After dedicating considerable effort and time into filing your nails, repositioning cuticles, and painstakingly applying your polish, it can be devastating to discover that hours later your manicure has smudged. There can be various reasons for your polish to smudge; therefore, it is wiser to learn how to prevent such situations before they arise.
One of the primary causes of nail smudging is failing to apply a base coat prior to painting your nails. A base coat helps ensure that nail polish adheres well with your nails and reduces risk of smudging; although drying time will likely increase with no base coat applied, for an ideal, smudge-free manicure it’s worth investing extra effort!
An easy way to prevent nail polish from smudging is soaking your hands in cold water for several minutes after applying it, in order to speed up drying time and harden the top layer of polish. This trick can especially come in handy if you are trying to fix an existing smudge on your nails that has already dried out.
Lotions, hand cream and cuticle oils contain oils which may prevent polish from adhering properly to the nails’ surfaces. When applying nail polish for application, these products should only be applied after your nails have been completely covered in color.
If your gel polish doesn’t cure for long enough under an LED light, it could easily smudge when moving your hands around. Therefore, when getting a gel manicure make sure it remains under the LED lamp for 60 seconds or more to give your nails enough time to harden properly and harden completely.
Your nail polish may be too thick. Thinner layers tend to dry faster and be less likely to smudge; therefore, try applying 2-3 thin coats rather than one thick layer.
There are other steps you can take to extend the life of your polish and prevent smudging, such as investing in quick drying topcoat and nail polish drying drops that penetrate all layers of your manicure to speed up drying times.
To preserve the look of your manicure, try touching only the tips of your fingers and toes if necessary – this will prevent accidentally smudging it all over.
Now you know how to achieve a smudge-free manicure that will stand the test of time! If any smudging occurs, non-acetone nail polish remover should do just the trick; simply dab some over it before letting it set for one or two minutes and adding your regular topcoat as usual.
