Madison Valgari

OPI Dip Nails Travel Tips to Help Your Manicures Last Long

With the easing of pandemic lockdown restrictions globally, more people are traveling around the world. It can be for official or tourist reasons, but you must take care of your OPI dip powder color during your travel sojourns.

Here are some issues that you can face during travel:

When traveling, you do not have access to your favored nail salon. Different countries have different ways of handling dip powder manicures. You might not feel comfortable, especially with unknown salon technicians working on your nails.

There is always a risk of contracting nail infections if you resort to unhygienic practices. These infections can be painful and take time to heal.

Nail polish chipping is typical when you travel. You might rummage through your handbag and end up chipping your dip manicure.

You might need a change of color at any time. Therefore, it is better to know how to apply and remove dip powder.

It is not easy to find your favorite nail salon in places you go. Secondly, it is also not advisable to go to new salons, especially in these times of the pandemic. Therefore, your handbag should contain the following items necessary for proper nail care.

Items your nail care kit should have

The nail polish remover should be an essential aspect of any nail care kit. You never know when you might need one.

Besides the nail polish remover, your nail care kit should have a couple of new OPI nail dip bottles in your favorite colors. If you are on an official or business trip, you should carry some nude or somber colors to match the occasion. If you are on a fun journey, you can always experiment with flashy colors.

It is essential to have at least one bottle of the color you are wearing at the moment. You might have to go for an urgent top up anytime.

Your nail care kit should have the entire paraphernalia, including nail trimmers, nail cutters, nail file, nail buffers, cuticle oil, acetone solution, basecoat and topcoat applications, cotton balls, sanitizers, etc. You never know when you could require these items.

How to take care of a chipped nail during travel?

Your dipping powder manicures should comfortably last for three to four weeks. However, you cannot rule out accidental chipping of the nail. In such a situation, it can be tempting to lift the nail on your own. It is not advisable to do so.

You should follow the specific nail removal procedure. Lifting of the nail polish layer can lead to gaps between your nail polish and nail surfaces. It can cause water seepage and provide an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Hence, it is critical to remove the nail polish layer immediately.

You can use the nail file and gently try to file off the polish layer. The thinner the coating, the lesser is the time required for the acetone soak. However, you should ensure not to damage your nail while filing away the polish layer.

Dip a cotton ball in acetone solution and place it over the nail. If you have an aluminum wrap, you can secure the cotton ball with it. It holds the cotton ball in its place. The extent of soaking depends on the nail polish layer’s thickness. Generally, 20 to 30 minutes should be enough.

The nail polish should dissolve in the acetone solution and should slide off on its own. You can now proceed with replacing it with a fresh manicure.

Generally, it is advisable to have a week’s gap between two successive manicures to allow the nails to regain their health. However, in an emergency, you can go for an immediate touch-up.

Before you start the touch-up, you should prepare the nail surface by buffing it gently. It will allow the basecoat layer to adhere to the nail bed. Once your nail surface is ready, you can apply one layer of basecoat up to a millimeter from the cuticle.

Dip your nail into the OPI dipping powder and dust off the excess powder from the nails. You can use the fine brush to even out the powder layer and make it smooth for applying the activator gel. The activator gel application procedure is the next step. This gel helps to energize the various ingredients present in dipping powder and allow it to stick to the basecoat application.

The final step in the OPI dip nails procedure is the topcoat application. The best aspect of this procedure is that the topcoat does not require curing under a UV lamp. It dries on its own within minutes. Thus, your dipping powder manicure is a quicker procedure than the regular gel or acrylic process.

Conclusion

You can see that having replenishments on hand can prove beneficial in an emergency. Therefore, you should never begin your journey without checking in your nail care kit.