Some brands chip quicker than others, is this a product or body chemistry issue?

Question:

Some brands of nail polish last about 5-7 days on my nails with mainly minor tip wear (I do a lot of typing for work) but some brands start to chip within 24 hours on the tips of my nails however they still wear quite well for about 4-5 days but not as well as the others. Is that a quality issue or a body chemistry issue?

Answer:

Nail polish is what we call an ‘air dry’ product – so solvents escape when you apply it and that’s how it gets hard.

Not all brands use the same solvent – so some will ‘wear’ longer than others – they will all wear well on healthy, undamaged & clean natural nails.

Because nail polish doesn’t have much strength – the only thing that affects its adhesion is the quality of the nail plate it’s applied on, its adhesion depends on:-

If the nail plate is:

• Damaged
• Delaminated
• Split
• Weak
• Strong

But it’s also dependent on how ‘clean’ the nail plate is before the application of the polish. If the nail plate is not completely clean before application then adhesion will be a problem.

In our real world where we work, take care of the kids, shop, drive our cars, walk our dogs etc our nails take quite a bashing – and so does our nail polish.

Typing puts your nail plates under continued pressure and if they are weak or vulnerable, they will bend. Also, if you shower or bath your nail plates fill with water, which makes them swell up, when the water evaporates your nail plates shrink – this movement is too much for nail polish and it will slightly fracture under the movement (you can’t see this with the naked eye) – afterwards when the nail hits something, your keyboard, for instance, a little bit will chip off.

So it’s not a body issue or a chemistry issue – it’s a ‘condition of the natural nail’ issue.

Maintaining the condition of your hands with a good oil & lotion will relieve the problem somewhat but it won’t solve the problem.