The daily polish

Since I became interested in all things polish, I had friends and work colleagues asking me how I managed to change my polish (almost) daily and how I had the time and patience to wait until it dried. And why did I change it so often?


I'm not sure about the patience "thing", because I don't usually have much of that at all for anything.  And I'm quite the fidgeter - I find it difficult to stay still for long periods of time (even when I'm sleeping I'm restless).


My trick, if you will, is to paint my nails whilst I'm watching evening TV.  That is:  After preparing/making dinner.  After cleaning up and doing dishes.  After making/packing lunch for the following day.  After laying out what I'm going to wear to work the following day.  And, most important of all, after having been to the bathroom!


Right.  I know you're gonna think that last pointer was weird.  Why would she mention anything about going to the loo?!  I assure you, I'm not trying to be inappropriate, but I am trying to give you the best tips on how not to stuff up your newly polished fingers. Nihrida mentions it in her How To: Perfect Manicure guide at the end under "Useful Tips".


Believe me when I say that the secret to successful nail polish application is being prepared.  This means, not only washing and drying your hands, having your polishes (colours, base and topcoats) and polish remover all handy, but eliminating all of the elements which may cause you to ruin your fresh mani.  This is just common sense, folks.


Another thing I learned recently was that you shouldn't paint your nails just after you've showered/bathed. This is because your nails are porous and are better painted when they've dried and hardened.  See no. 2 of Beauty Top to Toe's guide.


The above guide also says to wear base and top coats.  I agree, but this is a case of do as I say, and not as I do.  Because I'm changing polish as often as I do, I skip the base/top coats as the polish isn't staying on my fingers long enough to worry about making it last longer.  Sure, having the base coat would probably leave my nails in a better condition and stop my nails being stained, but in my experience, for a period of time I did use a base coat and saw no difference in the condition of nails compared to not not using one.  Moving along, a top coat's purpose is to ensure the longevity of the polish, and again, there's no need for it if I'm taking it off the next day.


And yes, even though I paint my fingers and wait for them to dry whilst watching telly, I still stuff them up quite often and have to redo them (refer to the above where I said that I am a fidgeter).  Oh, yes.  And my cries of "oh NO! I've stuffed up my polish" are met with chuckles from my husband who retorts with "how unusual of you". Thanks for your support, hubby!  NOT HELPING!!!


I should mention, though, that sometimes, because I've gotten myself ready for the day ahead and left the polish application to the end of the night, it means I go to bed and my polish hasn't properly dried, and when I wake up the next morning, there are lovely sheet/doona marks on my polish.  My bad!


All in all, don't fret (even if you're completely organised) when you apply your polish and still ruin it.  I do it all of the time!  Just reapply or fix it as best as you can.  After all, it's only nail polish, people!


Finally, to answer the question as to why I change my polish so often.  Two reasons: 

1)  I hate manis that have chipped polish or scratching and other imperfections.  Chipping can occur for a number of reasons, but it is usually the quality of the polish that determines its "chipability".  Because most of my polishes are inexpensive . . . well, you know the rest,


2)  I get bored with the same colour.  I like my polishes to match or compliment what I'm wearing, and because I change what I'm wearing at least daily, I also change my polish daily.


NN