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Despite what the colors may look like in the bottle, not all nail polishes are the same.
Some are made with biotin, keratin, or vitamin E to help keep nails healthy, while others are formulated specifically for longwear.
The best nail polish overall is CND Vinylux Long Wear Polish because it's made with vitamin E and jojoba oil to nourish nails and lasts almost seven days without chipping.
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With salon-quality manicures easily costing more than $50, it makes financial sense to paint your own nails at home. Nail-care brands are becoming increasingly innovative with polish formulas, so DIY manicures can still look professional and maybe even last longer than if you did it at a salon.
In my experience, I've learned that using a good base coat is important. Even the best nail polishes don't tend to sit as well without a good base. Similarly, Dave Crisalli, founder and CEO of wellness-focused nail boutique PROSE tells Insider Picks that a "thorough cleansing and preparation of the nail plate both on top and the underside of the nail will create better adhesion and wearability." This can help extend the life of your manicure up to two or three more days.
Crisalli said that nail polishes made with biotin, keratin, or vitamin E are the best to help strengthen, grow, and nourish nails, leading to overall healthier nails. On the other hand, formaldehyde, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate should be avoided at all costs as they're known to negatively affect the health of the nails (and your body, in general) as well as the durability of a manicure.
While every nail polish will eventually chip, ones made with the right ingredients can last longer than others. When looking for the right nail polish brand, it's important to find a brand that not only uses nourishing ingredients, but also offers a wide range of colors that dries quickly, has easy applicator brushes, and is easy to shop online.
There are quite a few factors that go into making the right nail polish, so we've done the research for you through years of extensive testing both at salons and at home, and narrowed down the best five nail polish brands to shop.
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Picks team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.
True to its name, the CND Vinylux Long Wear Polish stays chip-free for at least five days, dries quickly, and leaves nails looking professionally manicured.
I first discovered it a few years ago through a manicurist whose salon was stocked almost exclusively with CND Vinylux — now I swear by this nail polish. Most polish brands will start chipping within two days of my manicure, yet CND Vinylux stays on at least five days without fail. The brand claims the color will last seven days chip-free, but five is pretty impressive for me.
CND Vinylux comes in a very wide range of colors, including classic everyday shades as well as more trend-focused options. The polish itself is an all-in-one base coat and color, which streamlines the usual manicure routine. I typically use a base coat with CND Vinylux as I experience greater longevity with the color and find it's better for nail health, though I have experimented without the base coat and find that the polish stays on almost as long. You can also use the CND Gel-Like Effect Long Wear Top Coat too, which the brand recommends using with the color polish for the best results.
The CND top coat top coat is made with cellulose acetate butyrate, which prevents the color from yellowing while giving a professional-seeming glow. The company describes the finished look as a "gel-like shine, without the gel," and I completely agree. The color polishes are also infused with keratin, jojoba oil, and vitamin E to help keep nails healthy. With both the polish color and top coat, regular natural light will cure the polishes so you don't need a special UV lamp or light.
Pros: Longwear, made with nourishing ingredients, gel-like finish, easy application
Cons: Nail polish can clump up in the bottle after a few months, doesn't last a full seven days for all users
The best on a budget
With a wide range of colors, hardening finish, and a price tag just under $3, Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear is an excellent bang for your buck.
Sally Hansen has been doing nail care since 1957, with wide-reaching solutions for nail needs from promoting growth to cuticle care, and tons of color options that span quick-drying to salon quality. When it comes to an inexpensive polish that does everything you want, Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear is the answer.
Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear provides both strength and shine with long-lasting color that is formulated to resist chipping and fading. It comes in more than 30 color options, most priced under $3. It's meant to be applied with at least two coats of color and the Xtreme Wear Invisible Top Coat for the best results.
I love shopping this brand for its wide range of color options that are easy to apply and dry quickly. At its low price point, Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear is a great and inexpensive way to test out trendy colors. While it doesn't offer a nourishing formula to care for nail health, Sally Hansen sells base coats and nail oils made with enriching ingredients like Vitamin E.
I typically experience between three and five days of chip-free wear, and other shoppers on Ulta have reported even longer time periods without chipping. One reviewer who wore this polish with a Nicole by O.P.I. Top Coat Plus said that her nails "didn't chip for over a week and through vigorous hand washing" and the only complaint was that the color began to fade after a week and a half.
Pros: Inexpensive, great value, dries quickly, 30 color options, easy to apply
Cons: Chips easily, strong smell, hard to remove, requires specific top coat for best results
The best gel polish
Essie Gel Couture polish provides a salon-quality look that lasts up to 14 days, and has more than 100 colors to choose from.
When it comes to getting a professional-looking at-home manicure that will last longer than a week, most of us choose for a gel polish. Essie's Gel Couture line is the best in this category.
The brand has become an authority when it comes to modern, trendy nail polish colors in its 30+ year history of creating new formulas and shades, and its gel line is no exception.
The Essie Gel Couture range has more than 100 colors and lasts up to 14 days. Not every online or physical retailer sells all the shades, so we'd recommend checking out a few places to find your favorite.
Gel polishes are typically much longer-lasting than regular polishes, and while I've found that no at-home gel manicure will go two weeks without chipping at all, the Essie ones have lasted longer than any other I've tried.
While gel manicures typically require a UV lamp, Essie gel polishes, similar to CND, just requires two coats followed by the accompanying gel top coat for the best result. The top coat is made with a hard-shell technology that protects color, leaves a glossy finish, and provides durability — it's a main reason behind the polish's long wear.
The hard shell of both the gel polish and top coat provide a great protection to the color of your nails, but because it doesn't let in a lot of oxygen, your nails might seem weaker after removing the polish.
Ulta shoppers have given Essie Gel Couture an average rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, with 83% of shoppers reporting that they would recommend the product. The majority of shoppers shared experiences similar to my own — a professional, salon-like manicure that is easy to apply and lasts at least a week. The only issue I have found with this nail polish is that it is usually difficult to remove; I'd recommend a nail polish remover with acetone.
Pros: Long lasting, 100+ color options, easy to use, goes on smoothly, dries quickly
Cons: Not great for nail health, hard to remove, requires specific top boat for best results
The best luxury nail polish
The Tom Ford Nail Lacquer provides a 10-day wear wear with full-coverage coating and an extremely glossy finish, making it worth its high price tag.
The nail polish is made from a high-performance formula with a bendable coating to deliver a durable, long-lasting wear that remains true to color, so it's worth its $37 price tag.
The range's current selection features 14 color options with clever names like Sugar Dune, Plum Noir, and Carnal Red. The color range definitely isn't as wide as other brands on this list, though it's well curated and ranges from neutrals to deep plums to classic reds.
Allure named the Tom Ford Nail Lacquera Best of Beauty Award Winner due to its "well-edited set of colors" and the formula's "impressive high-shine finish that makes nails look perpetually wet." Similarly, InStyle noted that this one is a wise investment and that stays true to color for the duration of the wear.
Shoppers at Bloomingdale's felt similarly to InStyle; quite a few reviewers rave about how long the colors maintain without chipping — particularly when used with base and top coats. One reviewer mentioned that the nail polish lasted at least ten days. The amplified gloss of the formula allows a smooth, flawless finish too.
Nordstrom shoppers rated the Tom Ford Nail Lacquer with 4.5 out of 5 stars out of 85 reviews. As with Bloomingdale's, reviewers agreed that the top advantages of the Tom Ford Nail Lacquer was the longevity of wear and richness of hues, though the high price point remains the biggest issue.
Pros: Long-lasting wear, rich colors
Cons: Expensive, limited color options
The best for nail health
Butter London makes its nail polish with a mix of nourishing and fortifying ingredients that protect and care for your nails, while giving full-coverage color.
When it comes to nail health, Butter London is the nail polish brand to choose.
On the surface, nail polish is all about making your nails look good, yet Butter London's mix of ingredients also keep them healthy. The Patent Shine range is a lightweight polish created with bamboo extract and diamond powder to protect and strengthen the nails underneath the color.
The Butter London Patent Shine 10X is eight-free, meaning it's made without formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, DBP, toluene, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, xylene, and TPHP — all ingredients that are bad for your health. It's also free from parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and synthetic fragrance, so it doesn't contain questionably harmful ingredients either.
Butter London uses technology like fade-resistant UV absorbers, and polymers, to help maintain the polish's shine, durability, and gel-like finish for up to 10 days after application, though this won't have the same results for everyone.
The Patent Shine 10X is well-reviewed by shoppers and beauty editors alike. It has an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars on Ulta, with 85% of shoppers recommending it for others, and it has been featured on sites like Bustle, Glamour, Byrdie, and more.