NAIL POLISH BUBBLES

Nail Polish Bubbles – We all hate them!

Sometimes we can’t figure out why they happen.

In this article, we will cover all the different reasons that nail polish bubbles occur and how to prevent them.

 ASK ANA

“I read that one should use acetone on the nails before applying polish to remove the excess oils.

Most of the time I’ve applied oil and nail balm (from Trind), let them dry, and then applied nail polish.

But what I’ve been experiencing lately is that my nail polish gets bubbles. I thought I might have been my new Essie Grow Stronger™ base coat, but maybe it’s the treatment I do before?” ~Cecilie

ANSWER

Yes, it is the oil and possibly the nail balm you are applying before hand that are the guilty culprits. Lacquer needs a clean, oil free surface to create a strong bond.

Nail oil definitely needs to be removed prior to your manicure. Let’s look at the Trind Nail Balsam.

Trind Nail Balsam’s Description

Contains the active ingredient BIOTINE which is a very special product. The Natural Moisturizing Factors between the layers of the nail were copied in this product. These Moisturizing Factors keep the nails supple. The main reason why many people have hard and brittle nails is because their nails lack these Moisturizing Factors.

Application once a week is all that is needed to sufficiently build strong beautiful nails.

TRIND Nail Balsam is guaranteed to be oil free. This is very important because after applying TRIND Nail Balsam, you may use nail polish or TRIND Natural Nail Repair strengthener immediately afterwards!

Trind Nail Balsam Ingredients

Water
Alcohol – solvent
Denatured Alcohol – solvent
C12-15 Alkyl Octanoate – skin conditioner
Propylene Glycol – humectant, solvent, preservative
Panthenol – humectant, emollient, moisturizer
Phytantriol – an alcohol used for it’s water binding properties www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/phytantriol
Triethanolamine -A pH balancer  www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/triethanolamine
Tocopheryl Acetate – Vitamin E
Methylparaben – An anti-fungal and preservative (possible link to breast cancer)   www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/methylparaben
Caffeine – vasoconstrictor, a diuretic, and an antioxidant when used in skincare products  www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/caffeine
Benzophenon-4 – Sunscreen, it helps prevent the integrity of other cosmetic ingredients from deteriorating under the sun.
Diazolidinyl Urea – Preservative which may be toxic and carcinogenic www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/diazolidinyl-urea
Carbomer – Thickening agent that helps distribute and suspend insoluble solids into liquid, and prevent the oil and liquid parts of a solution from separating.
Propylparaben – Anti-fungal preservative (possible link to breast cancer)  www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/propylparaben
Phospholipids – Emulsifier, it dissolves oil in water
Biotine – Known as Biotin in the US. A water soluble Vitamin B7, believed to encourage hair and nail growth but can’t be absorbed by the skin
Laureth-4 – Emulsifier and surfactant
Allantoin – Skin softener and keratolytic (helps shed the outer layer of the epidermis and promotes healthy tissue formation) www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/allantoin
Disodium EDTA -preservative, chelator and stabilizer
Blue 1 – a pretty color

My Thoughts

Here’s the really cool thing—I’m not a scientist. A lot of times I look at these ingredient lists and am as confused as you. So with trusty Google by my side, I look up each ingredient. And as a University educated woman, I draw some thoughts that don’t always match the company’s marketing.

I have never used Trind’s products so I don’t have personal experience—either positive or negative. All of the reviews of the product are extremely positive and it costs $21 USD for 1/3 of an ounce. (Average polish bottles are 1/2 oz).

The product description doesn’t convince me, since I know the only elements that can get between the keratin layers are water and sebum (body oil). Jojoba oil is the only oil molecule that is similar to sebum.

The first 3 ingredients which probably make up the bulk of the product are water, alcohol and denatured alcohol. You have water—which the nail can absorb—combined with two ingredients that are going to dissolve oil and evaporate water. Hummm….

Then I see Vitamin E—an oily substance— and several ingredients (Carbomer, Phospholipids, Laureth-4) that help dissolve oil in water. Another hummmmm….

A few ingredients seem comical to me.

Caffeine—really? It works well in skincare products because it temporarily tightens the skin. But in a nail product that is being applied to dead nail keratin?

Allantoin—something that helps shed the top layer of your skin? Why do we need that for our nails?

I’ll let you be the judge….

Bubble Causes

While I’m at it, we might as well look at ALL the reasons why nail polish bubbles while drying.

Dirty Nails

Oil and dirt are bad news with lacquer. Think of if you were to repaint your car with a fresh coat of auto lacquer but you didn’t clean it first. It’s the same with your nails.

Some polish removers contain moisturizers like Vitamin E, essential oils or glycerin. These will leave a film on your nails that interferes with the bond.

Moisture

Well, what if you wash your hands before starting your new manicure?

The first problem is that you’re adding water to your nail plate, which will cause your nail to flatten.

If you apply lacquer to wet nails, the bond will be weak because the water needs to evaporate.

Since you’ve covered the nail with a hard surface, the water will evaporate through and underneath the tips of your nails.

As your nails dry, they will curve back to their normal shape.

This causes the polish to stretch and crack.

The second problem is that you will have most likely dried your hands with a kitchen or bath towel.

Little bits of lint will stick to your nails.

Now they are no longer clean… and they’re still wet!

Spreading It On Thick

We’re all busy. And with the plethora of quick dry polishes and top coats, we’ve come to believe that we shouldn’t have to wait for polish to dry.

Why should we paint 3 thin coats when 1 thick one will work just fine. Right?

Wrong!

Polish starts as a liquid because it has a certain blend of “solvents.”

Polish dries when those “solvents” evaporate in the air. They evaporate from the top to the bottom.

If you apply thick coats, the surface of the polish layer will dry while the rest remains wet underneath.

The solvents are trapped under the dry surface and form tiny bubbles.

Too Dang Hot

Elevated body temperature or really humid and hot weather can cause nail polish bubbles. Warmer weather helps the surface of the polish dry faster than underneath.

It’s probably best to head for the shower after going to the gym and wait to polish your nails later.

Old Polish

Polish that has been used for several manicures or has been in your collection for several years may have gotten thicker.

The solvents have evaporated while you were polishing your nails or they’ve evaporated over time.

Basecoat/Polish/Topcoat Incompatibility

Some brands just don’t play nice together. Zoya is notorious among A LOT of people for not agreeing with other brand base coats or topcoats.

At the request of a fan, I double checked to make sure that my Zoya polishes work with high quality base coats and top coats.

The result was a flawless manicure—bubble free and no shrinkage.

Shaking Polish Bottle

There are many sources that say the mixing beads in your polish can incorporate air into the polish if you shake the bottle before your manicure.

I personally have yet to experience this. If your nail polish bottle is half empty though, shaking the bottle could cause bubbles to form in the polish.

I suspect that the causes for nail polish bubbles that people are experiencing is really due to one of the other reasons in this article.

Solutions

Rubbing Alcohol

I chose to look toward the professional nail industry to decide what to clean my nails with.

I found several nail-professional forums and the resounding answer on this topic was “rubbing alcohol.”

Even if someone had a favorite commercial product it was quickly pointed out that the main ingredient of all the cleansers is rubbing alcohol.

Scrub your nails clean with pure rubbing alcohol and lint free wipes. (available at Sally Beauty Supply)

It is also possible to use acetone to clean your nails. Just be sure it is pure acetone without moisturizers.

Bone Dry Nails

Surface moisture will interfere with the adhesive bond between your base coat and your natural nail.

Make sure that it’s been over an hour since your hands have been in water. Even if it was for just a few seconds. You want your nails completely dry.

If you find that you’re still having bubbling issues after scrubbing alcohol on dry nails, you may need to dry the surface of your nails just a bit more. Temporary nail dehydrators (often labeled as primers) will eliminate surface moisture for up to 30 minutes.

Base Coat

Base coats are formulated to bond to the nail plate.

Just like it’s best to use primer paint before you paint your house, it’s best to use a primer on your nails. This is the job of base coat.

“Base coats and top coats are formulated with many of the same ingredients as polish. Most base coats contain a high percentage of TAF resin to improve nail plate adhesion…and block staining. Top coats generally have high amounts of nitrocellulose with extra plasticizer and no pigments. Top coats improve wear by coating the polish with a protective shield while increasing gloss.” Doug Schoon, Nail Structure and Product Chemistry.

Steer away from products that claim to be a base coat and top coat. They simply can’t do both jobs well.

Roll Your Bottles

Instead of shaking the bottles, turn them upside down and roll the bottle between your hands.

Try not to curse too loud at the companies who thought it would be a good idea to get creative with bottle shapes. (Nicole by OPI, Ciate, Anna Sui and the one that takes the cake, Bootie Babe!)

If the polish won’t mix, you’ll need to shake it and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Better Mixing

You may want to add a couple more mixing balls if your polish is consistently difficult to mix—can we say glitters!?

I have actually discovered that several companies have stopped including mixing balls, especially Sally Hansen. I think it has happened to cut costs and keep prices lower. All of my salon quality polishes—OPI, Orly, China Glaze, Essie, etc—still contain two mixing balls. They haven’t cut back on costs by removing the mixing balls.

Thin Your Polish

Not all solvents are created equal.

Acetone is a solvent for typically used for cleaning surfaces in a laboratory. Acetone is also a good solvent for many plastics and some synthetic fibers. Acetone is primarily used on substances that have already gotten hard.

Nail polish needs solvents to keep the formula in a liquid state. Acetone is NOT one of them. The solvents I consistently see in polish ingredient lists are Butyl Acetate and Ethyl Acetate.

If you use acetone to try to thin the polish, it simply starts dissolving/breaking down the formula inside the bottle. This is why polishes thinned with acetone lose their shiny luster and chip easier.

Thinner made specifically for nail polish contains … you guessed it … Butyl Acetate and Ethyl Acetate. These are the solvents that evaporate from the bottle while you are polishing your nails. Solvent evaporation is why polish gets thick.

Although Doug Schoon doesn’t recommend polish thinners since a thinned polish will never be exactly the same as when it was brand new.

My feeling is his recommendation is focused toward nail professionals in his book (and my nail bible), Nail Structure and Product Chemistry.

Nail professionals need continuous product consistency and they need their manicures to last between salon visits. They should not be thinning polishes in the salon.

Those of us at home can be a little less strict.

To me, nail polish thinner is worth the $5 USD investment for 4 ounces. Since you’ll only use 10 to 15 drops per bottle, you will easily have enough to salvage 150 bottles of polish!

On a side note—while doing research for this article, I discovered that acetone is produced and disposed of in the human body through normal metabolic processes. It is normally present in our blood and urine. 

I find it fascinating that there is all this fear around the horrible health dangers of using acetone to remove polish! I wouldn’t recommend drinking the stuff, but like I’ve said before, big corporations have excellent public relations departments. And they spend a lot of money to convince us to believe their agenda.

And Butyl Acetate?…that solvent that is in nail polish? It is naturally found in many types of fruit, where along with other chemicals it imparts characteristic flavors and has a sweet smell of banana or apple. It is used as a synthetic fruit flavoring in foods such as candy, ice cream, cheeses, and baked goods. When I smell my bottle of polish thinner, it actually has an banana and apple fragrance! Hummmmm. ~Ana

Control The Temperature

Polish your nails in a room with still air that is not in direct sunlight. Keep the windows closed and stay away from AC vents.

If the weather is hot, work in an air conditioned room. If AC is not available and you require a fan, point it away from you while you’re painting your nails.

Do not blow on nails or wave them in the air in an attempt to get them to dry faster.

This just dries the surface of the nail polish faster and creates the perfect environment for nail polish bubbles. The solvents in the polish are trapped in the dried surface of nail polish.

Pamper Yourself

Painting thin coats using long, even strokes will allow them to dry uniformly without trapping the solvents between coats.

Thin coats should be completely dry by the time you’ve completed 10 fingers and are ready to move to the next coat.

Top Coat

Chose a high quality Top Coat to seal in your manicure. Personally, I like the quick dry top coats, but I also take my time with my polish layers so my nails are mostly dry anyway.

There are many favorites among nail bloggers—Seche Vite, Poshe, and Glisten & Glow’s HK Girl.

My favorite quick dry top coat is Sally Hansen Insta-Dry. It comes in a red bottle but is clear.

In Conclusion

Follow the above suggestions to help minimize bubbles, and like all things nail and manicure related . . . take your time.

 

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