Retinol, explained without the panic
What the ingredient actually does, how long it takes, and why most people quit in week three.
There is a particular kind of disappointment in a manicure that chips on day two. It is rarely the polish. More often it is what happened in the ninety seconds before the polish went on.
Start with a dry nail
Water swells the nail plate. Polish applied to a swollen nail sits on a surface that is about to shrink underneath it, and the film cracks as it goes. Cuticle work belongs at the end of the appointment, not the start.
If you have soaked, wait. Ten minutes is enough for most people, longer if the water was hot.
A quick test
Press a fingertip against a cold window. If it leaves a mark that lingers, the nail is still holding water.
Thin coats, and mean it
Two thin coats outlast one thick one by a wide margin. A thick coat dries from the top down and stays soft underneath for hours, which is why a bag strap will print a line into it at lunchtime.
The coat you can still see brush marks in is the coat that will last.
Cap the free edge
Run the brush along the very tip of the nail with every coat, base and top included. It is the single change that buys most people an extra three or four days.
Top coat is not optional
Reapply it on day three. It takes two minutes and resets the surface.
What to do when it chips anyway
File the chip flush rather than peeling it, then spot-fill with colour and re-top the whole nail. Peeling takes layers of nail plate with it, and those layers take months to grow back.
