Question about nail polish

Winchester

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Last year for the holidays, I bought a few bottles of China Glaze nail polish. The colors are gorgeous and I wear the polish, even though it's after the holidays....reds are reds, for the most part. Doesn't matter what the name of the polish is.

I put a coat of clear polish on my nails, followed by two coats of the colored polish, followed by a final coat of quick-drying clear polish. That's it, the four coats, giving each coat a few minutes to dry a bit.

Lately I've been noticing that the polish will completely roll off the nail! I have a piece of nail polish in my hand, shaped like my fingernail. All four coats roll right off as one piece. It's the weirdest thing. I figured that maybe it was the China Glaze polish doing that, that maybe once the polish aged a few months, it went bad (ridiculous, I know, but....). So I tried a different polish on Friday night, Hoppy Go Lucky by Finger Paints. Four coats, just like always. And by Saturday morning, it was curling up on my fingernails and peeling right off as one sheet and leaving my nail completely clean. I removed the curled parts and slapped on enough polish to make my hands look decent for the picnic. 

This morning, same thing, even though it's not the same brand of polish. So now I'm wondering if it might be the top coat I'm using, although the top coat isn't new either; it's several months old and I never had any trouble with it before. I like it because it dries so quickly. 10-15 minutes and I'm good to go. The top coat is Seche Vite and it's a fast-drying top coat. 

Any thoughts? Any advice? I tried Goggling and really didn't come up with much. It's been within the last month or so that I've taken notice to how it curls and peels off the nail.
 

peaches08

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Hmm.  Could there be some oil/something on your nail preventing it from fully adhering to the nail? 
 

andrya

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l used to do nails back in the day. Do you buff your nails before starting?

l'd very lightly file the nails (yikes, l know, but it looks great), then buff it with a block. l always used Scrubfresh to improve adhesion.

Then l'd start layering - very thin layers, and give a lot of time to dry between. Even though l don't have a home business any more, l still have my store account so l still buy the salon stuff. l use Creative Nail Design for almost everything. l had good experience with their products.

lf you want to rehydrate the nail bed after using Scrubfresh, rub in a little Solaroil after you're all done and dry - it smells divine.
 

natalie_ca

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l used to do nails back in the day. Do you buff your nails before starting?

l'd very lightly file the nails (yikes, l know, but it looks great), then buff it with a block. l always used Scrubfresh to improve adhesion.

Then l'd start layering - very thin layers, and give a lot of time to dry between. Even though l don't have a home business any more, l still have my store account so l still buy the salon stuff. l use Creative Nail Design for almost everything. l had good experience with their products.

lf you want to rehydrate the nail bed after using Scrubfresh, rub in a little Solaroil after you're all done and dry - it smells divine.
Yep, lots of time between coats.  It typically takes me 2, sometimes 3 days to polish my  nails at home.

Day 1:

Revlon Base Coat

1 coat Revlon polish

Day 2:

1 coat Revlon polish (early in the day)

1 coat Revlon no-chip Top Coat (later in the day).  

Sometimes I'll leave the top coat for the 3rd day.

I have OPI and China Glaze polish, but I always go back to Revlon. I find the staying power is far superior.

Also, don't use clear polish as a base and top coat.  Use an actual Base and Top coat.
 

swampwitch

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I've never heard of nail polish peeling off in one piece like that - it sounds like there's something wrong with them. I'd throw them out (or return them if you can) it's not worth the trouble. I don't think even using a base coat (different than clear polish) first would help.

Maybe the polish was stored in improper temperatures at some point, did you buy them at the same store? Or maybe it's the clear polish you used as a base coat that is defective. I did my own nails for decades, I was rarely without nail polish and to me this sounds like the problem is with the polish. That stuff is really sticky, it chips yes, but shouldn't roll off like that.
 
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laralove

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I have a quick drying top coat that causes my polish to peel as you've explained. Just the entire nail of polish rolls off. If I don't use the top coat, I don't have the problem.
 

natalie_ca

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Other ideas:

1. your nails are too oily.  Try using alcohol on a cotton ball to remove the oil before applying polish.

2. each nail polish coat is too thick

3. each coat hasn't dried enough before the next coat has been applied.

And as I already suggested, don't use clear nail polish for the base and top. Use Base and Top coat products.
 

natalie_ca

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I'm actually in the process of painting my nails. I started on Friday. I did the base coat.  Yesterday I did a single coat of pink. Today I did the second coat of pink.  Tomorrow after work I'll do the top coat. I don't usually take 4 days to paint my nails, but I have been home in bed with really bad back pain this weekend, so I spent much of yesterday in bed. Bed and wet nails aren't a good mix!  LOL
 

margecat

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I've never had that happen, but I'm lazy about my manicure. I just slap nail polish on my toenails (only on my toenails; I get frustrated when I wear it on my fingernails; it chips and if I touch my face or eyes, it makes them itch).

OT a bit, but I just discovered that my favorite color, China girl, by Pure Ice, is being phased out.  I've used it for a few summers on my toenails. It's the prettiest peachy-pink pearlescent color. It stands out, but is, at the same time, subtle. It really looks nice next to my skin tone.
 

natalie_ca

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My most favourite nail colour by Revlon was discontinued some years ago.  Copperglaze Bronze.  It was such a beautiful colour. I keep trying to find it on the internet somewhere, but haven't been able to. And I wrote to Revlon but they never responded.

They now have a similar colour, but it has metallilc flecks in it and looks thick and grainy on the nails.
 
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Winchester

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I did them last night and used a different polish for the base and for the top coat....no, I don't use just regular polish. The top coat is a regular fast-drying top coat; the base coat is regular base coat that's formulated to fill in nail ridges and the like. Anyway, my nails seem fine thus far. Got my shower, did my hair, all that good stuff and my nails still Ok. I'm thinking now it was that Seche Vite top coat, although I never had any trouble with it before. I've never seen nail polish curl and come off the way that stuff did. Weird. But that Seche Vite top coat dried everything in about 15 minutes. Tops. 

In fact, I did buy everything all at the same store, well not all at the exact same store, but they were all purchased at a Sally Beauty Supply....two different locations, though. I've had them all now since November, I'm thinking....I know some of them were for the Christmas holidays. China Glaze lasts for quite a while, too. I could go a good week with that polish, although I always took it off and redid my nails on Sundays nights.

I try to be careful that the polish isn't too thick for the layers. But I'm always in such a hurry. I have to do my nails all at one time in one night; I don't have the time to wait 24 hours between layers. I'll wait if I'm doing stenciling or stamping....that's such a pain in the butt to start with and I don't have a steady hand. 

For years now, I've given myself a manicure on Sunday nights....it's kind of like a bit of "me" time before the new work week starts. A nice shower with some special conditioner for my hair. Do my legs. A mask on my face. Clean nails and a bit of a manicure while I'm still in the bathroom. I go out to the kitchen to do the polish. And then Molli and I go to bed with a book for a while. I never had any trouble with the polish. It's been within the past month or so that I've really noticed it.

My nails are always clean when I start with polish....no oil, no lotion, nothing. Thanks guys.

When I put the top coat on, I always brush it on the inside of my nail, too. My nails are rather long, so polishing the inside tends to keep them encased in the top coat and I think that helps to keep them chipping so quickly. 

I like Revlon polish, too (my sister uses nothing but Revlon), but I also like funkier polishes. I like the greens and the blues and the purples. Nail polish is a guilty pleasure for me. I had this really neat yellow....I liked it, but nobody else did. One of my co-workers said it looked like I stuck my hard into a jar of French's mustard, it was that color of yellow. She's always glad when I go back to more muted colors. But I love them all. 

It's frustrating when your favorite polish is discontinued. Did you try Amazon? Or eBay?

How long do you keep a bottle of nail polish? I find that after a few months, many polishes will thicken. I think there's something you can get to add to your polish to keep it flowing, but I've never done it. Every once in a while, I'll go through my polishes and throw some away when I can't use them anymore.

It really is my guilty pleasure.  
 
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luvmyparker

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As a nail art junkie, I felt obligated to reply lol. Seche Vite was my go-to top coat for a long time but for the price, its really is tricky to use. I noticed that if I waited for the color to dry, then applied the SV, it would shrink the color underneath and make it peel easier, so I had to apply it while the color was wet. It also goes gooey about half way through the bottle, making it even harder to use and  most polish thinners ruin it. It needs Seche Restore to bring it back to its original consistency. My Sally Beauty doesn't sell the Restore and its kind of pricey online. I got tired of spending 20 dollars just to use a whole bottle of it.

So, I went on the hunt for decent dry-fast topcoat that wouldn't cost me a small fortune and tried ORLY Sec 'N Dry. It dries in roughly the same time as the SV, is cheaper and doesn't get gooey half way through. I have no issues with peeling or shrinkage either. I can apply it whether the color is dried a bit or not. Base and top coats seem to work different for everyone, but I like this one waaay better than SV.

I use ORLY Nail Defense for a base, since my nails peel...but I've heard ORLY Bonder works wonders. It dries tacky so the color adheres to it better.

One last thing, next time you go to Sallys, look for nail polish thinner. Its under 10 dollars but it will restore ANY polish. You just add a few drops and it will bring the consistency back to normal. Even if the polish is a few years old. A bottle of it lasts me almost a year. That way you don't have throw away any polishes.
 

stewball

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Things change with our age Winchester.
Hormones especially do weird things. I'm going to make you all jealous. Since the menopause no hair grows on my legs or under my arms. How's that!
It's also possible that this company has changed its components without informing.
I know you're in your 50's, I think, and our bodies change
Things we used for years are no longer usable.
It's strange old world.
I've never used a top or bottom coat. Should I be?
I have one nail that grows and then starts to peel in the same place. Any advice?
I had a bottle of Estee Lauder nail polish for 20 years. Twenty
And I could still use it. I even had its original box. Stupidly I threw away the polish but kept the box. It maybe could have been sold on eBay. Blow it! :sigh:
 
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Winchester

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Thanks, LuvMyParker....will check for thinner next time I hit Sally's. That's where I'm at now with Seche Vite; it's gooey and I'm about halfway through the bottle. I really liked it because it dried so quickly, but now, polish is peeling right off the nail. And I do think that it's from the Seche Vite. It was a bit pricey as I recall.

Any special place I can find ORLY? I can check Sally's for that, too? (Never mind, I just Googled and I see that Target sells it.)

Judy, I've always used a bottom and top coat, but as Natalie_CA mentions, I don't use a regular clear polish for those coats. I use a product specially for that purpose. That bottom clear coat serves to even out any ridges you might have on your nails and it gives a smoother colored polish. And the top coat protects the polish from chipping and it will give it a bit of a glossiness.

I don't know why, but my nails are very strong. They'll grow and grow and then I start having trouble typing on the keyboard because my finger is hitting one key and my nail is hitting the key above. One of my co-workers said I sound like a woodpecker when I'm really going to town on the keyboard. They do break, but usually when they get overly long and I don't cut them back. They took a lot of abuse; when I was little, I was an avid nail biter and usually my nails were down into the quick. I bit my nails and my cuticles. And then one day, I just stopped.
 
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