#1. Stop Shaking

It's almost instinctive to give your nail polish a big shake before unscrewing the lid and starting your manicure. This creates bubbles in your nail polish, which will affect the formula and thus the longevity of your polish.
 
Instead roll the bottle in your hand before getting started to gently mix and warm up the product. And always make sure you are doing your mani in a cool, draft-free room. Any heat and a breeze will not help it along...

#2. Take It All Off

If you haven't got nail polish on, you should still start your manicure by swabbing your nails with polish remover. Your nails build up natural oils and this oil can make the polish struggle to hold onto your nail’s surface.
 
Soak a cotton ball in nail polish remover, gently rub your nails, wash your hands with soap and towel dry. Now your nails are totally oil-free and you're ready to get painting.

#3. Touch Base

The base coat is the one step we are all guilty of skipping when it comes to home manicuring. Get into the habit of never missing this crucial part: it strengthens your nails, protects them from yellowing under polish, and fills in your ridges to create a smooth application surface, radically reducing the chances of chipping.
 
Our product picks: Essie Nail Treatment Base Coat, Morgan Taylor Base Coat and Mavala Nail Ridge Filler.

#4. Top Tips

The same goes for a topcoat: don't skip it! We promise they weren't invented just to get you to buy more nail polish - top coats really work to seal in your paint job and add days to your chip-proof mani.
 
Don't forget to seal your nail edges, where most chipping occurs. Once you've applied your topcoat, brush horizontally along the very tip of your nail edge to lock in your polish. For a gel like finish to your nails, try Essie Gel Setter, Sally Hansen Miraclegel or Morgan Taylor Extended Wear Top Coat.
 
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#5. Swipe Right

A common reason for your manicure chipping is having too much polish on your nail. This means the polish sits above the nail, making it more vulnerable to friction and getting bumped. When bringing the brush out of the bottle, swipe it twice to put some of the product back into the bottle before beginning to paint.
 
Aim to use only three strokes of product: one in the middle and one down either side. If it's not the thickness you desire or has a few streaks, rather wait for it to dry and apply a second coat than load up more product on top of the wet nail.

#6. Take Your Time

Forget impatiently shaking your hands in the air between coats - set your phone timer to 4-5 minutes and be strict with your waiting time. This will give the solvents in the polish sufficient time to evaporate.
 
Regular liquids dry but a nail polish is more chemically-based and is actually curing not drying. This is why blowing on them doesn't work. The same goes for dipping them in cold water, which can just leave you with bumpy and messy nails. Simply put, your mani will last for longer if you wait longer between coats - trust us.

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#7. Stay Hydrated

In the same way that lipstick doesn't take well on dry and chapped lips or foundation gets cakey on flaky skin, your nails and nail beds also need moisture before you pretty them up. Apply cuticle oil or cream to your cuticles daily to keep the skin happy and hydrated.
 
After removing your nail polish, which can really dry out your nails and skin, first give your hands and fingers a deep moisturising session. And then while the cuticles are still soft, gently push them back into place using an orange stick. Finally wipe your nails clean with some polish remover before applying your new manicure.
 
Our product picks: Three great treatment options are Sally Hansen 18K Gold Cuticle Eraser in an easy to apply pen, as well as Essie Cuticle Hydrator and Sally Hansen Cuticle Massage Cream, both with nourishing apricot oil.

#8. Trim with Caution

The white bit on top of your nail is the section that gives your nail its strength so be careful not to cut it too short. Leave at least 3mm of it when filing or trimming your nails and your nails will be healthier, stronger and less likely to split.
 
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#9. Neatly Filed

Filing is an art but it's easy to get it wrong, leading to split, peeling or nails that are too short. Instead of a vigorous back and forth motion, file in short, even and gentle strokes in one outwards direction from both edges of your nail towards the tips. File from the underside of the nail so you can see what you’re doing and take care to not file too much off.
 
Essence Studio Nails Professional 4in1 Nail File offers four different ways to file your nails for the most pro finish.

#10. In the Buff

If you are a fan of simple and plain nails but often just choose to go bare because you can't stand the constant chipping of your sheer and shiny polish, try buffing. A neatly trimmed or filed nail can look super chic without any polish.
 
Simply rub a buffing stick onto your nails until you hear squeaking (yes, really) or until you feel they are shiny enough.  The multitasking Essence Studio Nails Professional 6in1 Buffer File is perfect for this job.
 
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#11. Keep it Clean

A big tell-tale sign that you did your nails yourself is specks of polish on the skin surrounding your nails. Rather than spending the rest of the week picking at it, dip an ear bud into nail polish remover and carefully wipe away any colour that jumped from your nail to your skin.
 
Otherwise use the Essence Studio Nails Nail Polish Corrector Pen. Super handy for those of us who haven’t got a steady hand when it comes to painting and need to do a bit of a clean up after.

#12. Don’t Peel

Sometimes you can’t get to the salon but you really want to remove your gel nails, what now? Resist the urge to pick them off; the gel bonds to your nail so you end up removing layers of your nail with it.
 
If you're desperate, file the top layer of colour off then soak cotton balls in pure acetone and wrap them around your nails with tin foil to keep them in place. Let them soak for about 15 minutes then use an orange (cuticle) stick to scrape off the polish in an upwards motion. Try Essence Studio Nails Rosewood Sticks.
 
And it goes without saying that you shouldn’t peel off normal polish either - this often strips off the top layer of your nail leaving them dry and flaky and vulnerable to breaking.
 
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