I’ve noticed different polishes seem to bubble REALLY bad if I don’t wait like 20 minutes between layers of polish. The magnetic ones are notorious for this in my experience.
What are some tips/tricks that have given you a nice, smooth paint job? Lol
Pic is for attention, but features 2 coats of Mooncat’s My Cabbages!
by Agitated-Lettuce5289
10 Comments
I’ll wait until it’s dry to the lightest touch (not thumbprint level yet) for a second coat and then while it’s drying but still wet will put a quick dry top coat on. Not sure it that’s the ideal approach but it’s worked for me! My issue with bubbles historically has been from shaking the bottle.
Once I finish the first coat on all 10 fingers, I immediately follow with second coat. On average I wear 3 layers of color per manicure. Bubbles can also be caused by thickened polish so make sure your colors are adequately thinned out
I wait about 2-3min between coats of polish and then do a quick dry topcoat also.
I don’t wait. I just go in with the second layer after doing the first and so forth. But I also do pretty thin layers and don’t overwork the polish on the nail. I load the brush up with a bead on one side, with just enough polish to paint each nail without double dipping or running dry/causing drag marks. By the time I finish the 10th finger, the first one is usually touch dry. I gently run the first nail along the back of the other hand and if it is a little tacky I’ll wait a minute or so, but if it feels smooth I’ll start in on the next layer. I only ever really see lumps if I accidentally paint over some sort of detritus on my nail plate, or if there’s something janky about the brush that’s whipping up visible bubbles in the polish.
I don’t wait and I never have bubbles but I live in a very hot, dry climate.
Mine seem to bubble if I don’t wait long enough between layers, that being said it’s never as long as 20 minutes? 😅 I usually am able to finish both hands and the polish is ‘set’ enough (if not dry) for the next coat. I find I only deal with bubbles in my shimmer/glitter finishes, I literally can’t remember it happening with a crème 😆 I also 💯% am behind the other comments saying use thinner, I add it pretty much every time I change polish (so almost daily) 😝
I paint in thin coats and use a lot of thinner (DeEnti is the best) so I don’t wait between coats unless there’s a product incompatibility and I want the previous one to fully dry, or I’m using a lot of coats. If my polish isn’t thinned out enough I’m pretty much guaranteed to get bubbles, likely in part due to the humidity of the environment I’m currently stuck in
KBShimmer, OPI, and a few other thinners are also good and the same ingredients as DeEnti but DeEnti is much cheaper. I buy the 16 oz bottle for $9 and pour it into smaller glass dropper bottles. They also sell smaller sizes. You only want butyl and ethyl acetate in thinner, you have to be careful since a lot of thinners contain ingredients that’ll damage polish
either 7 mins or no mins depends how much i care that day about bubbles and timeliness LOL
All these commenters are better than me. I just paint a layer, play some of my game, paint another layer, play more of my game, etc. It usually ends up being about half an hour between coats, and since I’m playing a game it doesn’t feel like waiting, nor like my hands are unusable until dry.
Magnetic polishes can bubble if you have ridges in your fingernails. I’m still searching for a good base coat. I hate ridge filler. I wait about 5 minutes between coats of polish. Although it depends on the polish. Waiting 20 minutes is excessive and probably contributing to issues. You want thin coats. Sometimes, with drugstore polishes, the first coat doesn’t look great. Do not go over a polish repeatedly with the brush. Try for middle then each side. So, just 3 strokes. Although thumbs and middle fingers take more. Pinky nails take less. The 2md coat should hide any imperfections. Wrap only the first coat of each type of polish. So 1st coat of base, 1st color, and 1st top coat. The top coat you want to float. There should be videos on YouTube. Although so many videos show people go over the polish multiple times, and it is a huge pet peeve of mine. It’s really not a good way to paint. Unless a polish is really finicky or thick, this should never be necessary. A good quick dry top coat should also make everything look better.
Maybe you need less polish on your brush. Always wipe off the back side of the brush. Then sometimes the side as well, especially for pinkies. I have long nails, so I have to dip for each stroke of polish. Your nails aren’t long, so definitely try wiping off more polish. Perhaps even practice painting fake nail tips to help you learn to control the amount of polish you need. They sell stands that you stick a fake nail to for practice. I hope this helps. It’s a really pretty green pokish. 🥰