polish is made to stick to nails, not skin. If it gets on your finger it'll wash off by the end of the day -ish.
The more coats = the thicker the polish = the longer it takes to dry.
Clear base coats help it stick to the nail. Clear top coats help keep it from chipping.

Happy polishing!

[–] Gerryflap@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I recently started paining my nails. It's definitely very handy that it easily gets of skin because I can't for the life of me manage to only paint my nails. I'm currently looking to get those top coats, because the nail polish chips off pretty easily after a few days, which is quite annoying.

[–] megahertz@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

If the surface of your nail is uneven it will also cause your polish to chip. My nails have these vertical ridges, which if not smoothed out cause polish to chip very quickly. The natural growth pattern of my nails + engaging in activities like gardening, hand washing dishes and clothes means I generally get about half a day of fully polished nails before the polish starts to chip.

Here's an example of the ridges to which I refer in the paragraph above:

[–] leggysnakegirl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago

They also make ridge filling base coats which can reduce the ridged look on the polish. I haven't tried them though so I dunno how well they work.

[–] lilplague7@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago

hand washing dishes

I recommend getting dishwashing gloves. It might be uncomfortable at first but they are great for protecting your hands from the hot soapy water ❤️

[–] Gerryflap@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Oh if half a day is the bad case, then I think my nails are doing pretty well. Usually it takes like 3-5 days for the hardest hit nails to start chipping off. My nails seem quite smooth. Or it's just that the nail polish I'm using is goated

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