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How to Dry Your Nails Fast at Home: 6 Tips

How to Dry Your Nails Fast at Home: 6 Tips

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If you don’t have the time for stubborn nail polish that just won’t dry, then you should come and check our tips. It’s important to pay attention not only to the products you’re using but also to your application techniques! As you’ll see, it’s easy to learn how to dry nails fast at home!

Learn How To Dry Nails Fast At Home!

You may like painting your nails, but… how to dry nails fast at home? If imagining the time nail polish takes to dry is enough to make you run away from the manicure, then take a chance on our tips. All you need is to reserve a few minutes for polish application and a few extra moments to allow it (or make it!) dry. With the right application and suitable products, you’ll find that the perfect manicure is within reach.

1. Apply your nail polish in thin layers

The thinner the layers, the quicker it dries! We’d say that applying too much product in each coat ranks up as the number one impediment for a quick polish dry. We understand that it may be slightly easier to apply a more generous coat, but then you’ll pay the price when you’re waiting for it to dry and it just won’t happen. Work your way around the brush and take off the excess product before coating your nails with the chosen color. You’ll not only save time but also prevent product waste. It’s a win-win situation!

While we’re still talking about the application techniques, it’s important to note that you should allow your nail polish to fully dry between layers. If you follow the recommendation and apply thin layers, you’ll see that it all happens really quick. Hopefully, once you’ve finished the last nail, the one you painted first is already fully dry.

2. Toss away expired or old nail polishes

You may be just like this writer, and make plans for using all products to the very last drop. Unfortunately, if the formula is already drying and thick, it’s time to let it go. When the nail polish loses its fluid texture, you’ll have a lot of trouble applying a thin coat—which means that you’ll have trouble applying a thin layer. The consequence is the one you already know: it’ll take forever to dry, if it ever does! When this time comes, scroll through new nail polish colors and find a new love. You’ll see that it’ll make a huge difference in the drying time.

3. Use cold water in your favor

Cold water works magic ways to hasten the drying time of your nail polish. Isn’t that good news? You may use ice on the water, cold running water, or even do your manicure by a lake (doesn’t this last one sound fun?). The “how to” is simple: you just need to make sure that the polish dries on its own for a few moments, and then dip your hands in cold water. Of course, the idea is that you prepare everything beforehand so when hand-diving time comes, you don’t take the risk of ruining your beautiful manicure. Simple enough, right?

4. Pamper your hands with some good cold air

Following the same logic of cold-drying, you can use cold air in your advantage. It’s really cold outside? You may expose your nails to it! You may also use the cold breeze of the air conditioning, a blow drier on the cold mode, or even a fan. Anything that blows some cooling air will do the trick! Combining this trick with the thin layer application, there’s no nail polish that keeps without drying.

5. Use a quick dry nail polish

This may be obvious, but getting a good quick dry nail polish is a great solution! Even if you’ve never heard of it, it’s easy to understand the concept: a nail polish formulation especially developed to dry quickly (as quick as 60 seconds!). Available in numerous shades, you won’t need to patiently wait for these to dry. For the ultimate drying speed, combine it with the quick dry solutions we’ve mentioned right above.

6. Grab a quick-dry product

Now let’s dive into the quick-dry products department. If you don’t trust that tricks and techniques will do it for you, then it’s time to get yourself one of the following nail polish quick-dry formulations:

A practical quick dry top coat

Just as the name suggests, this essie top coat not only contributes to adding more shine and longevity to your manicure but also significantly improves its drying time. Unarguably an essential step of any manicure, the top coat really boosts the performance of any polish. So why not choose one that will also make your nail polish dry fast? They always come in a transparent formula that is error-proof to apply, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with it. Make sure to allow your nail polish to dry for a few moments before going in with it!


A handy quick dry spray

Just spray it on over your finished manicure and there you go! It’s so simple and effective that it almost feels like cheating on the nail polish game. You just have to allow the nail polish to dry for a few seconds and then spray it mercilessly with this miraculous solution. It doesn’t really get simpler than this.


Some super quick dry drops

And we leave the easiest trick for last. They call it drying drops, but we’d call it magic! The single thing you have to do with these is to apply one drop directly over your nail polish, and… it’s dry. Of course, you should still be careful with your nails afterward. But it definitely does an extraordinary job in speeding your polish drying time. This is one of the best answers to how to dry nails fast at home! Easy, effortless and quick—once you try it, you’ll never go back.


Looking forward to more nail beauty tips? You’ll love our guide for the perfect nail care routine at home. Get all the pro tips you need for the perfect manicure in the comfort of your home.


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