Help with nails please.

[ChlorinePerfume]

I need to do something with my nails for the party season. I normally don't bother with nail varnish because I swim a lot and find it terribly frustrating when I have spent ages painting my nails ( I'm very clumsy so takes me forever) only to have the nail polish chipping off when I get out of the pool.

Any nail & polish tips greatly appreciated. I normally go for reds and don't like acrylics..

Thank you :-)

You could try a nude? Then the chips won't be as obvious.
This is pretty festive-typical but I've seen a lot of women with red and glitter nails. The great thing about a glitter top coat is it takes ages for the nails to chip. I personally like a darker red with gold glitter. You could put it just on one nail like I like to do.
i love this nude
this is a lovely dark red
glitter
I have really short nails that I have to keep short for martial arts and my work and these work for me.

Go and get a shellac varnish done, it lasts for ages and is super shiny

That is great thanks. Will try the red with glitter over the party season and perhaps use the nude shade when life goes back to normal. I guess I should make a bit more of an effort with my nails. I had them done in a salon a few times but it is so disappointing when they chip only just 2 days later.

Shellac. Doesn't chip, especially if you get Brisa Lite smoothing gel instead of shellac basecoat.

Wildfire is a lovely opaque bright red, sort of old hollywood style red
Hollywood is similar with a shimmer
Rose Brocade is opaque and a bit pinker
Ruby Ritz is a glittery red

There are others like Crimson Sash, Decadence....

www.cnd.com/products/cnd-shellac#

(scroll down page abit to find colours)

Jazzicatz,

Does Shellac make nails look ticker? Could be worth having it done but I don't like the artificial look.

Thanks

No it's just a gel varnish. It looks like normal varnish just more shiny

Second the advice to use glitter nail polish on top of your usual polish - really helps prevent chipping and its very appropriate for this time of year. Barry M has loads of good ones in (Boots/Superdrug).

Thanks all. Going to give the red with glitter a go and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out sill try the Shellac option. Trouble with having nails done in a salon is that if a nail chips or gets damaged one us dependant on the salon to fix it.. May try the Shellac on my toes first. Ta :-)

I always have nice nails ( so I'm told) and most recently I have been using quite a dark Polish with a matching glitter on my ring fingers only.
Also, if I have a salon manicure I try to buy the Polish to do touch ups, they usually have them to sell

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine, about £3. Lots of colours, lasts as long as any expensive polishes

Seriously. Shellac is indestructible. Mine has been on 2 weeks now and had been through normal housework, changing a wheel and mucking out. One tiny chip on the edge and I'll just file my nail and it will be fine. It will definitely go at least another week. My PB is 6 weeks, but it had grown out and had big gaps at the bottom (toucan Clip and file the nails as normal). Worth every penny.

I had 2 week gel polish on for holiday in August, wrecked my nails. They file the whole nail to make the gel stick. Unless you can commit to the upkeep of fortnightly manicures I would steer clear of shellac stuff.
I have recently bought a brilliant red, Maybelline super staygel nail colour in Deep red, picked it up in Tesco, bought a red glitter by rimmel(precious stones in ruby crush), seche vite on top and lo, festive nails.
Really impressed with the Maybelline stuff, have been using Opi or Nails Inc, sometimes Essy, this was cheaper.

If you're looking for a good glitter varnish, I can recommend Maybelline Color Show in Rose Chic. I've got it on at the moment over a CND purple polish and it looks fab.

www.superdrug.com/Maybelline/Maybelline-Color-Show-Crystallize-Nail-Polish-Rose-Chic-232/p/908157#.VI4M-CusWAg

Most shellac colours you can buy a matching polish for home, called Vinlyux. Get them for tip wear which can happen round the 10-12 day mark- extends the life of the manicure by about another week. Although I haven't needed to do that at all since I started getting the Brisa Lite Gel. And nails don't look any thicker than they would with base coat, top layers of colour and topcoat.

They shouldn't do that lizzylou. I have been using shellac for months and it hasn't wrecked my nails.

There's no filling needed for shellac lizzylou. Some gel polishes need it but not shellac. If someone's done that for shellac they're not properly trained in it, so you are right to avoid them again, but properly applied it should be fine.

I have the occasional Shellac and I am sorry to say it does ruin your nails. My beautician is fantastic and I always have it removed professionally, but my nails are always damaged. Unless you want to maintain a Shellac habit I would stick to OPI or Essie with a good top coat such as Seche Vite.

Nothing wrong with an OCCASIONAL shellac, say 3/4 times a year. It'll ruin your nails if thin to start with I imagine. Others I'm sure are fine with it more frequently, we're all different! But you mustn't peel it off, that'll ruin your nails...

Just a note on the glitter... It looks fab, but can be a real faff to get it off! Especially if you do more that a coat or two to build up the sparkle!

My favourite neutral shade is Chinchilly or Merino Cool by Essie.

Have fun