If you paint your own nails at home- not gels or acrylics

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

Just normal nail polish. What do you use and how long does it last? I do a lot of cleaning with hands constantly in and out of water/cleaning products etc but I have finally gotten my nails to a nice length and shape and have been wearing nail varnish over Christmas. My New Years resolution is to look after them and wear gloves everytime im cleaning.

So what do you use and include pictures if you like!

my topcoat

Touch dry in 2 mins or so.
Cap the tip and I get 4-5 days easily and I'm very hard on my hands. Constant typing and manual lifting all day.

Photo is today's colour. A coat of Sally Hansen Nail Primer, 2 coats of Barry M's Frostbite and 2 coats of top coat to smooth down the glitter.

Essie is my current favourite but I also like Models Own, China Glass & Nails Inc, followed by OPI & Leighton Denny. Chanel doesn't last as well but the shades are great. H&M also do a fantastic range of colours. Always use Seche Vite or Nails Inc caviar top coat. Do them every Sunday evening & they usually last until then.

OPI nail envy original as a base coat - it is fantastic but I'm currently testing cruelty free alternatives.
Zoya polishes - beautiful shades and they don't test on animals either which makes it a preferred choice for me.
Zoya top coat.

How do you all get your nails so neat? These photos look so professional

Using a very dark max factor polish today and I'm not finding the SV as good. May be down to the polish - the last one was rimmel 60 seconds.

Ive just done my nails with a very dark Rimmel 60 secs (Cherry Black) followed by SV. I haven’t painted my nails for months and haven’t used SV before so it will be interesting to see how long it lasts.
They do look amazing though!

I'm looking for a nice dark ox blood, this one has such a piddly little brush it came out messy that's my excuse and in sticking with it. How purple is that one wine?

Essie Wicked is a great black-red. Better than Chanel Rouge Noir IMHO.

@Binglebong it’s definitely more purple than Oxblood, plus it looks nearly black in most lights so suspect it’s not what you’re after.

That's a shame, it looks lovely. I'll check out that Essie one though. The one I have is nearly black, just in the right light tinged red. But a bit chipped already. Going to have to retip them.

I have the Essie Wicked, I've just put it on. I love it.
I'd do a photo but I can't really be bothered, it's too dim in the bedroom anyway.

Anyone used Luemos? I ordered some varnishes, hadn't had a dispatch note so checked and the order had been cancelled. I've reordered in hope as that's the only place I can find my favourite colour at a non ridiculous price but am I bring stupid?

I've been finding my Seche Vite is tinting pink. I'm waiting for the coloured coat to dry and wipe the brush before it returns to the bottle each time but still colour changing.

It does go a bit pink in the bottle gradually but I don't think it affects the nail varnish.

This is my nails after crafts. I'm a definite SV convert!

They look amazing @Binglebong! Nice colour.

How do you get your cuticles so neat?

By piggling off all the mess. soaking your hands and rubbing in cuticle oil helps. But they were bad- why I didn't post the day before!

And thank you. The volur is Wocka Wocka by OPI.

Your nails looks amazing Bingle! Mine are a week old now and haven’t chipped at all, it must be the SV, miracle stuff!

Excellent news - last weeks Wicked lasted from Monday night to Saturday, chipped a bit on the Friday but that was because I had to open the car bonnet to refill the screen wash.

I also paint all over my cuticles and then pick it off in the shower the next morning. I find it a lot harder in this cold damp weather, my cuticles get dry and raggedy no matter how much oil I rub into them.

Been meaning to join this thread. There are some really lovely nails on here.

I've just done mine...Revlon Vixen with OPI Nail Envy underneath, and Essie gel top coat.

REALLY struggling with splitting and peeling in this cold weather, even when using nail envy. Anyone else suffer with this?

Excuse my freaky wonky index finger

Sally Hansen and the Seche Vite topcoat. I do them on a Sunday night and they look good for about 4 days.

Ooh @goingslow so shiny! They look fab.

My current favourite colour is Designated DJ by Essie, but I've just taken it off as I'm waiting for a new Essie to arrive by Amazon Prime not at all obsessed

Thanks! I'm a big Essie fan too. Their gel colours are brilliant. Although I can't get Fairy Tailor to stay on without chipping?! Which colour do you have arriving next?

I'm looking forward to wearing corals again when the weather warms up. I've got some nice Rimmel 60 second ones.