Around my family and close circle of friends I’m known for my nails never really chipping that much.  I don’t use gel polish at all and I’m always asked, “how do they not chip?!”.  It’s quite simple.  Healthy nail beds and good base and top coats are of primary importance.  Using a good quality polish brand and not using old nail polish comes second.

Keeping my nail beds healthy is crucial.  I do this by keeping my cuticles moisturized through keeping my hands moisturized.  I keep my nails at a certain length – not too long but not too short.  And even though my nails are painted 99% of the time, I do allow them to breathe sometimes by not painting them for up to 48 hours.  I’m sure there’s an actual time period you should let your nails breath, but for me anything longer than 48 hours I feel naked! Feel free to give your nails a break as long as you feel comfortable.  If your nails aren’t the greatest at the moment just invest in a nail strengthener or hardener as your base coat for a while.  There are a lot of products out there to help nurture your nails.

Lastly, make sure you’re nice to your nails!  No biting, peeling, chipping, or chipping/peeling off your nail polish.  If your nail polish starts to chip just break out your nail polish remover.  Let nail clippers and nail files be your best friends for a while.  When you’re nice to your nails they’ll be nice to you.

When I paint my nails I start with my base coat, then put on my top coat – this is life changing, trust me!  Once that dries I paint my color and then top coat again.

I paint my nails religiously every Sunday, and normally by Thursday or Friday is when I’ll notice a chipped nail on a finger or two.  See my photos from the week below.  Overtime you can achieve this too!

Sunday, November 6, 2016

My manicure is freshly painted.  I used Essie’s ‘Maximillian Strasse-her’ and finished it with simple gold nail tape accents.

Monday, November 7, 2016

My nails are looking good at the end of day 2.  I was able to get better lighting for better visuals.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Nails are still looking good on day 3 and still NO signs of chipping.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Still no chipping on the nails, but the gold on the nail tape is starting to fade a little.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

I was not able to get pictures on Thursday as I was extremely busy, but they looked no different from Wednesday.  There was just a little more wear on the nail tape, but still no chipping.

Friday, November 11, 2016

More wear on the nail tape, and finally my first signs of chipping on my index finger of my right hand.  In the upper left hand corner a crack started to form, which always leads to chipped polish.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Saturday was the same as Friday, but the crack on my nail started to become more noticeable.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

When I woke up Sunday morning my left hand produced a chipped ring finger in the upper corner and a chipped index finger at the bottom.  My right hand produced a chipped index finger fingernail and chipped nail polish where the crack was forming.  Both nails had worn down nail tape.

So as you can see my nails hold up pretty well throughout the week.  I appreciate that the chipping doesn’t really happen, and if it does, it’s very minimal and not even noticeable.  This can be your life too!  Trust.

XO,

Melly