How To Make Your Mani Last

I don’t know about you guys, but nothing irritates me more than a chipped nail. It’s the perfectionist in me and it’s also my job to give ladies a mean lookin’ mani. For those of you that don’t know, I’m a licensed esthetician of 5 years and I do a lot of manicures. For starters I’ll say that there are two companies I’ve been loyal to for 5 years and I’m always drooling over the new collections, Hand and Nail Harmony’s Gelish and Artistic Colour Gloss. Be prepared to see lots of posts with Gelish and Artistic. Both brands release a seasonal collection (typically 6 new colours) and if we’re lucky, a bonus collection during holiday time. I am obsessed with how trendy the colours are and they are so shiny it’s stuuupid!
These brands are not regular polish they are light cured. Meaning the polish will be exposed to UV or LED to adhere it to your nail. If you have no experience with professional products I suggest you don’t go out and buy yourself a starter kit. These can run from $200 and higher and you’ll end up just getting frustrated when your sets aren’t lasting. These products are meant to be used by professionals and we are the ones that can give you a set that will last 3-5 weeks. Let’s get one thing straight, there isn’t any anti-chip magic in the polish and sometimes a chipped nail just happens! Have you ever reached for your car door and your fingers slip under the handle? Ouch…there goes the corner of your nail. Have you ever accidently sliced your nail when you were cutting something in the kitchen? I mean…better your polish than your finger though, right? What about opening a can of soda or beer and your nail gets stuck in the pull-tab piece? Boom. Chipped Nail. My point is we use our hands for everything and sometimes accidents simply can’t be avoided, but what about the things we can control? There are a couple tricks I use on myself and inject into the lives of my clients so a chipped nail doesn’t haunt us!
A set of light cured polish is depended upon the integrity of the natural nail. What does that mean? It means if you have a strong nail the polish has a great foundation and chance of chipping is low. If you have a weaker or a damaged nail the chance of chipping increases because the foundation is compromised. One great way to maintain your mani is cuticle oil. Oil. Oil. OIL. The best thing I find that works wonders is coconut or olive oil. Skip the fancy fragmented and coloured oils and go straight to the source! Try to moisturize the cuticles and nail area daily. They are thirsty suckers and need a little drink! I have a lot of clients telling me they lotion like crazy, but their nails still chip. While lotion is great and I’m glad to see a little effort…oil is better. It’s concentrated and gets right to the point. If you aren’t a fan of the smell then apply a hand lotion afterwards! Double-whammy. All this yummy oil soaks into the nail and surrounding skin to maintain hydration of the natural nail. A hydrated nail lessens the chance of chipping. Win-win! To express how important this step is, I will leave you with this. Would you ever not use conditioner? No. Would you ever not floss your teeth? I sure as hell hope not. Would you ever not use cuticle oil? NOPE. Get it?
Learn to love a nail file. The length of a nail plays a huge part of a lasting manicure. Yes, some people have the most beautiful strong natural nails that are long and wonderful, but not all of us are blessed with nails like this. You have to learn how long your natural nails can be before it starts running into problems. Sometimes that length isn’t as long as we’d like to it be (without turning to enhancements), but you have to discover what that length is for you. The longer our nails are the weaker they become. Why? There’s a lot of stress put on the area where our nail plate leave our hyponychium (the part of the finger underneath the free edge). The free edge is the part of the nail that’s “free” from the edge of our finger. You know that area under your nails that always seem to get dirty? That’s the free edge. Does that make sense? That point marks the stress point of our nail, making it vulnerable to cracking or splitting if the nail is too long. Think of a diving board for a second. The shorter the board, the less bounce you get (short nails), and the longer the board the more bounce you get (long nails). The long board will crack long before the short board cracks. Once there’s a crack there, it opens up a whole can of worms for our nails (and the diving board). One of the best ways to eliminate cracking or splitting is to shorten your nails every few days and when I say shorten I mean just a little run of the nail file over the edge will do. It helps to the keep the length down, and edges smooth to avoid snagging and ripping a piece of polish off.
You should play around with different nail shapes and see what works best for you and your lifestyle. Do you go square, rounded, almond, or a combination? Personally, I keep my nails short and square. It works best for me with my work. I’m very hands on so keeping them short is a must for me, and square because I love the look! Beware though square nails are high maintenance. The corners tend to get caught on everything in site, so filing plays a big part with this shape. The rounded and almond shapes are equally lower maintenance than the square. The big difference here is the corners. With the corners not existing, there’s less for the nails to get caught on, especially hair. You’ll also want to choose a shape that’s going to compliment your fingers and hands. Some people look great with short hair or long hair. Same concept goes for nails or you just might be that person that can rock short or long hair, square or round nails. You lucky duck, you!
Keep these things in mind when it comes to your nails and once you develop your own routine you will steer clear of a horrific mess! Remember, consistency is key. Keep on keepin’ on with the oiling and shortening! #chipfreezone
*In feature photo I am wearing Gorgeous by Artistic Colour Gloss, and a custom mixture of Up In The Blue and Arctic Freeze by Gelish.
How do you like to wear your nails?
Xoxo,
Elle B
I’m such a plain jane when it comes to my nails but after reading this.. I think its time to bust out some crisco for my cuticles… hahaha.. I love your blog always an easy read and very informative!!
chia
Hahaha, dunk those nails in some Crisco girl!
Stephanie
Hi Chia! When you have your nails done, do you still use cuticle oil? I’m afraid my nail polish will start lifting and not adhere to my nails anymore if I were to lather them up with oil. Thanks and you are fabulous! I love that photo of your nails (which I’ve tried to recreate)! Also, I like to wear my nails short and square, but with rounded edges. 🙂
chia
Great question! Avoid applying cuticle oil right before your nail appointment because the product dislikes oil/moisture on the natural nail. If there’s moisture on the natural nail before the product is applied there will absolutely be issues with adhesion and may lift after a couple days. When your nails are painted and sealed, go hard with the oil! If your nails are done properly there’s no need to fear about lifting or separating. I honestly, oil my nails 5 times a day, lol!
Maxi
Ye-esssss my queen Chia!
This post triggered me! A while back I decided to shape my nails in an almond shape because the square shape never worked out for me and boy george, they grew SO LONG. but.. exams came and so did stress and hello chipped, dry nails for days D:
I’m trying to get them healthy and strong again, so thank you thank you thank you for the oil tip! I can’t believe I was willing to spend so much on Gelish nail polish (which is difficult to find in the UK) and expensive sets thinking the better the polish, the longer my mani would last. And ugh your nails are perf btw *heart eyes*
Quick question, how do you know the difference between dead and ‘live’ cuticles???? I’m a poor uni student with no money to buy an electric powered filer thingie so I do it by hand.
Thank you for this post! xo
chia
The shape of a nail makes a huge difference! The part of the cuticle that has grown onto the nail itself is considered dead because when we trim it, it doesn’t hurt! If it hurts or if you bleed when you’ve trimmed your cuticles you know you’ve gone too far.
Aurin
Lots of useful info in this post! I always wondered why no matter how much I slathered my hands in lotion, my cuticles always remained dry. I’m going to try out oiling these suckers up! Also, can you give us some tips on at home manicures? For the simple gals that just like to keep a neat and pretty set of natural shine nails without the color. I always wanted to know whether it’s ok or not ok to cut the cuticle. Some say push it and leave it alone, some say cut it. Tell me Chia, tell meeeeeee!
Sara
I wear my nails naturally extra long and almond! 🙂 Favorite Gelish colors are “From Rodeo to Rodeo Drive”, “Exhale”, “Black Cherry Berry” and I usually have gold chains at the cuticles, or hand painted nail art (floral nail art is my go-to).
Stumbled upon your blog through IG and I enjoy all your stories!! Even better that we both share love for nails and brazilians (I once burned the shit outta myself trying to give myself a Brazilian lol. I now use hard wax without a problem, with the help of my fiancé.) Keep the posts coming girl!!
chia
Great colour choices! I’m going to give your IG a little visit.
Shanice S.
I am in love with your blog! The way you write/ your word choice makes me want to keep reading; so captivating! You give great tips and I will be sure to apply them to my everyday life! I am so glad you decided to create a blog. I absolutely love it!!
chia
Me too! Thanks lovely!
Shanice S.
I am in love with your blog! The way you write/ your word choice makes me want to keep reading; so captivating! You give great tips and I will be sure to apply them to my everyday life! I am so glad you decided to create a blog. I absolutely love it!!!
Khristy N
I love your blog and you! You seem so down to Earth! I just gotten into doing nails and makeup (just subscribed to ipsy) in the past couple of months and racked up over 50+ nail polishes as well. Oh boy! I do oil my nails but not as often as I should and I always seem to get acrylics on because my natural nails break so easy (maybe because I get enhancements-duh!). I have to say I do have a set on now and probably after I take them off I will take your tips to keeping my nails without breaking. Do you have any tips for strengthening the nails after taking the acrylics off?
** I actually think you wrote back to one of my comments in regards to our ipsy bags on IG! 🙂
chia
Thank you! Lots of moisture after you remove the acrylics! You can also use a protein strengthener for extra help. Nail Envy by OPI is a great option, or CND Rescue will work. You can apply one coat of strengthener everyday for two weeks without removing the last application. Keep applying and keep oiling!
Maylanie
Chia, I enjoy reading your blog post! I’m glad Tim pushed you to start it! Keep it going girl! xxo
chia
Haha, Tim didn’t push me to do anything! <3, Thanks for reading!
Carla Renee
Awesome post. I definitely have a problem with chipped nails. Even though my nails are naturally strong and long I’ll have a chipped nailed within a week, especially since I work in a hospital. I’m always using my hands. My main issue though is keeping my nails a consistent shape. I’ll get a mani done and have the manicurist shape my nails to more of an oval/almond shape, but after a week when my nails grow out I start to lose shape and my nails are no longer a consistent shape. And when I try to file them back to shape it’s just a no go. What is the best technique for filing nails and keeping them in the desired shape?
S.M.N. (Save My Nails)! lol
chia
Thanks! Well, I would recommend not letting them get too long to the point where they lose their shape. Run a nail file over them every 2-4 days just to clean up the edges. That way you avoid any chipping and keep the shape without having to file too much!
Mary B.
Love reading your informative Blogs!
However, I pay about $65 for both a Gel Mani and Pedi (reasonable?)…well, not when I have a thick blob at the cuticle… This Gel nail polish tends to lift after my nail appointment and eventually I end up picking at it. What should I tell my nail person? Should I say I don’t like thick coats? Usually she does two layers and occasionally three (depending on the nail polish color)
chia
Sounds reasonable to me, but price is dependant upon many things so it’s hard to me to comment on that. Thick blob? Yikes. It could just be the way that technician works, maybe try a few different people/places to compare.
Jenyfer
Great Tip! One question I do have about nails. I want to know your thoughts about acrylic nails . Bad or good? Should I stop or should I start using gel nails better ? Hope to hear from you soon . Love this blog btw. Helps in every way ! Hope you can give is make up tips soon. I am new to the whole make up thing and need help hahaha. Love you Chia ?
chia
Haha, everything will come within time my darling! There is nothing wrong with acrylic nails (if it’s a reputable brand), many salons use acrylic vs gel! It really just comes down to personal preference. Perhaps I will do a post one day about the history of acrylic and why people think they are bad for our nails. Thanks for reading Jenyfer. Love you back!
Lisette
Hi chia! (:
I love all your blogs so far, you have a way to connect with people through your writing but my question is why do nails sometimes start turning a yellow color and what can I do to get rid of it . Maybe letting my nails breathe for a while ??
chia
Thank you so much! Are you using a base coat? Is this happening with reds and pinks? Sometimes yellowing can be from the pigment in colors like red and pink without using a base coat. Nails are actually made up of hundreds of layers of dead skin cells, so there’s no need to let them “breathe”. Also, with your nail constantly growing it’s always replenishing itself back to health!
Lisette
Yea it was after a red color !
I seee now ! Thanks so much for the info(:
Lucy
I love your your blog, from your love life to beauty tips. Thank you a ton, you are amazing! My nails used to be so strong but they definitely have gotten weak over the years 🙁 Thank you for your tips! I will be using coconut oil from now on!
chia
Thank you, Lucy! You go girl, consistency is key!