Quick Tip: How to prolong your nail design

I often get questions about how to prolong a nail design. The easiest way is to use a base coat before you apply your varnish and a top coat over it.

These steps may sound trivial, but they make a huge difference.

The base coat will not only help to protect your natural nails from the chemicals in the varnishes and staining, but will also help your nail varnishes “grip” to your nail and stay on longer. Many base coats also have formulations with vitamins and minerals to strengthen your natural nails and encourage nail growth.

The top coat will protect your nailpolish from chipping and give it a natural shine. Lots of top coats also have UV-protection. Re-applying a top coat every other day will prolong your design for up to a week.

But here’s the catch: not all bases and top coats are created equal. I find that you can always use inexpensive drugstore or no-brand nail varnishes, but it’s definitely worth it to invest in a good quality basecoat and top coat: with those two items, even the cheapest nailpolishes will last a week without chipping.

So, base and top coats I would recommend include:

Nail Envy and Top Coat by OPI, and Diamond Base and Diamond Top Coat by Inglot.

Bases/top coats I would definitely NOT recommend include:

Essence, Hema, or other drugstore/no-name brand bases or top coats. These just won’t give the same protection, shine, or longevity to your design as the top-end ones.

A base and top coat is something you will be using for every design, so it’s definitely worth the investment 😉  XOXO