I just meant that if you don't use base and topcoat and then it chips within a day, it's not really the fault of the polish. Of course all polish chips eventually. ^.^

Yes, precisely! Most people don't know this, and just expect the polish to stay. There's a REASON for all the clear polish out there - it's not just for the people who ONLY like clear.

I haven't really used nail polish in a long time, I think the last time I wore it was my second or third year of high school? Since I became a university student, I've been biting my nails so much because of stress that i hardly have anything to use nail polish on...

I had a job interview this week so I painted my nails clear, and I forgot how nice they looked plain but shiny *u*

I like that look too but I don't wear my nails like that very often anymore... I'm thinking about just using a clear coat this week though.

Do you guys have a nail painting technique?
Mine always clumps when I do mine, or others. :L
So.. yeah, i don't paint nails often.

I once read a book that said you should try to paint the nail in three strokes--1 on each side and one down the middle. I think that's about right but it's not the only way to do it.

No, it's not. I tried that way once. It only created bumps down the two sides after the center stroke.
I can't really describe the way I do it... but technique has to be adaptable because people have all kinds of nails and nail problems. Wavy nails, weird-shaped nails...

I tend to do 3 strokes. Though I'm more comfortable doing one down the centre first.

I don't think there's really a technique for painting your nails. It's just kinda like smoothing the icing on the cake as evenly as possible.

The clumping could be caused by the consistency of the polish because I had a few that did that to me no matter how even I tried. They were a bit thick and probably old.

I've just done my nails, waiting for them to dry now. Pic is slightly out of focus so you can't see the shimmer that this polish has, but it shows the colour pretty well :) This is called Deep Blue Sea. Excuse the messy edges, those will come off in the bath in the morning

Oh, that's a nice color. I usually don't go after metallics/glittery things. I also like how your nails are all filed evenly from what I can see.

Thanks :) Yeah, it bugs the hell out of me when people's nails are all uneven lengths. I think that looks terrible.

Some people are trying to grow them.
I have a lot of customers tell me that they don't want to cut the long ones, just keep them filed while the short ones grow.

I can understand that because I do have some uneven nails, but I keep them fairly even with the rest so not just one will jut out. I do find it creepy when there's one super long nail while the others barely pass the fingertip.

Yeah, when it's just one single nail, I usually suggest cutting it down. It does get annoying to see that one long nail, and all the others don't match.

When I was working at Claires, we ha some matt nail polish. But it did a cool effect. It was able to change colours depending on the tempature around your nails. So if you washed your hands, one second it was one colour and then the next it was a different color. It was pretty neat in my opinion.

But again there are all sorts of nail polishes that do cools things like around last year around this time there was the big hipe about the crackle nail polish. Maybe there will be a thing for the mate nail polish aswell and your just one step closer to being right on par with the new fasdhion.

Yeah, with more guys now going to salons to get their nails and feet taken care of, matte nail polish is getting slowly popular.
Crackle is also still enjoying a bit of popularity. It lends itself to some wicked nail art. Magnetic polishes pretty much hit the clearance shelves in almost the same week they came out. It just takes too long, isn't entirely reliable, can only be made in dark shades because of the iron content, and overall just isn't worth it.

The magnetics are still quite the thing where I am. I don't see them worn much, but they're always on the shelves.

Gold seems to be a huge trend around here lately from what I see.

I wanted to paint my nails but I got a bit carried away with a hangnail and ended up making my finger really sore so I think I'm going to have to wait for it to heal up a bit. V_V

I LOVE NAIL POLISH:)

I have to admit, I really do not like how very long nails look, anyway. So that will have an impact on my opinion about uneven length nails. If mine get more than a few mm long I cut them down, because they inhibit my typing(which is terrible in the first place!). Plus my nails are weak and break very easily. The only time they could reach any kind of length and all be that length was when I was unemployed, and sat on my butt at home all day.

Just out of interest then, what are you ladies nail length preferences? Long "claws" make me shudder, but for others those are absolutely love! So I'm really intrigued to know what each person likes :D

I keep mine short, with just a thin part of white. I have to keep them that length for my job. I do nails and facials, so if mine are long, they scratch my customers' faces.
Short!
And yes, long nails get in the way of typing.

Every time I see a woman with really, really long nails, I wonder how they're able to wipe.

If I could, this would be the length and shape of nail I would have 24/7. Unfortunately my nails don't grow very long, and I can't afford fakes. XP

Mine have got that long before, and I managed with that length ok as you become accustomed to it as they lengthen, but that was before I got a computer and was typing a lot

The ones in that picture are false, aren't they? The one on the ring finger especially seems to have thickness at the cuticle end, which doesn't look at all natural.