Anastasia Solo (@letsnailmoscow), nail art master and owner of the let's nail Moscow youtube channel, told why you shouldn't save on varnishes and how to figure out the variety of textures.
Don't skimp on varnishes
Varnishes are a liquid that can penetrate our body. Therefore, it is important to understand how these or those tools are created. Conventionally, much less resources were spent on varnish for 30 rubles than on varnish for 3000 rubles. Not all, but most of the time it works. Pay attention to the composition. Nowadays, many varnishes have the words “3Free”, “5Free”, “7Free” and even “9Free” on them. This means that these varnishes do not contain three or more of the most harmful substances that were previously added to varnishes (for example, formaldehyde).
There are premium brands in this segment as well. I would single out the American brand NCLA. These varnishes are safe, available in a huge palette of colors, and are not tested on animals.
Read reviews on the internet
Now the Internet is replacing word of mouth. Reviews are very convenient. They almost always help you make the right decision.
One polish may work for your friend, but not for you. You also need to be prepared for such a development of events. It might not be about the varnish or the brand. But the surest way to determine if a remedy is right for you or not is to try it. Although I do not exclude that if there is a huge number of positive reviews on the network, then the varnish will most likely be good.
See swatch
This is especially true if you order varnish over the Internet. The color that is displayed on the site may be incorrectly transmitted by the screen. Very often brands do not publish a photo of the varnish at all, but simply select the color in Photoshop, some textures cannot be reproduced in the photo. See the name or number of the shade on the bottom of the bottle and enter them in the search engine. This is the only way to understand how the varnish looks on real nails.
Pay attention to the texture of the varnish
I'll tell you about the most popular textures. The first is jelly. This varnish is almost transparent, gives a very light coating, reminiscent of a tint. One of the variations of jelly is krele. This is a translucent, usually milky varnish, which is difficult to apply (streaks may appear, or the varnish will simply blur). The most striking example of crele is nude shades, which are used as the main color for French manicure. I love cream polishes the most. They are dense, rich, presented in different colors.
And then there are matte finishes, but by the bottle you will never distinguish them from other glossy varnishes. Most manufacturers do not make any marks at all, so watch Swatch and test in the store. If the varnish is matte, then after a minute, when it dries, its gloss will disappear.
The composition of sand varnishes contains the smallest granules. When dry, the nails are rough. I can't say it's convenient, but it's interesting to try.
Use varnishes correctly
Any varnish shows itself well only when used correctly. It's weird to expect cool results from a polish if you apply it without a base and top. Apply the varnish in two layers, letting the first layer dry. Most coatings look much better this way (see this video for more tips). Don't expect miracles from old thickened varnish or buy thinner. I have already talked about other ways to improve the quality of manicure here.
