Why does my manicure never last?

[Romcom]

So I follow all the advice, base coat, two coats of colour, top coat (seche vite), cap the free edge with each coat, still chips within 24 hours. I've had two salon shellacs and they didn't last more than a few days. I've had a salon normal mani last a couple of weeks once, so it can be done....what am I missing?! Or am I destined for easily chipped nails?!

How long are your nails? I've been reading a few nail blogs and have seen it crop up few times where they mention the polish not lasting because of the length of their nails. Mine are fairly short, just a few mm beyond the end of my fingers and I get about 5 days with just a little tip wear, depending on the polish. I find Essie and Barry M the longest lasting.

They sound about the same length as yours, certainly not very long, 2-3 mm past fingertip perhaps? Thanks for the tip. My Barry m lasted LESS time with the seche vite on top!

Do your hands get wet a lot? That might not help.

If going to a salon again try gel nails. Shellac really is very poor.

I get 2 weeks out of shellac.

That's good going to last that long. Shellac lasts about 48 hours on me. Don't rate it at all. It peels off or can just come off my finger in one just by putting my hands in my pocket or bag to get something.

I love gel nails. Get about 3 perfect weeks before they look old, and that's only because my nails outgrow them!

I can never get nail varnish to last either. Not tried gel because a bit reluctant to shell out for something that still might not last...

I can usually get 3 perfect weeks from gels. But they last about 5 before they absolutely have to come off.

The one and only time I tried gel wrecked my nails but then again my nails are soft and easily damaged. I also like to change colours regularly so something long lasting and hard to remove isn't for me. My friend uses gels with no issues.

I must be the only person that doesn't like seche vitte, I hate the way the bottle goes thick quickly and you have to shell out for the thinner. I use Sally Hansen diamond flash in the black bottle and think it's amazing. Makes my nails look amazing. Also second the point about getting the nails wet, wear gloves for household tasks. Do you work a manual job or on a computer?

Make sure you 'squeak' the nail with polish remover before painting. The remover will remove any oils on the nail. The nail will squeak if you rub over a few times.

I don't think my nails have ever looked good for longer than half an hour but I do work with my hands!

Thanks. I'm actually on mat leave at the moment so yes, lots of hand washing with two young children. Sigh.....perhaps I'll just give up and buff them instead!

Opi shellac stays on me for 2-3 weeks
Nothing else lasts a second
Cnd shellac tops week
Chanel etc day tops well treated etc
I second the nail varnish remover pre application

I tried seche vite top coat after reading good things about it and found it utterly useless. I paint my nails all the time and am generally able to get a week out of my varnish.

Best top coat in my opinion is Sally Hansen Indra Dry. It is in a red bottle and Boots sell it.

I have the same problem and it's part of a hypothyroid issue - it happens with normal polish, gel nails, Shellac, whatever, and it's nothing to do with application techniques or nail activity. Maybe get tested?

My polishes are a bugger for chipping until I started using maybelline 7 day gel polish, I use the clear and a base and top coat and the colours are really nice. Lasts about a week.

sharplily that's very interesting. Polish starts peeling off my nails within hours of going on - always has and I'm 54. I was diagnosed with severe hyperthyroidsm about 25 years ago and after the removal of most of my thyroid now take thyroxine to counter the hypothyroidism.

But why, I have never head that before and I reckon I've trawled very website and leaflet.

I didn't connect the two until a very experienced nail technician pointed it out. For years I was told I had oily nail plates and all sorts of other guff.

Here's a link:

www.healthboards.com/boards/nail-problems/257333-lifting-acrylic-vs-gel.html

There is other information online, if you really search, but like anything else with hyper/othyroidism, everyone gets it differently.

No 7 topcoat will have your nails dry is seconds, it's amazing stuff!