Here’s another guest post by Fabulously Broke in the City about Nail Polishes.  Her site is a great place to read about fashion and finance.  But today she gives us a frugal tip on nail polishes.

 Here’s a secret. Not all nail polishes are made equal!  Some chip more than others, but it depends on the formula, not so much the cost. So buying a Chanel nailpolish doesn’t mean it’s more chip resistant. In fact, it may the opposite. 

What you CAN do, is make sure your nails are oil and cream free before applying polish, if not, the oils from the lotions will make the polish slide, separate and not stick to your nails. You can also apply the following layers to help: a base coat, the colour then a top coat to finish it off. Remember, the base coat has to be thick, but not gloopy, because you want to have it fill in most of the ridges in your nails to make them smooth and less likely to chip, as you aren’t applying nailpolishes over your natural nailbed with the bumpy ridge that has a higher chance of chipping off because it isn’t smooth. Then after it dries properly (sucks I know), apply the colour, then a top coat (again not too thick but not too thin) to finish off. 

Then after that, it’s just maintenance. Don’t do silly things like not letting them dry properly, and/or after a great manicure, you head out to the garden to do some heavy digging with your hands, without gloves or picking up gravel.. you know what I mean.  You can also try re-applying a top coat daily, and avoiding fast-drying nailpolishes. But that’s a bit of a pain the butt if you hate “watching paint dry”  

But most nailpolishes, no matter what they say, will chip after 3-4 days, even if they’re expensive. Unless you use car paint, I don’t see how it WON’T chip. Oh, and no need to store it in the fridge – that doesn’t work. I’ve tried. It just makes it worse because the cold air makes the layers condense and separate (have you seen nailpolish that’s been in the fridge too long?) 

Once the nailpolish is old, it’s old, and it’s too thick and goopy to use on your nails and it just WILL NOT smooth on properly. Once the layers separate, don’t try shaking them up and mixing them together to salvage the polish. Toss it and buy a new bottle. This’ll teach ya to be more frugal when purchasing nailpolishes, eh?