Nail polish dries very quickly, but how long do you need to let your nails dry between coats? Different polishes require different drying times. Some harden in as little as 2 minutes, while others take a bit more. Some brands take things a step further with their special gel formulas, which can dry in as little as 30 seconds. But no matter which type of nail polish you use, you must allow your nail polish to dry completely before applying a second coat.
Drying time between coats varies
How long to let nail polish dry between coats is a question that is asked by many people.
Generally, it is best to let the nail polish dry for at least five minutes between coats. However, some nail polishes may require more time to cure completely.
If the nail polish starts to smudge or if it is difficult to apply another coat, then it is likely that the nail polish has not dried well enough. In this case, it is best to wait a bit longer before applying the next coat.
When painting your nails, you will want to apply several thin coats of polish, letting each coat dry completely before applying the next. How long you wait between coats will depend on the type of polish you are using.
As far as nail polish goes, there are two main types of polish: regular nail polish and gel nail polish. Regular nail polish air dries slower and tends to chip faster. Gel nail polish lasts longer and dries very quickly, but you need a special LED/UV lamp for it to cure.
In short, with regular nail polish, you will want to wait at least five minutes between coats. If you are using fast-drying nail polish, you can wait just a couple of minutes between coats.
How long to let nails dry between coats when using regular polish?
Nail polish can feel dry to the touch in about 2 minutes.
However, the best drying time for one coat is up to 5-10 minutes.
While you can apply the next coat sooner, it’s not recommended.
According to professional nail techs, coats applied this way are more durable, resist chipping better and crack less during the natural wear-and-tear of daily activities.
How long does it take for all coats of regular polish on your nails to dry completely?
It can take up to an hour for regular nail polish to dry completely, so it’s best to avoid doing anything that might smudge it until then.
And if you have to do something that might get your nails damaged like cooking, gardening, or cleaning, wait until you’ve fully dried all the layers.
The good news is that there are fast-drying regular nail polishes like Sally Hansen Insta Dri, which can harden as fast as 60 seconds.
Still, wait for about 5 minutes between coats to let a fast-drying nail polish set completely.
How long to let nails dry between coats when using gel nail polish?
Gel polish is cured in a different way than regular nail polish. You need to dry it under a UV lamp.
However, this means you don’t need to wait between coats when you’re using gel nail polish.
As soon as you have dried your gel polish coat under the lamp it’s set and you can immediately apply another coat.
The curing process of gel nail polish only takes about 30-120 seconds depending on the lamp and the polish product.
An LED lamp is the fastest type of lamp. It can dry your polish in 30-60 seconds. The more wattage the lamp has the faster it will cure the polish.
For example, the SUNUV 48W LED lamp has several timer settings and can cure most polishes in 60 seconds.
A UV lamp is slightly slower. It takes about 2 minutes to dry one coat of gel nail polish under a UV light.
The gel top coat is the fastest-drying gel nail polish layer. It only takes about 30 seconds to set under an LED light.
How many coats do I need?
This depends on what brand of gel nail polish you use, as well as how much coverage you want and how many colors you plan to use in your nail design.
A general rule of thumb is that you will only need to apply two to three coats of one color of gel nail polish or regular polish to your nails.
This will ensure a smooth, clump-free, and streak-free manicure/pedicure, regardless of the type of polish used.
More than three coats are usually unnecessary and may result in a very thick finish.
How do I know if my nail polish coats are already dry?
When you finish applying your nail polish, you can check to see if it has dried completely by tapping the nails together lightly. If they stick to each other, then the polish has not dried all the way.
How to speed up the drying times between coats?
Regular polish
1. Use thin coats
Apply regular nail polish in thin coats so it won’t take too long to dry them. It takes 1-2 thin coats for a non-sheer polish to create an opaque finish.
If the polish is sheer it’s better to apply 3 thin coats instead of 1 or 2 thick coats.
Thin coats are much easier to remove, they dry quicker, and they last longer than thick coats do. Plus, thin coats are much easier to spread and evenly cover your nails.
2. Avoid using a thick old polish
Using an old thick nail polish is bad because it takes longer to dry and is harder to apply.
A thick or clumpy old polish, usually one that is older than 6 months, is too hard to spread evenly.
When you paint your nails, you will want to use a nail polish that has a good consistency, so it is easier to paint on.
Plus, clumpy nail polish may lift very soon.
And because thick polish is more difficult to remove, you risk damaging your nails with acetone.
3. Use a top coat
A top coat is a protective cover layer that is applied over all nail polish layers and makes your nail polish last longer.
It’s used to keep nail polish from chipping, cracking, or flaking. Plus, it adds high gloss shine to your manicure.
In addition to that, The top coat is designed to help all the nail polish coats underneath dry faster and prevent smudging.
However, you should never apply a topcoat to a semi-dry polish — wait until the polish is dry enough to avoid smudging.
4. Use a quick dry oil or polish spray
If you’re in a hurry, you can use a quick-drying spray to shorten the drying time. Just be careful not to get the polish too wet, or it will smudge.
5. Use a hair dryer
Regular nail polish can dry quickly if you use a hair dryer on your fresh manicure.
The warm air will evaporate the moisture from the nail polish, speeding up the drying process.
It’s important to use a cool setting when drying nail polish with a hair dryer. The cool setting helps to avoid bubbles in nail polish and also helps to prevent your polish coat from shrinking.
6. Run nails under cold water
Cold water hardens nail polish and helps it dry faster too.
So you can run your nails under cold water for a minute and it will speed up the drying process.
Gel polish
With gel polish, there’s no need to use any special tricks like the ones you can use on regular polish, including oil, sprays, water, or a hair dryer.
How long gel nails dry between coats only depends on the lamp you use.
After you’ve dried one coat with a lamp completely there’s no need to wait.
So you can proceed to paint the next coat of polish.
1. Use a more powerful lamp
First of all, to speed up the drying process of your gel nail polish, use an LED lamp instead of a pure UV lamp.
An LED lamp has more power than an ordinary UV lamp. So it can dry gel nail polish faster, in 30-60 seconds.
Whereas a UV lamp needs 2 minutes to cure a coat of gel polish.
The higher the wattage an LED lamp has the faster your gel nail polish coat will dry. For example, using a 180-watt LED lamp will help you dry gel nails very fast.
However, I’d recommend using a 48-watt LED lamp if you do not want any extra heat that may cause heat spikes or a burning sensation, but still want your nails to be cured pretty quickly.
2. Get a 2-step or 1-step gel polish
2-step gel polishes contain color polish and base coat mixed in one bottle. So you can apply this kind of polish as the first and second coats and cover it with a top coat. No need for an extra base coat layer. This cuts the overall drying time.
1-step gel polishes don’t require both a base coat and a top coat. These products are already mixed in with the color polish in one bottle.
This cuts the time how long nails dry between coats drastically because you only need 1 or 2 coats of a 1-step polish for a complete gel manicure.
In conclusion, no matter how impatient you are to have perfectly polished nails, resist the urge to touch them before they’re fully dry. Doing so may cause smudging and streaks.
Give each coat of polish at least five to 10 minutes to dry before applying the next one.
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