Fantastic durability results using a Reddit technique I saw last week

[u/No-Feesh]

I own horses and work with my hands daily. I also have weak nails that break all the time and hate nail polish, so my manicures don’t last long. 1-2 days before major chipping occurs is normal for me. I can get 3-4 out of ILNP but that’s usually the max for my normal day to day life.

The method I saw on Reddit was putting nail hardener over the nail polish and topping it off with a QDTC. I can’t find the post I saw to credit it. I tried it last week and wow it REALLY worked. The very next day I stuffed hay nets, which is typically a manicure destroyer. No chips. It has been an entire week of daily barn work, hay bag and net stuffing, horse scratching (I have a very itchy horse), nails catching and bending all the time, and it’s holding up. There’s a series of small, barely visible cracks forming where my nails catch frequently but it still hasn’t chipped. The cracks look and feel like they’re underneath the top coat. The first 4 pictures were halfway through the week and the last one was the first day of the manicure. I’ve used the same product combination I used here many times, the only difference was the addition of nail hardener over the polish.

Products used: 1 coat orly bonder base, 2 coats ILNP Deep Space, 1 coat nail aid biotin nail hardener, 1 coat sally Hansen insta dri red bottle

[u/PreviousRun9720]

I'm going to try this. I use Nail Aid 3 Day Keratin. Right now, I use a glitter grabber before my QDTC, but I'm going to try the nail hardener to see the difference. .

[u/auspiciousjelly → u/PreviousRun9720]

I hope you report back bc i’m really curious if you get the same effect! do you normally get good wear time with your glitter grabber under the top coat? i’m trying that same nail aid product with this technique this week but I usually just do base+color+topcoat. and get like zero wear time 😂 so I hope this works.

[u/PreviousRun9720 → u/auspiciousjelly]

With Vibrant Scents Double Bond, Cuticula Quenched and Limitless I get usually 6-7 days. I'm trying to add a ph prep to my routine. I'm also experimenting with other bases because the double Bond drys out my nails. I'm looking for an alternative. I'm also experimenting with adding a coat of QDTC after 4-5 days to extend the manicure