Nail polish is one of the most popular ways to add personality and style to your look.
Nail polish is a fun way to add personality and color to your nails, but it can be frustrating when bubbles form in the polish and make your nails look messy.
In this post, we’ll share some tips on how to prevent bubbles in nail polish so you can have beautiful, streak-free nails.
Nail polish bubbles are caused by the way the nail polish is applied. When you apply your coat of color, it’s important to keep in mind that every stroke should overlap the last one in order to prevent any bubbles in your nail polish.
How do you keep nail polish from getting bubbly?
Once you’ve applied your coats of polish, the best way to prevent bubbles is to let them dry completely.
Below are some more tips to prevent bubbles in your nail polish.
- Allow your nails to dry completely between coats.
The longer you wait, the better. This will help make sure that each coat is applied smoothly and doesn’t get trapped under another layer of polish.
After you’ve added all the layers, allow at least 20 minutes for them to dry completely before trying anything else like wiping or touching your nails.
2. Apply thin layers of nail polish
When applying your nail polish, try to apply thin layers. This will ensure that the polish adheres evenly to your nails.
3. Roll your nail polish bottle
Many people shake their nail polish bottles out of habit, try rolling it between your hands to mix the polish before using it instead. Ensure that you’re using the right brush
4. Avoid using too much polish
If your brush is overloaded with polish, just slightly pull it out of the bottle and wait for a second to let some of the excess drops off before applying it to your nails.
You’ll have more control over how much polish comes out of the bottle if you simply move it back and forth between each stroke.
5. Use a top coat if needed
A clear, fast-drying topcoat will help seal in your nail color and prevent any bubbles from appearing.
6. Coat your nails in a cool room
Make sure you wait for each layer to dry completely before adding another one so you don’t trap any moisture between layers.
7. Keep your nail polish covered
If your nail polish is exposed to the open air, humidity can start to build up and create bubbles in your polish. So when you’re not using it, make sure to keep the lid on tight and store it somewhere cool and dry.
Why does my nail polish have bubbles when it dries?
The three main reasons why a fresh coat of nail polish will bubble are:
- moisture trapped underneath the layers,
- having too many layers of nail polish on at once or
- the polish being too thick.
Bubbles happen when there’s too much moisture trapped between layers of color.
For example, if you applied three thin coats of color without allowing any time for them to dry before applying the next one, then those colors have been sitting on top of each other long enough that they’ve absorbed some humidity from the air.
This means that when you apply your topcoat, which is still wet, it’s mixing with the other layers of color and forms bubbles in your nail polish.
The thicker the coats are, the more likely they are to bubble up.
Can you fix bubbles in nail polish?
If you notice that there are any bubbles on your nails and want to fix them, try applying a light layer of nail polish remover over the topcoat, and be sure not to brush on too much – just one single stroke should do the trick.
This will help even out the surface of your nail polish and eliminate any bubbles.
Then, you can allow it to dry for 10 minutes or so before applying another coat on top of it.
How do you fix bumpy nail polish?
If your nail polish is more textured than bubbly, then chances are there’s too much air being trapped between layers. This means that you might have accidentally applied two coats instead of one.
To fix this, just apply a single thin coat with a special base coat to smooth out the bumps.
You might want to wait 30 minutes after doing this until adding your topcoat since if there’s anything on top of your base coat it could result in bubbles.
The key thing to remember when re-applying your topcoat is to make sure you don’t go over the surface more than once.
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of other things that can make your nail polish bubble – but if you follow these simple tips, you should be able to get rid of it in no time.
As long as you make sure your nails are completely dry before applying another coat and only apply thin layers at a time, it’s pretty rare for anything major to go wrong.
It can take a bit of practice to create the perfect formula that works for you, but once you get it used to do it properly, you’ll never have to worry about seeing bubbles in your nail polish ever again.
