need to let the polish set and dry for a while before using your hands. quick-drying polish chips sooner, in my experience; higher-quality stuff takes longer to set, but lasts longer.

same goes for pedicures, although -- see, i can put socks on within about half an hour of having my toes done, and then shoes in which i have room to wiggle my toes (so the shoes don't press the socks into the toenails, i mean), but i wear jeans. you don't wear pants ... hmm. are your skirts long enough that you can wear socks instead of tights?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Isn't it fun? I was just told my dark-but-clearly-red nails were very "goth" and contra-image, which I don't think they are, either. I've never been one for ladylike colors (beiges and pale pinks make me disappear and I refuse to disappear) and goth, to me, would be much darker and less red. *Shrug*.

But I'd love to paint my nails purple. Just to do, even if I'm stuck wearing shoes even in summer. (A foot issue, not a modesty thing.)

So, two coats of clear over the color. Okay.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Socks are not a problem. When you wear skirts every day, you stop thinking about formal footwear. :)

Base coat and top coat, but not the quick dry. check.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

well, the quick-dry oil or spray stuff isn't what i meant -- i don't think that actually hurts, but it's not a substitute for letting the polish set or "cure". it dries the surface sooner, i think, so you're less likely to mess it up while it's still wet. who knows, maybe it makes the whole thing less likely to bond properly with the nail. but it's the quick-dry nail polish to which i'm totally opposed. :-)

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

oh, also, i know the exact shade you're talking about -- used to wear it on my toes. (sometimes that one, sometimes "hollywood and wine".) love it! :-D

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pampering is fun - one place used warm lotion. So, so nice.

[amoeba-j.livejournal.com]

Did they put a good-quality base coat on first? (not just plain clear polish) Especially with dark colours, that is very important -- almost as important as a well-dried top coat! For at-home upkeep, I have a top coat that I got at Ulta called ProFinish Gold Air Dry top coat. It's in a very dark bottle. Just be sure it says Air Dry (not UV or anything else) or it won't work right.

My old manicurist introduced me to the line when she used the ProFinish UV top coat on me and suggested I buy the Air Dry for at home touch-ups. You might need to use it every 2-3 days, until you get used to not using your nails as "tools" as much...that also can be part of what is causing the chipping. I've gotten used to using the balls of my fingertips for much of what I used to do with my nails.

I'll try to remember to ask my current manicurist what brand she is using, b/c I can go over a week without chips to my American manicure, but that also might be due to wearing gel over my natural nails, giving it a better base. Although my toes don't chip easily either, and I don't do gels on them ;) Just be sure to give yourself more than enough time for toes to dry c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y before putting socks/shoes back on.

Polish brands do vary in quality, and the more expensive are not always the longest lasting, but OPI seems to be the best to me :)

[psu-jedi.livejournal.com]

Manicures don't last very long on my natural nails...the 2-day thing you're talking about is pretty typical for me too. What estherchaya suggested about buying the bottle of polish is a very good one, but the fun in getting your nails done is that you can choose fun colors without having to keep buying bottles and bottles of polish that you're never going to go through and will get old before you can use it all (and OPI ain't the cheapest around!). An option is getting a bottle of good polish, and taking that with you when you get your manicure. 1) you'll have it for touch-ups later if need be, and 2) you'll know how fresh it is. That might be another thing...you can pick a polish that's relatively fresh/newly opened, but the base/top coat the manicurist is using might be older, and that might be the cause of the chipping. I'm just guessing here, so if anyone knows this to be wrong (that age affects how long the polish lasts on your nails), just say the word.

I know the times when I've gotten acrylics, the color lasted weeks on those babies. But I'm never getting them again! (Of course, I've said that twice before, so you do the math. ;-)

Pedicures last forever on me, and I can't quite figure out why. I think it does have something to do with the way you use your hands (using your nails as tools). And there's also the water bit. I was once told not to immerse my hands in water for at least 4 hours after a manicure. That might be a bit much, but I think you should wait at least a good 2 hours to allow the polish to dry completely. And if you wash dishes by hand, or do any kind of heavy-duty cleaning with water, use rubber gloves. They'll protect your nails and your hands.

Good luck!

[stella-by-moor.livejournal.com]

I'm just seconding other people's comments. Definitely do the base coat as dark-colored polish will discolor your nails with prolonged wear. I know the whole point of a pedicure is to get pampered, but if having purple toes is the point, then try doing it yourself: toes are a gazillion times easier than fingers to paint and they last a lot longer, too.

[tod-hollykim.livejournal.com]

Mama Deb, do you have tips and fill done or is it just on your own nails?

I usually have tips because one or more of my nails is too short on it's own. And then that stuff they use to fill in between the tip and the outicle. Most of the times when you go back to have your nails redone, they add a little bit more when the nails have grown out.

That stuff seems to make the polish last longer than if you have the polish on just your own nails. My polish seems to last almost two. three weeks and it doesn't chip but wear off, usually just on the tips or some odd spot on top of a nail or two.

My sister-in-law suggested to me to do a couple of extra layers of clear nail polish when I get home. This is over top of the clear layer they should put on at the salon.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Natural nails. Because I go to the mikveh, I can't have tips - can't have anything between me and the ritual bath. I'll have to get all the nailpolish removed before going, too.

[tod-hollykim.livejournal.com]

Ah! That is why the polish chips so easily and so soon. It just doesn't last on natural nails.

Don't really know why that stuff keeps the polish longer, but it does. My polish usually wears off. If there is a chip, it's cause a nail was chipped or broken.