Long-lasting nail polish: which one to choose? Video
Nail polish, and most often this is how pigmented enamel is called, today, perhaps, every woman has. Someone uses bright varnishes, someone prefers pastel colors, and some even use varnishes to strengthen nails. However, regardless of their goals, women want to have high-quality and durable varnishes.
Choosing a quality nail polish without knowledge of chemistry is not easy.
A good varnish should include:
- dibutyl phthalate (castor oil)
- nitrocellulose
- butyl alcohol
- quality synthetic resins
Castor oil, or dibutyl phthalate, are plasticizers that allow the varnish to stretch and be elastic. They are also responsible for the strength characteristics, because, reacting with resins, they give the required degree of adhesion (the ability to adhere to the nail). When solidified, the resins form a strong film that would be very brittle and brittle without plasticizers.
Nitrocellulose is also responsible for the strength and resistance of the dried varnish to mechanical damage – a polymer that, among other things, gives varnishes an attractive gloss.
Butyl or ethyl alcohols are thinners that achieve the desired consistency of varnishes. It is noteworthy that if you pour alcohol into a varnish that is already ready for use (that is, one that already contains all the components), it will not be possible to dilute the composition. Alcohols are used only at a certain stage of production; they are added to the composition before nitrocellulose.
Expensive does not mean high quality
A high-quality varnish is not necessarily expensive. The components described above have a very low cost, and therefore the production of varnishes is a profitable business in which not the quality of raw materials, but brand awareness plays an important role.
Before giving money for a purchase, test the varnish: unscrew the brush cap and lift it over the neck of the bubble, if the varnish stretches behind the brush, “plays”, refuse to buy, in the composition of such a product dimethyl ketone is used in excess – the solvent acetone.
In a good varnish, a drop will surely fall from the brush, you will need to pay attention to how long it will take. If the drop flows down instantly, it means that the varnish is liquid, the coating on the nail will be of poor quality, with stripes. If the drop lasts 3-5 seconds, the varnish can be purchased. If the droplet lingers on the brush, the composition is probably already drying up. By the way, varnishes should not dry in stores, because in production they are packed in such a way as to exclude air from entering the bubble.
If you are offered a thickened varnish in a store, know: most likely, the composition has already been used before you
Try to apply enamel to your nails: a high-quality varnish should lay down thickly and evenly from the very first “run”. Be sure to apply the second and third layers, low-quality varnish will begin to roll off, bumps form on the nail plate.
So, a high-quality and durable varnish:
- well packed
- has a uniform consistency
- evenly and densely lies on the nail
- does not roll and spread
- forms a uniform colored film