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The ‘sticky sandwich’ nail hack to making polish last (ad•gifted)

This blog post contains samples received as a PR gift. I’m not under obligation to review or comment. See my full disclaimer below.

A woman rests her hands on a white desk. Her nails are freshly painted a nude colour. She wears a lot of stacked slim silver and white gold rings. There are bottle of nail polish scattered on the desk by her hands.

There is something a little bit throwback about the ‘sticky sandwich’ nail hack. I first discovered it years ago before gel nails became my go to. I’m hard on my hands so finding ways for nail polish to look good beyond two days is a challenge. With the ongoing pandemic restrictions, I’ve rediscovered the ‘sticky sandwich’ nail hack as a way to make regular nail polish last.

A woman holds a bottle of Orly Bonder base coat to be used in the sticky sandwich nail hack.

The basis of this technique is to sandwich your colour nail polish between layers of a ‘sticky’ base coat. I love to use the Orly Bonder Rubberized Base Coat (£14.99). This works with any brand or colour of nail polish but getting right sticky base coat is key. I think there are other similar base coats but Orly is easily available at Superdrug and it works. And yes, I know it seems expensive for a base coat but it is worth every penny in my experience. This technique makes even the cheapest of nail polishes last longer.

A woman's left hand is clutching a bottle of nude nail polish. Her nails are painted the same nude colour.
A woman rests her hands on a white desk. Her nails are painted in alternating coats of Orly Bonder base coat and Beauty Pie Supernude nail polish. The sticky sandwich nail hack to make polish last.

I prep my nails by washing and filing them then pushing back my cuticles. The first step is to apply a thin layer of the Orly Bonder. Once dry, paint over with a thin layer of nail polish. I love Beauty Pie’s ‘Supernude’ (£15 or £4.50ish for members). This is a chic colour that doesn’t feel too ‘done’ for loungewear days. But seriously, use any nail polish brand or colour that you want. When the nail polish is dry, repeat steps one and two. Finally, finish with a shiny top coat – I’m using Sally Hansen’s Good. Kind. Pure. Vegan Top Coat (£8.99).

A woman holds a bottle of top coat between her two hands above a white desk.
A woman applies top coat to her manicure. Her hands rest on a white desk.
A woman applies cuticle oil onto her left hand after using the sticky sandwich nail hack to make regular polish last.

There you have it. The ‘sticky sandwich’ nail hack that will help make regular nail polish last. If I wear my nails short and neat then this method helps my nail polish last a week. Sometimes it lasts even longer if I’m not doing anything heavy duty like DIY. It’s not that I won’t return to gel manicures but this has worked well in the absence of salon visits.

A woman's right hand is laying flat on a white desk. Her nails are a nude colour. She wears some slim stacked silver rings from Daisy London. There are four bottles of nail products lying on their sides scattered on the desk by her hand.

Now my nails look pretty, I’m able to decorate my hands with jewellery for maximum impact. As always, I wear my wedding ring set made in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. And my silver rings I hand made in a jewellery workshop.

I’ve recently curated a stack of slim rings for my right hand as I’m currently enjoying a dainty look. These Daisy London gemstone rings made from 100% recycled silver and look so pretty together. After consideration of the different stones and their properties, I chose Rose Quartz* and Amazonite* (£29 each). The colours really add a spring vibe and are soft enough to work with different looks. I added the Estée Lalonde Sunburst Stacking Ring* to anchor the stack in something light catching.

A close of a pair of woman's hands. On her right hand there are a slim stack of silver Daisy London rings. On her left hand, she wears a wedding ring set and two slim silver plain bands. Her wrists have some slim bracelets stacked together too.

Finally, another recent joy for me is a dainty bracelet stack. There’s something rather fun about layering on jewellery when I’m doing everything at home. It adds a smile to my face anyway. So I’m adorning my wrist with my Sacet Marque Small Hoop Chain Bracelet*. I stack this with my Monica Vinader Alphabet Heart Diamond Friendship Bracelet and a decade old Links of London chain.

Finding a few small ways to brighten up my days has been a bit of a journey during this pandemic. But having groomed nails and decorating myself with pretty jewellery never fails to lift my spirits a little. Rediscovering this old nail hack has been a little highlight of my lockdown anyway.

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