You waxed your legs, you put your fake tan on, and you packed your best bikini. Aloha! It’s vacation time!
After all the preparation time you put in to making your vacay memorable, you don’t want to chip a nail on the second day and spend the rest of the time being all cranky. Whether you head to the salon or DIY, we have the secrets to a lasting vacation manicure and pedicure.
BYO
Take your favorite color with you to the salon! That way you know the polish is fresh, and it’s exactly what it says on the label (you would be alarmed to know just how many salons refill their OPI and Essie bottles with polish that definitely is not OPI or Essie). Taking your own means you can also do touch ups.
Dehydration
You want your nails to be totally dry and debris-free! Use a lint-free wipe or pad soaked with acetone and give those babies a wipe – oil or moisturiser on your nails means your polish won’t adhere. Any nail tech worth their salt knows this is a crucial step!
Base Coat
If you want your manicure and pedicure to have staying power, you can’t skip this step! Hopefully your salon is using something sticky like Orly Bonder
or CND Stickey
. You don’t want your nails roughed up first – this can do more harm than good. Focus on the product instead.
Seal The Edge
Running the nail polish and top coat along the edge of your nail is the best way to hold chips at bay. Chips happen most often when the nail gets wet, expands, and then contracts on drying, causing the polish to lift and chip. With the free edge sealed, it holds this movement at bay.
Avoid The Heat
Once your nail are done, avoid hot water, blowing on your nails (your breath is warm air, no?), hot yoga, and anything else where you’re going to be exposed to heat for up to 12 hours. While your nails might feel dry, you need these extra hours for the polish to really cure and set.
Get Oily
If you keep your nails beds hydrated, that’s going to stop peeling and splitting. Skip the moisturiser and go for an oil – it can penetrate the nail bed through the polish, getting in deep where it’s needed. We love the essie Apricot Cuticle Oil
or Formula X QUENCH Cuticle Oil.
