I have been polishing my nails for more than two decades and I have never had a 10 day chip free manicure…EVER! I recently got my hands on Ciate Caviar nails and so I polished my nails and did an accent nail with the caviar. It was amazing but the accent nail only lasted 2 days (See Felicia’s review of Ciate Caviar here.) At the end of day three I was still digging my Pixi color in Very Violet so I decided to only re-polish the accent nail and freshen up the other nails with a top coat –this act of laziness is what led to the discovery of the 10+ day chip free manicure.
- 10 Day Mani – Day 1
On all but my accent nails I had two coats of Pixi polish in Very Violet and one coat of Ruby Kisses Lightning Top Coat. As fate would have it I had left the Pixi polish at Felicia’s house so I had to dig into my collection of polishes to find a close match. I found it in a Ruby Kisses Electric Purple. On my bare nails (the previous accent nails) I added two coats of the Ruby Kisses Electric Purple and one coat of the Ruby Kisses Lightning Top coat.
- 10 Day Mani – Day 3 [after removing Caviar and adding Ruby Kisses color and Top Coat (Forgive the messy cuticles)
I again accented these nails by adding loose glitter eyeshadow pressing gently it into the polish. On my nails cover with the Pixi polish in Very Violet ($8) and Ruby Kisses Lightning Top Coat, I added coat of the Ruby Kisses Electric Purple because the color was still a little off. I then added Ruby Kisses Lightning Top Coat to all ten nails.
- 10 Day Mani – Day 7
I really didn’t set out to keep my manicure for 10+ days but on day five when I was chip free even with me cooking, doing dishes and an incessantly twirling my hair, I was impressed so I didn’t remove the polish. On day 7 I started to talk about how awesome my manicure looked after a week. On day 9 I was growing anxious because I was ready for new nail polish. On day 10 I hit my limit and was bordering on depression. On day 11 I started to notice tiny chips on my right hand pinky and thumb but my left hand was still pristine. On day 11 I had a meeting and needed a more nuetral look on my nails so I removed the polish. (This is the story I’m telling but I could honestly have gone another couple of days.)
- 10 Day Mani – Day 10 (depressed!)
After this happy disaster of the 10+ day chip free manicure, I decided to retest my theory about why it lasted 10 days. I got very similar results with these 4 steps.
1. Two coats of color (waiting about 2 minutes or so between application)
2. One coat of Ruby Kisses Lightning Top Coat (Allow nails to dry completely. You can even go a couple of days between application)
3. One coat of color (Allow nails to dry completely)
4. One coat Ruby Kisses Lightning Top Coat
So far this has worked with three different brands of nail polishes, none of which were able to stay chip free past four days prior to the four steps above. Try these steps with whatever top coats and polishes you have on hand and see how it works. If it doesn’t work the same, try the Ruby Kisses Lightning Top Coat. I’m sticking with the Ruby Kisses, why would I want to mess up a good thing? While I don’t want a 10+ day manicure on a regular basis, it is a great option to have. Ruby Kisses Lightning Top Coat can be found at your local beauty supply store and retails for under $4.
