Clear Nail Polish Is the Most Grown-Up Manicure

Clear Nail Polish Is the Most Grown-Up Manicure

Clear nail polish is the manicure that never looks chipped, and a good top coat makes bare nails look shiny, healthy and finished. These are the clear top coats and sheer veils I trust, the base coats that protect, and the cuticle oils that keep everything looking cared for.

There is something very grown up about a clear manicure. It says you take care of yourself without saying anything else, it never clashes with an outfit, and when it chips, nobody can tell.

Clear nail polish also has a surprisingly industrial history. The glossy lacquer we paint on our nails grew out of the car paint developed in the 1920s, when chemists found a quick-drying, high-shine finish for automobiles and someone realized it would work just as well on a hand. Almost a century later, a good top coat is still doing the same job: making something look polished, glassy and protected.

Chanel's Le Gel Coat is the one I would start with. It is a longwear top coat that gives a gel-like shine without a lamp. Essie's Gel Couture Top Coat is similar, thick and glossy, and Londontown's Kur Diamond Shine gives that glassy finish on bare nails or over color. China Glaze's Fast Forward dries quickly, which matters more than it should on a busy morning.

Butter London's Hardwear Shine Topcoat is another high-shine finish, and Dermelect's Expedite is made to protect and prolong whatever sits beneath it. Mineral Fusion's Gel Top Coat is a nail treatment and top coat in one. And Dior's Nail Glow is the one that changes what a clear manicure can be. It is a sheer treatment that gives nails a soft pink tint and a French manicure effect, just by being on.

Two thin coats, every time, and let each one dry before the next.

Collage on a white background showing Chanel LE GEL COAT Longwear Top Coat, Chanel LA BASE CAMÉLIA Fortifying Base Coat, Dior Huile Abricot Nail & Cuticle Serum, Essie Gel Couture Top Coat, Dior Base Vernis Protective Nail Care Base, butter LONDON QuickFix Moisturizing Cuticle Balm, Londontown Kur Diamond Shine Nail Top Coat, Essie Strong Start Base Coat and Clinique Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle Cream with Hyaluronic Acid.
Clear top coats, a strengthening base and cuticle oil, the whole grown-up manicure.

Clear top coats and sheer veils

Start with the base

The base coat is the unglamorous part of a clear manicure, and it is where the health of your nails gets decided. It gives polish something to grip, keeps color from staining, and smooths ridges so the top coat lies flat.

Chanel's La Base Camélia is a fortifying base coat named for the camellia, the flower Coco Chanel loved, and it gives nails a smooth, even surface. Dior's Base Vernis is a protective base that keeps nails looking neat under anything. Essie's Strong Start is a base coat that helps polish grip and nails look stronger.

If your nails peel or bend, reach for a treatment first. Butter London's Horse Power Nail Rescue basecoat is made for weak nails, and Londontown's Nail Hardener doubles as a base coat. China Glaze's Strong Adhesion base keeps polish from lifting at the tips, which is usually where a manicure starts to go. Manucurist's Active Smooth is a strengthener and ridge filler in one, so uneven nails look glassy under a single coat of clear.

Here is a small secret. On days you do not feel like doing a full manicure, a base coat alone looks lovely. It is clear and a little glossy, and it gives nails a layer of protection while you type, cook and dig through your bag for keys. Most of the time nobody can tell the difference between that and a proper manicure, and you will not either.

Base coats and strengtheners

The cuticles are the whole trick

If you only do one thing for your nails, oil your cuticles. Dry, ragged cuticles make even a perfect manicure look neglected, while soft ones make bare nails look cared for. It takes about ten seconds and you can do it at your desk.

Dior's Huile Abricot is the classic, an apricot nail and cuticle serum with a brush that makes it feel like a small ritual. L'Occitane's Strengthening Shea Nail and Cuticle Oil is thirty percent shea oil, with apricot and almond oils, and it softens cuticles quickly. Butter London's QuickFix balm is a solid balm, easy to keep in a bag without leaks. Dermelect's Rejuvenail and Londontown's Kur Get Well Nail Recovery are both treatments for nails that feel dry, thin or tired after gel.

Then there are hand creams, because your hands get washed more than any other skin you have. Clarins' Hand and Nail Treatment Cream is a rich cream that looks after hands and nails at once. Clinique's Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle Cream has hyaluronic acid for the dry patches around the nail, and Caudalie's Hand and Nail Cream is full of antioxidants and suits every skin type.

My routine is oil at night, cream every time I wash my hands, and a little of both in winter. After two weeks your nails will look like you had a manicure, even when you did not.

Cuticle oils and hand creams

How to make it last a week

Clear polish forgives a lot, but a few habits keep it looking fresh for a full week. Start with clean, dry nails with no oil on them, then do one thin base coat, one or two thin coats of clear, and a top coat. Run the brush along the very tip of each nail, which seals the edge and slows chipping.

If you have ten minutes on a Sunday, file your nails into shape and gently push back your cuticles after a shower, and the week's manicure goes on in half the time. Add a fresh layer of top coat every two or three days. It brings the shine back and fills in tiny scratches. Wear gloves for dishes. And when you take it off, use a gentle remover and follow with cuticle oil, so your nails get a proper rest before the next round. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Chrome Nail Polish, From a Last-Minute Met Gala Fix to Everyday Mirror and Nail Polish Brands, From Twelve Shades in Las Vegas to a Brooklyn Apartment.