If you enjoy spoiling yourself with the occasional at home mani-pedi, then I’m sure you have experienced you fair share of hard to apply nail polishes. Sometimes you go to reach for a bottle you’ve had stored for a while and find it’s gotten thick and congealed; or maybe you brought home a new color and find that its coming out too runny or thick, no to worry there is help.

For Old and Congealed Polishes:

While it takes a decent amount of time to go through a bottle of polish, the older a bottle of polish is, the thicker it becomes (this almost always happens to my top coats). If you have ever tried applying a thickened polishes you know that it never goes on well and can leave your hands looking worse than before. 

If you have one on hand, adding a few drops of nail polish thinner right into the bottles will do the trick. If, however, you do not have polish thinner, nail polish remover is the next best thing.

If you are going the polish remover route, be careful! Only add a tiny drop into the bottle as adding anymore can ruin your polishes. 

 Hard to Apply Nail Polish:

There is very little I find more annoying than coming home with a brand new bottle of polish only to find out it doesn’t apply well. (If you have literally just gotten home and it’s your first time using the polish, don’t be afraid to return the bottle to the store!)

Some common issues with the formulation of polishes are polishes that come out too thin, polishes that do not layer well, polishes that are too thick, and polish that bubble.

If your polish is coming out too thin, applying a very light base of a white or other neutral color will serve as a more opaque base and allow the color to show up stronger.

If your polishes is not layering well, in other words if when applying the second coat of polish you are seeing a lot of white spots, be sure to allow the first coat to dry completely before applying the second coat. I once read that you should allow each coat thirty minutes to dry in between, but I find that around 5 minutes will do the trick. Try doing your nails while watching TV so that you wont mind the wait.

Another tick: be sure that you are only doing about 3 or 4 strokes per nail.

If your polish is coming out too thick, try using the same tips listed about for fixing old nail polishes. Again, be cautious not to apply too much polish remover. Be sure to shake the bottles well before applying again.

If your polish is bubbling, it could be from shaking, so instead roll the bottles between palms to mix. Give each polish a few minutes to sit on a flat surface before applying again.

Top coats can also help to smooth out bubbles just don’t let allow the polish to dry too much first or the bubbles will stay.

Have you experienced any of these polish mishaps? What are your polish tricks?