If you were wondering how to make nail polish dry faster, you’re in the right place. With just a few tweaks in your manicure routine, you could be getting your nails to dry much quicker and getting out your door much faster.
As a manicurist for over a decade, I have some tips and tricks to share with you that can help you speed up your nail polish drying time.
I’ll also let you know what types of nail polish to stay away from if you don’t want to become a prisoner in nail drying jail, as well as what to do if your favorite nail polish has made it onto this list.
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How to Make Nail Polish Dry Faster with the Right Nail Polish
As I always say, not all nail polish is created equal, and you can trust me when I say this because after spending years working in a nail salon as a nail technician using all sorts of nail polish brands and moving on to create my own nail polish brand, I know a thing or 2 about nail polish and how they perform.
That being said, if you want your nail polish to dry faster, you must start with the right polish choice and end with the right quick-dry nail polish.
I am obsessed with Sally Hansen’s Instant Dry top coat. It really is the fastest drying top coat I have ever used. Nothing dries completely instantly but is dry to the touch unbelievably quickly.
As far as the color nail polish, some nail lacquers are thicker than others and this is due to many different factors.
First of all, brand matters. You want to stick with the better brands like OPI and Essie. Their nail polish formulas are thin and easy to work with, and because of this they dry faster.
Here are some of my favorites and the most requested colors back when I did nails:
Big Apple Red by OPI – truly the perfect red
Ballet Slippers by Essie – the best baby pink and possibly the most famous
Bubble Bath by OPI – a pretty and pale semi-sheer pink
Second of all, even within the same brand, there are different formulas because some nail polish requires a different type of base.
Case in point, a chunky glitter nail polish will usually be on the thicker side because in order for the glitter to float throughout the bottle and not just sink to the bottom, it needs to be in a thicker polish that will suspend it.
Thick nail polish takes much longer to dry.
But you could find some thin micro-fine glitter in a thinner formula that can dry fast.
Iridescent colors and chrome shades also usually dry faster than the creme colors.
And if your favorite color has a thicker formula, you can thin it out either with some acetone or some nail polish thinner. Be careful here though because a little goes a long way and too much can ruin your nail polish.
Test it with one or two drops first, shake it, try it, and then determine if it needs more. If it does, I would stick with 1 drop at a time until it’s thin enough for you.
Once it is, you can use it and it shouldn’t take as long to dry this way.
This is also a great way to make nail polish last longer because a lot of times when it gets down to the bottom of the bottle it begins to turn thicker.
Thinning it out will prevent you from throwing away those last few manicures you could get out of that bottle.
Nail Polish Painting Technique
Once you have the right polish chosen and you’re ready to paint your nails, be sure to use very thin coats. Every manicure should start with a base coat, then 2 coats of color and a top coat.
Because of the layering of coats, it takes a bit for the polish to dry.
If you keep each coat thin and then give a little drying time between coats, the polish will dry much quicker.
You won’t have to dry 4 coats at once, which as you know can take some time.
If every coat you add is going over another coat that is already dry, it will cure much quicker in the end.
How to Make Nail Polish Dry Faster with Ice
Before polishing your nails, fill up a bowl with water and ice. Once the water gets icy cold, remove the ice.
Paint your nails. Air dry them for about 5 minutes and then submerge them in the ice water for a few minutes.
Take them out and they will be much closer to all-the-way dry.
Apparently, there seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding this method of making nail polish dry faster. Some swear by it while others scream that it’s just a myth.
Well, I can tell you that I have been doing this trick since I was a child because it really does work.
I mean I wouldn’t be totally confident that the nail polish is fully dry right after soaking, especially because as I always say, not all nail polish is created equal.
I would still wait to touch anything for a few minutes after soaking in the ice water to let it solidify.
But in my experience, while it may not fully dry it, it always cuts the time down for me.
Try it, it’s free and you have nothing to lose.
Finish with Cuticle Oil
Once your nails feel pretty dry, put a drop of cuticle oil on each nail and gently spread it across each nail. Don’t press, you don’t want to mess up your manicure.
This not only finishes helping your nail polish to dry faster, but it prevents most smudging after the manicure when done correctly because whatever hits the nail slides rather than sticks and pulls.
It basically takes away that vulnerably tacky surface that remains in the first hour or so after painting your nails.
Once I started doing this I saw a significant difference in the amount of time I had to wait to touch anything.
If I don’t do this, I almost always get dings and dents in the nail polish because I have no patience to wait for too long.
With the oil, this doesn’t happen. More often than not, I can get away without any smudges.
Pedicures
And how about those toes? Pedicures in the cold winter months can be so hard. All you want to do is put your shoes back on but it is almost automatic that they will smudge if you haven’t waited hours.
But yes, there is a trick! It’s plastic wrap! After using a good quick-dry top coat only, though. Without that this has a much lower success rate.
Whenever I gave people pedicures when I worked in a salon, they always wanted to leave as fast as possible after the service.
I mean, once the foot massage part is over, they lose all interest and just want to go.
So after using the same tips mentioned above, I would sit them under a foot dryer for as long as they were willing, maybe 10-15 minutes.
Then I would add the cuticle oil to the top of the polish and then wrap the toes in plastic wrap before they put on their socks.
Because socks almost always stick and ruin your pedicure. But the oil and plastic barrier gives your pedicure a chance to survive your socks in the winter.
Just don’t be too overzealous with it because there is still a risk of smudge involved, but if you do it at the right time it works great.
The Fastest Way to Make Nail Polish Dry Faster
If you are in a super big rush, find a nail polish with a thin formula and skip the base and top coat. Simply paint one thin coat and it will dry in no time.
But be warned that without base coat there could be staining on your natural nails if you are using a very pigmented color.
You might be better off using a shimmery shade or a fine glitter polish with a formula that’s thin.
Also, this type of quick manicure won’t last long at all before chipping or just like…wearing away.
It is only for when you are going out and need to get through an event without bare nails and will probably only last one day.
But you will have gotten to your event on time, and without unpolished nails.
I hope these tips help you to make your nails dry faster and get you where you are going quickly with pretty nails that make you happy!
xo
