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Rant & Rave: Nail Polish
Tell us what you love and hate about...
Nail Polish
I love the way it looks, but I am so loathe to take the time to do a nice job of it!
— Christine
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I have awful cuticles and an unsteady hand so I have always had professional manicures. I spent all my work life in corporate land where grooming was important. Now I have grown used to the look so I have not stopped. I have silk wraps and if they don’t break, the polish lasts about two weeks.
Love a gorgeous colour in the bottle, but hate when it goes on super sheer and takes 3-4 coats to achieve.
I have a terrible polish application technique so I pay someone to do my nails. If I’m especially drawn to a certain shade of polish, I will purchase it and then take it to my nail person.
On me, conventional nail polish chips within hours (Grrr!) so I use gel nail polish instead. At least I get a couple of weeks wear out of that 🙂
It makes me sad that in recent months, I’ve become very lazy with my nails. It’s not that I don’t love wearing polish, but all too often I’ll apply the strengthener and base coat….and just put off doing the color for a day that turns into another. Before I know it, an entire week has come and gone! But I do love it!
I have strong, healthy nails that grow like crazy — until I put on nail polish. It makes my nails split and my cuticles peel. Thus, I do not wear nail polish.
I rarely wear nail polish. Years of nursing and not being able to wear polish affected my desire to spend time putting it on! I also have terrible cuticles, again from nursing and having my hands in water and strong detergents, anti-microbials. etc. I thought when I stopped nursing for any length of time I would start putting nail polish on but so far haven’t felt the desire.
I love the way a nice red polish looks – for all of a day or 2 at best. I cannot keep polish on my fingernails – I don’t know if it’s because I teach cooking and so have my hands in water all the time (hand washing and dishes) or if it’s because my nails grow so fast or what. I do marginally better with a professional manicure (though I sometimes find them painful) and I’ve no interest in shellac or gels or anything that takes a toll on your nails because mine are healthy and strong. So I love everything except that it doesn’t last on me (oh, and I still don’t like the “feature nail” or whatever it’s called – to me, it always looks like someone forgot to do one nail or ran out of polish!)
I love the way it looks, but I’m not very good at putting it on. People think I’m crazy when I say this, but I can’t stand getting manicures. I like the result, but there’s just something about the process of having someone else doing my nails that sort of gives me the creeps.
I love nail polish, and have a pretty good technique. My problem is, I live in northern Michigan where the winters are extremely cold and dry. My skin really suffers, including my cuticles and hands. They get so dry that polish just looks terrible. I’m also in socks and heavy boots 99% of the time, so I don’t even polish my toe nails in the winter. If I took the time to oil my cuticles and take care of my skin, it would be a full time job.
I used to have rather nice natural nails which I could grow fairly easily. No longer. Autoimmune/drugs/some combo of the two has done them in. I wear my nails cut very short. I cannot grow them beyond a couple of mm’s before they peel and tear. I’ve tried numerous treatments and supplements without success. I’m not particularly fond of how my hands look so I don’t bother with polish..
This is a timely topic as I’ve been tossing around the idea of fake. I had acrylics decades ago when I was run ragged with work and doing prezo’s on a routine basis where I wanted to look professional and well groomed. I found my mani’s held better on the fake with far less maintenance… fill/polish every 2 to 2.5 weeks and good to go.
I really do not need my nails to be long, but I’ve been feeling wistful seeing so many great manicures on youtube videos.
I definitely now lack the manual dexterity to do my own polish. It would have to be something done by a pro.
I think that if getting a professional manicure will uplift your spirits and bring you joy, it’s definitely something to consider! Nail techniques have come a long way in the past decade, and there’s so many options out there including the classic acrylic, but also gels, poly-gel, and even press-on. You just might find something you enjoy that’s worth the investment. 🙂
Hey Raenne: I think you make an excellent case 😀
Rave: when it’s well done it makes a great impression.
Rant: too much maintenance for me to do.
I love doing my own nails. I just started this year. I have a growing collection and have everything I need at home to do manicures and pedicures. I like doing subtle nail art as well.
I have really horrible fingernails now. Years of acrylics did them no favors. I just use clear on them now and call it a day. Every once in a blue moon I’ll polish my fingernails with a red or a pink. My technique is fine, but I don’t get more than a week’s wear, if even that. So, clear or a clear pink is fine by me. The toenails I keep polished in all kinds of colors. It stays on perfectly for 3 weeks or even longer. I think I hate the look of my toes and feet without polish on the toenails.
Rave: When it is done properly it really looks stunning! Lots of beautiful colours choices available too.
Rant: Where do I start? From my uneven growing nails, to my inability to do the nails on my left hand properly, to smudging, to the nail polish flaking off easily……
I paint my nails a few times a week, sometimes days in a row. 😛 I’m one of those people who feels they can’t leave the house without polish. Not because I think my nails are ugly naked, but I just think it’s so much more fun to have a mani on!
In terms of actually doing my nails, I love it. It’s a total stress-reducing activity for me.
In terms of formula, non-streakiness is far more important than opacity. I can deal with a polish needing a few coats as long as it’s not streaky. Polishes chip on me pretty quickly so if I get three days with no major chipping and no loss of shininess I’m pleased!
It always looks so chic and put together but if I want to wear a dark color, I need to take extra time to really manicure my cuticles properly. Otherwise it looks really messy. And don’t even get me started on glitter polish!
I love nail polish, but I just wish my nails were longer and stronger!!
Rave: I love it. The colors, the finishes, and the nail art that can be done with them. So much fun!
Rant: More about myself than polish. I suck at painting my nails, especially since I have nerve damage in my left hand. I hate polishes that require more than two coats or look streaky. Polish that chips every time you look at it sucks, too.