nail varnish novice

[MrsPeel1]

I am not allowed to wear nail varnish at work, so I thought I'd put some on as I'm on holiday. In fewer than 18 hours, it's really badly chipped and horrible. Could anyone recommend a non-chippy, not expensive nail varnish please? One that a novice with no patience or artistic ability could apply?

Did you use a clear top coat? I find that always helps. Also there's a lot of gel style nail varnishes out at the moment & they seem to last longer. A good base coat 2 X colour & one top coat always looks best but that does take time & effort. Xx

The topcoat is the important bit in my opinion. I use all sorts of varnish (including cheapies from Rimmel or Barry M) but I use the Sally Hansen top coat which keeps it there - I can do a week if I'm not doing bathtime or washing up!

Lots of people rate the Seche Vite but personally I'm not a fan.

Oh, and I do my nails an hour before bed so that I can get in and not chip them and they have time to 'set' overnight.

Top coat
Early night
Make DH do bath time.

Got it! Thank you.

I am not a fan of Seche Vite as it peels off in one (satisfying) layer on me.

I like Essie nail varnishes.

Always use a base coat. I put 3 coats on plus the Essie top coat. Always lasts me a week. I only re-do it because I habitually do my nails once a week and I get a gap at the base from re-growth.

Essie are my favourite varnishes too Benny but my favourite two colours are Rimmel and Barry M.

CND Vinylux top coat. It's brilliant.

I love Rimmel nail varnish. They also do a "gel" version - it's essentially a duo pack of varnish plus gel top coat. I've had it on my toes for about a month! Never lasts that long on my hands though.

A duo pack sounds great. I'm a bit of a skinflint, so a two pack will feel like a bargain.

Seconding CND Vinylux top coat. It's UV activated so more sun exposure makes it harder usually last me 4-5 days.

Do you use the Vinylux over normal polish?

I've got some Vinylux actual polish, (sort of a metallic bronzy colour) which is the longest lasting polish I own, but have also had good results with Rimmel Salon Pro. OPI is the absolute best in terms of smooth coverage and failure to chip, plus I always use the Sally Hansen Insta-Dry top coat. I think it's better than Seche Vite, and tends not to go gloopy so quickly. I also use Nubar Foundation base coat most of the time (unless using a glitter, in which case I use the OPI Gliitter Off base). Hope that helps!

Vinylux is just regular polish (the gel kind). It's the sister product of shellac designed so that clients could buy the same colour as their shellac if they were going on holiday etc and it would match if they got a chip or lost a nail. No base coat needed, a huge range of colours and then just apply the top coat. It's pretty quick drying too.

I use CND top coat over normal polish. Works brilliantly. Rock hard in under 10 mins ... No chips, lines or smudges and lasts days.

Ordered the Seche Vite today just to try it as have also heard good things about that.

I always find Essie chips in seconds.

For endurance, I do Revlon gel envy. And 3 strokes - middle, left, right. Never try to wriggle into the nail edges, it looks messy.

I went with the Rimmel one (all they had in the local chemist). Round two of project nail varnish has lasted 3 days, 2 kids baths, a full shed clear out and about a million hand washing. How has it taken 37 years to discover top coat!!

I love the Revlon fast drying top coat. It really does dry quickly and helps with keeping it shiny and chip free. I top up the top coat every morning, or every other morning, and it lasts a week.