your favorite nail polish colors / brands?

[Ariadne]

For me, filing my nails is what I feel like keeps them maintained. My nails are super weak as it is, so they break easily. I find that keeping them filed (usually daily) helps them not break.

I go between OPI and Essie mainly for colors. I also like Butter London.

Favorite colors right now are Essie Fiji and OPI Black Cherry Chutney

[freckles mcgee]

I really enjoy the Covergirl Outlast polishes. There's not a specific color that I would recommend.

[angiexox]

Essie Fiji !!!
By far my absolute favorite .. looks great with a tan or with paler skin.

[v_illa]

i am definitely a polish junkie can't wait to read some other replies

some of my favourite nail tools:

glass nail file: i've stopped using nail clippers and only use a glass file, I like how I have more control over the shape and it doesn't leave that blunt edge. I use one from essie but I think its been discontinued, sephora sells one though

duri rejuvacote fantastic if you have peeling nails!!

deborah lippmann cuticle oil tbh I haven't tried any other brands so I don't know of any cheaper alternatives but I love how fast this absorbs into my nails, I use this right after I remove my polish before my base coat

essence express dry drops really cheap and works great!

I used to have weak, peeling nails from using polish so often but something that I think made a big difference was how I started to remove my polish. I came across a video from deborah lippmann and started using her method, the technique works well for removing glitter polish as well I just let the remover 'sit' for longer before I swipe it off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np43_gEhkKU

I've been starting to get into indie nail polishes and indie brands, my favourites are hare polish, emily de molly and laquerlicious. My favourite 'commercial' brands are essie and deborah lippmann. I think specific colour recommendations will have more to do with your skintone but some favourites of mine are:

brown: OPI - suzi loves cowboys, OPI - over the taupe
nude: deborah lippmann - I'm not innocent, essie - topless and barefoot
pastels: essie - nice is nice, butter london - kerfuffle, joe fresh - wave, essie - fiji
jewel tones: maybelline color show - tenacious teal, nicole by opi - khloe had a little lam lam, OPI - manicurist of seville, deborah lippmann - good girl gone bad, essie - turquoise and caicos
glitter topper: deborah lippmann boom boom pow, emily de molly- remnants return, laquerlicious- one fine day
hare polish favourites (because it needs its own category ): flight of the flamingo, amethystos, escape to palm springs, elysian fields

[weepingangel]

Sally hanson Greige (i think?) it is a noce taupy grey. Also, keep your nails filed so they dont break.

[Pepperkake]

I mainly use a crystal file on my nails, but also the fine side of an emery board for shaping(the rough side I use for filing the skin around my nails as they are prone to callouses). As for now, I use China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier as a base coat and the Dior top coat abricot(THE best top coat there is, hands down - try it!). I switch between CND Solar oil and Mavala Cuticle oil for moisture.

For unique colours, I would suggest looking on Llarowe and Etsy. Cirque, A-England, ILNP and Picture Polish are some very good indie brands(though I feel a lot of indie brands are getting better, for me I mostly decide from the swatches if the formula is any good).

[Pollywogs]

For healthy and happy nails, I agree on the glass or crystal fine grit file & it lasts forever! If you have weak or peely nails I suggest a nail protein treatment. I personally use Nailtiques Formula 2 or ORLY Nailtrition, but be careful: Over use can cause the nail bed to become weaker and shorten so if you DO notice that just cut down on use because it means you're nails are getting too much protein.

If you don't want to try nail proteins, I insist you purchase some type of cuticle oil. I'm no fancy shmancy when it comes to cuticle oils, so I use the Organic Moroccan Argan Oil Serum that can be bought in the vitamin section at Walmart. It's about $6 a bottle but it lasts for months, which brings me to the importance of nail moisture! Moisturizing in between manicures is a must for healthy nails, if you do only this on the regular I promise it will improve your nail & cuticle condition. Dry hard nails tend to break off much easier than moisturized and flexible ones, which is something else I've learnt- slightly bendy nails are good! I used to have super thin and weak peely nails and I thought that a rock hard nail was the best nail to own, but through practice and research I've learned that a nail that gives way when under pressure is much less likely to snap versus a super hard strong one, & moisturizing with cuticle oil aids in flexibility!


Polish DON'TS
Dont peel your polish off, no matter what! It's bad bad bad and even if you can't see the damage, it doesn't mean you haven't weakened your nail surface.

Don't add polish remover to your goopy or thick nail polish! While it might work for the time being, all it really does is break down the polish's chemical properties, leaving it to eventually be useless, the color can fade and drying time can increase. If you have a polish that has dried up purchase a Polish Restorer. You can buy this at Sally Beauty Supply or even offline for abut $7 a bottle and like the cuticle oil, it lasts for ages.

DON'T store your polishes in any other position than upright! Tiny story time, when I first got into polish a couple years ago I used to store my 30 odd bottles in a clear plastic toiletries bag- and it was great but not for long! Having them all packed into a bag facing all different ways can loosen the bottle caps and dry them out. I've seen it happen to my friend but her issue was even bigger, she had a BEACH BAG FULL of about 150 polishes all jumbled about and she would drag it across her floor like a ball and chain! I borrowed OPI's Gargantuan Green Grape from her, and also got back a Sinful Colors polish I let her borrow- BOTH had goopy-halfway dried polish around the neck and both the caps were not on tightly! I told her STAAAHP OMG this is why ALL of your polish caps come loose! In the end she stored them on top of her refrigerator (I helped saved 150 beautiful polish babies!). It's okay to toss a bottle in your purse for later use, but long term storage should have all the bottles facing upright on a shelf of sorts!

Am I typing too much advice? If so someone tell me to shutuuup, can't you tell nails is my thang?!

Here are a couple of polish DO'S off the top of my head:

DO moisturize between manicures! (I know, I already said)

DO file regularly with a glass or crystal fine grit file- it will smooth out any snags that can't be seen with the naked eye & prevent future breaks.

DO invest in a good base coat & top coat! If you want your manicure to last more than a day that is... My holy grail basecoat is ORLY Bonder Rubberized basecoat. Topcoats I use are Out The Door, NYC Grand Central Station (which I swear is even better than Out The Door for a fraction of the price!) and Seche Vite, although Seche Vite is weird in the way that you have to apply it while the polish is still tacky & not all the way dry. I recommend the first two for beginners.

DO invest in a nail brush- this is something that I think a lot of girls skip but It's crucial for cuticle health and cleanliness when it comes to longer nails. I use my nail brush almost every time after using the bathroom or eating finger food, it's a thing with longer nails but debris will get trapped underneath them & it's up to you to keep them clean! No one wants that undernail gunk, amirite?

DO invest in an angled cleanup brush! Qtips are okay, but a synthetic angled brow brush or tiny angled makeup brush performs perfectly for cleaning up those messy edges. Qtips tend to leave behind little cotton fuzzies, a brush will not and it's reusable!

DO have fun with it! Youtube, instagram, pinterest & even Google are great for beginners in nail art (Although my favorite nail art inspiration forum is http://www.reddit.com/r/redditlaqueristas ), and if you want to do nail art I suggest nail art tools! For beginners, I recommend a set of dotting tools which I see popping up in bigbox stores more and more lately (yay for nailart blowing up these past few years!) but you can order a cheap set off Amazon for $5 or you can even make your own homemade ones if you don't want to commit! (search youtube homemade dotting tools). Stripers are easy and you can do a lot of simple designs with them as well, you can purchase a set of stripers offline, or a lot of polish brands make their own bottles with striper brushes. Once you're on the roll you will find different household items and techniques to use for an awesome nail look! (see "plastic wrap nails" on Google!)

For brands, I can't say much other than I think most are created equal if you have a good base and top coat, just go for colors you like! I do suggest the ILNP brand for crazy cool duochromes, and a LOT of indies have tons of one of a kind colors you won't find at walmart or CVS. A-England is also another favorite of mine for holos although they're hard to nab if you're not in the UK. If you ARE in the UK I seriously recommend Barry M, they're affordable and really the formula is ahhfuckingmazing. Dollar stores like Poundland (UK) or Dollar Tree (USA) have a LOT of discontinued colors on sale for cheap cheap cheap! Big Lots, CVS, Walgreens & Riteaid all have awesome polish sales almost all the dang time, & I always say, the cheaper you get it the more you can get! Most of my polishes have been below $2 due to sales cause I take serious advantage of that shit (call me frugal, I call it color-lust).

That's about it I think. I apologize to anyone annoyed with my obsessive polish guide, & all advice is given from personal experience. The more you do, the more you learn. You'll be a polish maven in no time!

[spambotter]

Llarowe has a lot of indie brands. It used to be a dramatic place a while back, but nowadays ordering goes pretty smoothly and they have lots of nice brands. I really like Wingdust Collections and Jindie, since they both have really nice crellies. KBShimmer is also a great brand with beautiful colors and a great formula (can't get enough of Laugh Myself Lily...). The only problem with indies is that not all indie creators care and they're all usually >6 dollars a bottle

I second base coat/top coat. Besides helping the polish last, base coat also makes it harder for polishes to stain. Found this out the hard way after my nails yellowed after a really, really pretty green and have been using base coat every since.

Does anyone know if there's any way I can lengthen the pink part of my nail? The white section starts really early on one of my pinkies and I have no idea what to do.

[spambotter]

Hmm, for drying nails more quickly, there are some "quick dry" polishes that reputedly dry in a few minutes at most. I haven't tried any, but I know Revlon, Rimmel, and a lot of other drug store brands have lines like that. There's also some sort of contraption that you can wear on your nails to keep them from smearing, but they are impractical.

Opal nail polish...Any pictures?

[Pepperkake]

an also if you know how to make your polish dry quicker I would love to know. I feel like it literally takes hours and my mani always gets ruined. ive tried so many things

The Dior top coat I mentioned is the best for this, as it dries SUPER fast(faster than Seche Vite, Poshe, Out The Door +++...I've tried a lot, haha). It shines like nothing else, too.

Also, for polish clean up, have an orange stick at hand! If your polish pools around your cuticles, use the pointy end of an orange stick to take it away. Use a brush and some nail polish remover/acetone to perfect it after your polish is dried. Loodie Loodie Loodie also has some VERY good tips on everything nail.

Oh, and for anyone who orders off Llarowe: Does it take a long time(7-9 days) for your polishes to ship, too? That is one thing that annoys the hell out of me with that site.

[spambotter]

Llarowe always arrives within 3 days for me.

[Ankylosaurus]

I looooove Dior Nail Glow. You can't go wrong with it. And I think the brushes that come with Dior's nail polishes in general are fantastic; they're slightly wider and flatter than most, so it makes application a breeze. As for regular polishes, most of mine are Essie, and I also have a lot of OPI. I like Dior and Deborah Lippmann also, as splurges.

Favorite shades at the moment are Essie's "Wicked" and Deborah Lippmann's "PYT".

[catwoman534]

Right now I like "we'll always have Paris" by OPI

[juliediane]

Looking for new polish colors -- I just got Taupe less beach by OPI. What colors are you guys rocking? Thanks!

[ElenorShaw]

Maybelline - Rebel Red shade