nail polish, what am I doing wrong?

[addictedismoving]

Im getting so fed up, I've read countless threads and have taken advice from all of them, yet I'm still having a prob/em with flaking peeling nail polish. What am I doing wrong?

Last night I applied Revlon 5 in 1 as a base coat, then 2 layers of models own red alert followed by a layer of sally hansen insta-dri.
This morning my nails are chipped and are peeling horribly. I'm going to have to remove it and I'm really annoyed i wasted time doing it.

Where am I going wrong?

Sally Hansen used to peel off on me too. Get a bottle of Seche Vite topcoat - I buy mine on eBay for £5-6 a bottle. It dries solid in about 10 minutes, is lovely and shiny and I hardly ever get chips.

Make sure to leave plenty of time between the coats for them to properly set, I've also found that sealing the nail with a swipe of topcoat around the free edge of the nail then applying top coat to nail as usual helps stop peeling and flaking

Are you putting the nail varnish on too thick? Or has it gone thick over time? mine do this after a few weeks and then my nails peel.

Also, it depends on the nail varnish I use. Chanel is awful on my for flaking - I use OPI and either Sally Hanson or Seche Vite topcoat. I use a base coat too and its important that each coat is properly dry before putting another one on.

Give your nails a quick wipe with nail varnish remover a minute or two before you apply your base coat - prevents any dust or oil residue making your varnish peel.

Washing my hair always makes mine chip - the combo of wet soft nails and rubbing in my hair (which isn't like wire wool, I promise!). I have been known to wear latex gloves in the shower if I have an important meeting and want good nails.

The varnish is fairly new, ive onlu recently started wearing it again, so around 4 weeks old.
Maybe I'm not leaving it long enough.

And the swiping of the free edge is a good idea, i will give that a go.

Hopefully that's intresting, my nails were fine until i washed my hair! Gloves it is then!

I agree with applying nail varnish remover first. You need a base coat, two colour coats and a top coat. But you also need to buy a brand that doesn't chip. I have always found Chanel good although others disagree, OPI is quite streaky but fine if you always apply 2 coats. Jessica has a good reputation and is used in salons. I also find Boots No 7 quite good for the money.

Are you sure it's not your nails underneath that are peeling? I love the Sally hansen insta-dri, keeps my polish on all week. You could try buffing your nails first, and make sure you clean your nails with a swipe of polish remover before painting too.

It was my nails that were peaking but with the help of filing, buffing, Revlon 5 in 1 and vit e my nails are in decent condition.

Use gel polish - 2 weeks chip free.
Either at salon, about £25 a time, or you can buy kits now to do at home.

I discovered something with my peeling nails but might not be the cause of yours - I had been using some Nails inc and some other varnishes combined and I think that some of them are incompatible. I was using a "three free" polish (toluene free?) and then an ordinary topcoat (seche vite I think) on the top and the combination didn't work. Peeling was the result.