The Beauty Brains receive hundreds of questions each week and while we read each and every email, there’s no way we can answer them all. So, we thought we’d try something new – we posted a few of your recent questions in our Forum where we’re blessed with over 1000 helpful and knowledgeable members. Today we’re posting the best of their responses in answer to the following question…
Chris’s question: I’m having a problem with nail polish bubbling, but not on every nail and some nails are worse than others. I prep the nails by wiping them down with alcohol after the hand massasge and also scrubbing them with the nail brush and soapy water, then i apply a basecoat , 2 color coats (OPI), topcoat (Out the door), it seems as the nails are drying the bubbles appear?
The Beauty Brains Forum responds:
Anne
Are you shaking the polish? This can cause the bubbles. Instead of shaking the bottles, slowly roll them in the palm of your hand to mix the polish.
Purple Rules
Keep the coats as thin as possible; three thin coats is better then two thick coats. Make sure you’re not sitting in a draft when you apply your polish. Don’t “work” the polish too much; the fewer brush strokes the better. This might mean getting polish on your cuticles but you can clean that up after with NP remover and a cuticle stick wrapped in cotton but there’s nothing you can do about bubbles. If you’re only using OPI, try a different brand. The older Revlons bubble on me but the newer ones (the big three free ones) don’t. You may have better luck with a different brand. I think that the reformulated OPIs are hit or miss. You might also try a different base coat.
Janis
When I used to wear it, I recall that some ones would bubble no matter what, and some wouldn’t. Revlon NEVER did — by far, that’s the best nail polish I’ve ever used back in the day.
I think it just goes on in nice, thin coats — the cheaper stuff was always too gloopy and thick.
Nail polish seemed to fall into two categories for me — the thick, cheap ones that bubbled and peeled, and the thin, cheap ones that were brittle and chipped off.
Revlon was the best one, and was right in the middle — thin enough to not bubble and dry smooth, and pliable enough not to chip if you so much as looked at it.
OPI’s supposedly pretty good, though; I’ve used it on my mom’s nails with no problems … hm.
A big BB thanks to Anne, Purple Rules, and Janis for their answers. What do the rest of you think? Did you find these Forum comments helpful? Would you like to see more Forum answers to your questions? If the answer is “yes” and you just can’t wait, then head over to the Forum today to post your questions under Open Beauty Questions.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Revlon, really? I have never had good luck with that brand. I stopped buying it a while back because it was so bad. I recently bought another bottle because I like the color, and it bubbled so much I threw it out. The colors are never true, either. The nails never match the bottle color.
sounds like a problem with your prep or putting it on too thick… Sticky,(basecoat) by Creative, 2 thin coats of color (OPI,Creative,Orly etc.) a good topcoat(Seche Vite) works great for me, good luck!
I should specify that it’s been 20 years since I’ve used nail polish at all, so the Revlon formulas might have changed since then.
I also wonder if ambient humidity and temperature might not change things. In other words, would a given nail polish work different in Houston than in LA?
I use OPI all the time, and the only time I had bubbling is when the overhead fan was on. I like the new wide brush in the OPI bottles because you don’t have to make as many passes over the nail to cover it, which should also minimize the bubbling.
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Rolling the bottle, thin coats, and not blowing on them will all work, but another tip I learned was putting your polish in the refrigerator.
what about avon nail polish its 5-8$ i thought it would be good i got three nail polishes and they bubble as well and i have tryed lots of other brands but it seeems like its worse now w avon what other things can i try to stop the bubbles and maybe keep using the polish as they are brand new
I have tried almost everything. Different polish, old and new, I make sure I turn of the fan when polish is going on. I guess the temp in my living room is too high? I live in the desert and AC is set to 78. I will try the refrigerator and get a new base coat but I have a feeling I will be disapointed. I did my nails 2 days ago and half have bubbles and half dont and a couple are real bad and a couple are just 2 or 3 small ones. This sucks!
i Would suggest Wet ‘n wild Shine its really cheap and like the previous comments roll it dont shake it but wet ‘n wild u can shake it then drip the brush in and out for a while and it should help with bubbles and dont refrigerate nail polish unless u live in a hot area keep ur nail polish at a temp between 75 and 65 cuz if the polish gets too hot it’ll bubble
I really like OPI colors, but I can never find them anywhere! Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m going to try to do my nails again RIGHT NOW in hopes that this time this stupid Sally Hansen polish doesn’t bubble. I’ve noticed that, for me (and, again, this is probably because I’m putting it on too thickly and whatnot), Sally Hansen colors bubble the absolute worst.