I am the ultimate at home manicure DIYer, I love doing my nails at home, it’s so calming for me. Before I became mom part of my Sunday night ritual was paining my nails for the week. I loved the ritual of getting out my tools and choosing a colour to paint my nails for the week. The worst thing however about at home manicures is waiting for the polish to dry. I have looked for the best ways to get polish to dry quickly; when I was in high school I used to place my nails under running water or put them in the freezer for a while, lol. Luckily I have graduated to better ways of getting my nails to dry.

Essence Express Dry Spray

Once you have applied all your liquid nail products, you spray your nails with this product to set the liquid. The spray form is convenient and easy to apply on the nail, but I do find that there is a lot of wastage because aerosol is not the most efficient way to apply a product. The product does deliver what it promises, you just have to make sure that each nail gets sufficiently sprayed. You can buy the Essence Express Dry Spray for R54.95.

Essence Nail Art Express Dry Drops

This product is in liquid form and applies onto the nails using a dropper, one drop per nail is sufficient – it has a thin, oily consistency. I did find that the dropper application makes it a bit harder to apply because the nails are still wet and then you have to use a dropper – not ideal. The product did dry the nails fast – I give it full marks for that. The oil in it also helps to keep the skin around the nail moist. The nail drops retail for R44.95.

CND Vinylux Weekly Top Coat

This product claims to keep your manicure in tact for 7 whole days – I have gotten a good 5 days of in tact manicure when I use it. This does not happen every time, I have found that it depends on the brand of nail polish that you use. What I like about this product is that it acts as a top coat and it sets your manicure so it combines those 2 steps. It is a bit pricey though, it retails for around R200 – you can find it at Sorbet salons. Even with the hefty price tag, I am going to replace it when this one runs out, I love it that much.

How do you make sure that your at home manicure sets fast?