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    Longevity for blue collar lacqueristas?


    1x KBshimmer Fillin' Groovy.
    2x ILNP Deep Space
    1x Sally Hansen InstaDri topcoat.

    This is the weekend's mani and I washed so many dishes at home that it's been removed and replaced and about to be removed again lol.

    I'm a woman butcher, which sounds ridiculous, I know, but hey. Life happens. I use my hands A LOT (the calluses on my knuckles are from my chainmail glove lol). My nails aren't kept super long, and they're quite strong, but the longest I've kept a mani is like.. 6 days before chipping. It's usually more like 4, and sometimes (this weekend) less. I'm trying to find a way to keep them nicer for a longer period. The constant new polish feels like it's weakening my nails, and also I love magnetics so the time I spend doing them is kind of unreasonable.

    Is there a way to make a new set last longer? Can I use regular lacquer and put a gel coat on top? Or reverse that and use some sort of gel builder on the bottom? (I have a lamp that I don't know how to use and I don't use UV polish.. yet) Should I be using more than one coat of base or top? Is there a stronger top? Help a newbie out, folks.

    Thank you so much in advance, and please be kind.. I'm just a middle aged lady tryna have nice nails while they're strong :')

    by nazukeru

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    1. sunscreenqueenn on

      Thank you so much for making this post!! I am an Esthetician (so pink collar lol) and I’ve had a hard time too getting manis to last. Working all day with your hands is so rough. When doing magnetic polish, do you magnetize all coats or just the last layer of polish and top coat? I’ve found I can get away with just those two on top of a base coat and first unmagnetized layer. Doesn’t help with longevity but helps me be a little less upset when it doesn’t last long.

    2. DangerousPraline41 on

      I dunno, six days seems pretty good to me! 

      If you’d prefer not to use acetone as often, maybe try a peel off base coat?  If you only put it in the center of the nail, it will help the majority of your polish to come off easier, but it won’t affect the longevity too much.

    3. Sparkle-Gremlin on

      First of all your manicure looks beautiful. Idk how applicable my experience is since I do work with my hands (retail) but I don’t wear gloves or probably have to wash my hands as often as butchers. I don’t know much of anything about gel bases or top coats. Except that if you were to out gel over regular polish I think you’re supposed to wait like 24 hours or something like that to make sure the polish has fully cured and you won’t be trapping any moisture or uncured polish under the gel.

      You could try to limit things that damage your manicure outside of work like wearing gloves while cleaning or washing dishes and limiting hot showers and stuff like that. Keeping little tools around to open things with etc to limit using your nails for as much as possible when and where you can. You could try some different bases or top coats as well. I find my manicures last better using a more traditional base before my ridge filler (when I use a ridge filler). Sometimes if my nails are getting roughed up faster than usual, I’ll add a fresh layer of top coat after a few days.

      If you don’t already have some you could try investing in some little magnet stands or one of the larger 3D printed types for magnetizing multiple nails at once. It would make your polish last longer but might help reduce the amount of time spent if you have to redo them. You could also look into different options for polish removal and taking time for occasional oil soaks between manicures to help reduce damage done from frequent removal and reapplication of products.

      Also you could try using a little kerasal cream at night might. It’s marketed for foot calluses primarily but also works great for my cuticles and rough spots on my hands.

    4. thegurlearl on

      Have you tried a stickey base coat? Like CND stickey? I used to be a welder/mechanic so my nails got wrecked each day. I still work on my trucks at home and CND makes it hold up pretty well.

    5. nuzoneblues on

      following🤧 i work in veterinary and i’m lucky to get 2-3 days without chips. either way i like switching my nails up often so painting twice a week works okay enough for me

    6. Strategy_Significant on

      This won’t help with longevity – but I also love magnetics but will only use them as accents. I currently have cat eyes on my ring and forefingers and the rest are all a holo/glitter that coordinates.

      I work in a profession as well that is hard on my hands, so I won’t spend the time to do a full magnetic mani as I know it will chip too quickly to justify the time spent doing it.

    9. ThorwAwaySlut on

      You asked about gel builder on the bottom.

      IME, regular polish sticks to gel/polygel and acrylic really well. At worst, I was wearing down the edges of my polish long before the two week fill period.

      But, the reality is that any gel or acrylic product will damage your nails and require extra upkeep every two weeks or so.

      For gel over polish, you have to wait 24 hours for the polish to fully dry in order for gel to properly cure on top. Any moisture at all left in the polish will cause the topcoat to wrinkle. And, it may not give you the longevity your looking for. I can’t remember how long it lasted when I tried it. But I didn’t do it more than 2-3 times, so I’m betting it just wasn’t worth the extra time and effort.

    10. Traditional-Sea-2322 on

      I’m a fine jeweler so I am working with tiny sharp things, sandpaper, and I HAVE to use one or two nails as tools. I can get a solid week but I need to reapply a top coat a couple of times during that week. 
      I’ve tried a bunch of different top coats and Essie wins. The good to go and gel finish one in the twisty white bottle.

      Make sure the ends of your nails are wrapped with polish and don’t be afraid to use a file mani midweek to remove serrated nail edges then reapply top coat.

      I haven’t tried magnetics yet since I heard they chip easier and I’m not fucking with that. Takes me an hour to do a mani, I don’t know how some on here and bust one out in a half hour (tips welcome!)

      I’ve found that shimmers and jellies last longest. Lighter colors hide chips better. 

    11. charcoalhibiscus on

      A woman butcher doesn’t sound ridiculous, it sounds badass!

      I would recommend investing in a different topcoat. Cheaper quick dry topcoats don’t have a ton of staying power. If you want to stay quick dry, try BKL “I’m Fast, So Fast” and if you want to stay drugstore brand, try Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Invisible. This is technically not a topcoat, it’s a clear coat, but I find it gets better results than any other topcoat I’ve tried (and it’s super cheap). It’s not quick dry though. So you gotta put it on some time you’re not going to be doing something hand-intensive for a couple hours.

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