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Hit List: Most Long-Wearing Nail Polish

What’s the Most Long-Wearing Nail Polish that you’ve tried?

Share your pick!  And don’t forget to share why 🙂

My top picks… Cult Nails, Illamasqua, Guerlain! These all wear as long as ten days with no chipping on me.

43 Comments

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Ivana Avatar

I probably have weird nails or something, but I haven´f found a nail polish formula that lasts longer than two days so far because everything starts to chip after the second day… No matter what I do, no matter what top coat I use, I just tend to be prone to chipping unfortunately

Ellie Avatar

I’m the same. I tend to change my nail polish every third day for that reason.
However, Illamasqua usually wears a little longer. The same is true for Zoya Pixie Dust polishes. I have a Sparitual textured polish that lasts longer as well, so it may be the fact that they are textured that helps.

Kate Avatar

I have such terrible luck, or such terrible skill with nail polish. They all have tip wear within 24 hours on me and most of the time I get bubbling. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Shimmers are better than creams in general and the one formula I’ve had great luck with has been A-England.

Erin Avatar

Personally, I’ve found that L’Oreal polishes work particularly well for me. I do have one Marc Jacobs polish and one Formula X polish and they also last really well on me, but it’s much harder for me to keep buying them because of their prices. I’m really happy with my L’Oreal polishes!

kurohana Avatar

Gel nails are the only thing that have been long wearing on me everything else just chips or flakes off even with a bonder base coat/ or sticky base coat and top coat

alyssa Avatar

the new revlon parfumerie polishes. i am tough on my hands and i had not found any polishes or fancy topcoats that lasted more than a few days, but these parfumerie ones amazingly last a week!

Casey Avatar

To me, the most important thing is the base coat/top coat combo! I start with OPI’s Nail Envy (I have nails that are prone to peeling, and as soon as they start peeling it’s chip-town. Nail Envy cuts down on that problem a lot!). I follow that up with Butter London’s Nail Foundation base coat, lay down my color, and top it off with Butter London’s Hardware top coat. As long as I follow that routine, I get 8-9 days out of my OPIs, Zoyas, China Glazes… any decent polish, really!

Tessa Avatar

The best one has to be Kiko! It lasted for at least 7 days, after 7 days I got tired of it, but it did not chip at all! O.P.I. also lasts pretty long on my nails, about 5 days.

Ellie Avatar

Did it stain your nails? I have several Kiko nail polishes, but I never use them because they stain my nails really bad, no matter what base I use.

Melissa Avatar

Nothing wears long on me!!!! I use a wide spectrum of brands, NARS, Illamasqua, OPI, essie, Zoya, Ciate, MAC, butter London, nails, inc., Color Club, China Glaze, Milani….etc. The longest is one day, two at the most and I’ve used quite a few brands of top coats. Today I’m wearing MAC Salad Dressed and I’m using a new top coat I got in the mail yesterday called HK Girl by Glisten and Glow. I painted my nails last night and I see no tip wear as of yet. Hopefully this will extend my polish wear.

Alice Ann Avatar

RGB polishes wear really well for me, they’re a little thinner than most, but with three coats they last for days. I’ve also had good experiences with YSL, Tom Ford, and Zoya.

Kami Avatar

Nail polish lasts ridiculously long on me but the longest must be Illamasqua and Zoya. I’ve had them both for 14 days with no chips. Had to remove because nails grew too much and got bored of it. However, something that extremely weird…nail polish doesn’t last at all on my toes o.O. Next day it peels off completely. No chips, just peels off. Very Bizarre.

Samantha Avatar

Illamasqua. However, with Butter London Nail Foundation and P.D. Topcoat, a lot of polishes last a while (such as OPI and Butter London).

Nail Girl Avatar

For me, top coat + base coat influences how long polish will last on me, rather than the brand. My current base coat is Duri Rejuvacote and my current top coat is Rica Glossy Glam. I’ve had manis with no chips last for a week intact, doesn’t sound like much but I rarely wear manis for up to a week in the first place 😉

Laura Avatar

I have no idea because I tend to change my polish every two or three days anyway. Sometimes I’m on the phone at work for hours at a time, and I can totally type with wet nails. 🙂

I do think that top coat is a huge factor in longevity though. I love my Sally Hansen Hard as Nails, even with all the high end top coats I get to try, I always go back to it.

Megan Avatar

So much of this depends on what base coat you use and top coat. I think I had a Zoya polish that lasted over a week on. I really don’t mind if polish chips because I change mine so much, but if I have had a polish on for 4 days and it hasn’t chipped then I tend to see how long I can go without needing to change it. Formula wise Zoya is by far my favorite. I use 1 coat of OPI’s Natural Base Coat and then 1 coat of Orly Bonder. It has been the most successful base coat mix for me.

Helene Avatar

I have weird nails, weak and peeling. Have tried a lot of remedies to make them stronger and stop peeling, so far nothing has helped.
Of all the polishes I’ve tried I’d say Illamasqua is the most longwearing. I think the one I have lasted a week. Generally polishes last for two days. I can sometimes stretch the wear to three days.
Odd thing is that even real gel, done in salong, doesn’t last more than a few days before it starts to losen on my nails, not on the top, but on the bed of the nail. I tried two different gels, first time, with both, excellent result, secong time, less than a week of wear.

june Avatar

don’t know if you’ve tried this one, but my friend swears by cocoa nibs (sometimes at, as well, since unless you like that raw cocoa/coffee grain flavour it’s not great tasting)

Mariella Avatar

Most long-wearing on me is pretty much anything that I have applied at the salon, rather than my DIY manicures. Like several others who’ve replied, I also seem to lack the talent for applying polish so it sort of “wraps” around the ends of my nails and stays. The same polish that will last for the better part of a week if applied at the salon will last 3 days when I apply it at home (if I’m lucky!)

Danielle Avatar

I can’t say that certain brands last longer on me than others (certain formulas within the brand may be better, though). My top brands are Julep, Zoya, and OPI and the worst formula for me is MAC.

xamyx Avatar

I, too, believe longevity depends on base/top coat. I use Sally Hansen Hard As Nails or Triple Strong, and I don’t need a topcoat. I also like Borghese Presto topcoat, and don’t need a base if I use this. Also, I find using both a top & basecoat, my polish tends to peel, I guess because the layers are too thick.

If I’m being lazy, and plan to change my polish after a day or so, I like polishes with microshimmer, as they tend to hold up best for me.

Lauren Avatar

The Revlon Colorstay system is magic: two weeks+ and I’m hard on them. It wears exactly like a gel manicure except A) it comes off with one swipe of acetone remover, and B) there’s no light or “kit” or anything. You do have to use the Colorstay base coat, color, and top coat for maximum results. I find the dark and strong colors are very easy to work with though the light/sheer/nude shades are streaky and difficult. I prefer a white to a pink in a neutral and the one I can work with is Calla Lilly, which is a frosty white (prettier than it sounds). There’s a decent selection of colors with some funky options: a few greens, navy blue-black, etc. In fact, I’ve been in the habit of gel manicures lately, but right now I can’t imagine why: the Revlon Colorstay works just as well for a lot less money! (I know this sounds like an ad; I’m in no way affiliated with Revlon and their only other product I even like is the Lip Butter.) Oh, also: there used to be a Colorstay polish line 7-8 years ago and it lasted great but was thick and gloppy and had a sharp chemical odor. This is an entirely new formula and it has a nice flat wide brush.

jayce Avatar

Picture Polish semi-jelly polishes last an absurdly long time on me (14 days). This is with a generic drugstore base coat and no top coat.

june Avatar

i’m pretty lucky in that i have really strong and hard nails which grow really fast, usually i get rid of polish well before anything even chips on me because of nail growth. i get at least ten days wear as well, though if i do a lot of things in water — washing dishes, hand washing brushes or clothes, the nail polish starts cracking earlier. a good top coat goes a long way to helping longevity, but i find butter londons last forever on me (though i have friends who say it chips within a day or two on them) as do illamasquas.

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