Watching nail polish dry is like watching paint dry – literally! It can seemingly take forever. The phone rings, but you do not want to answer it in fear that your nail polish may smudge. Your child is begging for you to come outside and play, but that means potentially sacrificing your beautiful toes that you just painted. Time goes on and on and your nail polish does not seem to dry any faster. Isn’t there an easier way?
As much as we want to look beautiful and have those spotless, gorgeous nails, it often is not worth sitting around and waiting minutes, if not even hours, for it to dry! The good news is that there are ways you can expedite the dry nail polish process.
The Cold Water Trick
For ages women have been using the cold water trick to help dry nail polish faster and have it set properly. If this is something you’re keen on doing, get out an ice cube try full of frozen ice cubes and fill either a sink or a bowl with cold water that is as cold as you can stand. Pop in an ice cube or two, and then submerse your fingertips into the cold water. Hold your fingers in the cold water for 30 to 60 seconds. Lift your fingers out, and your nail polish should be set!
TIP: This is particularly handy if you are waiting for the first coat of your nail polish to dry. Remember, the more layers of nail polish you have applied, the longer it may take for your nail polish to dry.
Aerosol Sprays
There are aerosol spray products that you can buy in almost any beauty section of any store that you can quickly blast onto your nails to get that nail polish to dry faster! After applying your nail polish, hold the spray can about 5 to 10 inches away from your nails. Quickly spray the drying formula over your finger nails, and you should notice that your nail polish is completely dry.
Quick Dry Nail Polish
An increasing amount of nail polish colors and brands are now using “quick dry” formulations for their nail polish shades. While these are not a bad choice, many women have found that these still do not work fast enough. The first coat of most brands dries within seconds, but the second coat may take longer than you would like.
Quick Dry Top Coats
You can also try out a top coat that promises to dry that nail polish faster for you, though it seems to be dependent on the brand that you are choosing. If you really want a top coat that will do the job well, try out Sally Hansen’s “Insta-Dri”. It’s quite affordable and it will dry your nail polish faster than if you were to not apply this top coat at all.