How to dry nail polish faster
11/17/25 7:11pm
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Use these tips to make your nail polish dry faster:
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- Submerge your nails in an ice bath.
- Dry your nails in front of a fan.
- Turn your hair dryer onto its cool setting and hold it a few inches above your hands, aiming the air flow toward your nails. Don’t use a hot setting, which could cause your polish to bubble.
- After your nails have dried for a few minutes, apply quick-dry nail polish spray or drops. Find them at beauty supply stores, Ulta, CVS, or Walgreens.
- Apply a quick-drying top coat or use quick-drying nail polish.
Note that if your nail polish is taking an unusually long time to dry, it’s probably because you’re applying it too thick. You’re supposed to apply a base coat in a very thin even layer, and then let that dry for about 1-2 minutes, then apply your first coat of polish color. Sometimes, people apply that first polish coat way too thick because they want to see the pigment of the color right away, but it's like if you're painting a wall—you do the first coat for coverage, and then the second coat is really to get the true color of what's in the bottle.
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