Nail polish: expensive or cheap? To go with trendy pieces like mesh shirts and summer tops

Dear users, dear authors,
Since we here on Crazypatterns not only regularly admire and discuss amigurumi / animals, but also trendy pieces like mesh shirts, I wanted to ask how you feel about accessories—and nail polish in particular—which can be part of a cute outfit or the latest trends.
What are your thoughts on this?
Are you satisfied with cheap nail polish, or does it have to be the expensive kind? Where does “cheap” end, and where does “expensive” begin?
I have no idea if a topic like this would get any responses here, but I’ll just give it a try. :- )

I’ll admit it—I go to the nail salon regularly. It’s not exactly cheap, but I no longer have problems with brittle nails or chipping nail polish.
I have my own nails reinforced with acrylic powder, which is gentler on the nails than using UV gel.

And I think it’s great that we’re discussing topics other than crafts here for a change. :-)

Nail polish is a hot topic for me, too, since I have pretty long natural nails. I have no problem with cheap polish. However, I change the color every week. For me, the manicure consists of 4 coats: Clear coat so the nails don’t discolor
2 coats of color so it covers well
Clear coat so the polish lasts the week.
I especially like to buy small bottles (available starting at €1.50) because I enjoy using unusual colors that you can also get tired of after a while. But I buy gold-colored polish in large bottles! I just can’t get enough of it.

Hi everyone

Like Michaela, I have artificial nails. However, I do them myself because I just wouldn’t have the time to drive to a nail salon. (I’d have to plan for at least 3.5 hours, including the drive.) In my experience, nail polish lasts longer and dries faster on artificial nails.
Since, like uschimaus, I prefer bright colors, I change the color relatively often, but I also don’t have time to spend forever painting my nails. I also tend to go for smaller, more affordable bottles. However, the polish has to provide full coverage for me after the first coat.
Best regards, Birgit 

Every now and then I paint my nails. Usually with inexpensive gel polishes from the drugstore. With the right base and top coats, it lasts me a good 4–5 days. As for colors, I vary them depending on my mood. Sometimes pastel, sometimes bright and colorful, or even black—but never red. When we go out, the polish color matches my outfit; otherwise, I don’t really care... 

Red is a total no-go. Red is lame. Right now, I’m alternating between soft pink and dark blue. When I’m wearing a plain-colored outfit, a nail tattoo on my right pinky is a must. They’re super easy to apply and can be sealed with a top coat. They definitely last a week.

When you read the posts here, you get the feeling that absolutely every woman paints her nails. But if you look around, you’ll see that there are actually quite a few women who don’t wear nail polish. They just obviously never speak up on topics like this. Why? Because not wearing nail polish doesn’t fit the generally accepted image of women?
OK, then I’ll break the taboo and tell the world that I never paint my nails and have never even been to a nail salon.
I’d also like to mention here that there are actually women who wear little to no makeup, don’t wear heels, voluntarily (!) own a maximum of 10 pairs of shoes (including flip-flops :-)), have no interest in bouquets of flowers, walk past jewelry stores with a clear conscience, view shopping as an occasional necessary evil, and for whom a backpack serves as a handbag, shopping bag, and travel bag all in one.
But officially, women like this don’t seem to exist. I find that strange and would love to know why that is. Can’t big money be made off them, and is that perhaps why they’re better off being ignored? Because of the risk of contagion or something? So they don’t multiply?

So, I wear very little makeup, I’d rather be given wool than flowers (or books, for that matter ;-)) and I walk right past both jewelry stores and shoe stores without even turning around once.
I only buy shoes when I actually need them. ;-)
It’s a little different when it comes to handbags. And I treat myself to the luxury of going to the nail salon every 5–6 weeks, as well as having a pedicure.
I very rarely go shopping intentionally, and most of the time I end up going home empty-handed because I can’t find anything anyway (except wool, hehe).

@Inna
Zombie Contouring Makeup Tutorial (Parody)
https://youtu.be/bzAfGl3aQCk
I’ve got a parody here on the topic of makeup tutorials. It’s nicely done.
As is often the case with humor, tastes vary.

Don’t let it irritate you—there are plenty of people who are happy without makeup and nail polish. :)

@all
For those who still want nail polish, here are a few nice tips.
Nail Polish Review – Welt der Wunder
https://youtu.be/_IfQDtdI99E

@Josefa
The first video is really great—I was laughing so hard I was in tears :-))))

@Josefa, I know there are people who don’t need to style themselves to be happy—I’m one of them. And there are plenty of women like that around me, so I don’t feel like I’m in the minority. But there’s also a pretty large “women’s scene” that goes to great lengths to conform to a certain image of womanhood, and it’s precisely this scene that’s heavily supported by the media—so that these women feel “more right” than the others and try to lecture others on how they should be as women. With my post, I just wanted to point out that painting your nails isn’t a woman’s duty :-).

@Michaela, I think women who have hobbies are already at a big advantage, because at least they know what they’d like to receive as gifts. Women who don’t have hobbies often don’t even know what they want, so they just want what they’re supposed to want as women—like bouquets of flowers, jewelry, or spa gift certificates. I think it’s great that you wrote that you don’t fit the stereotypical image of a woman in every area. It would be really nice if women mentioned more often that they’re actually quite different in one area or another. Unfortunately, that happens very rarely.

@Inna

What you’re saying is true. Many women succumb to the “image” created by the media. You can see that just by the fact that many young women and even girls starve themselves down to a size “0” to look like their (highly questionable) “role models” Heidi Klum and the like.
In stores like H&M (I always like to call it “Thin and Gaunt” ;-)) the clothing sizes only go up to 38—there’s simply nothing left to buy there for women with curvier figures.
I think this is very wrong, because it suggests to women who are easily influenced that you’re only attractive up to dress size XY—and only if you have painted nails and tons of makeup on your face.
I’ll admit that I, too, fell for this illusion until a few years ago. Even my mom used to pressure me back then, telling me I had to “watch what I eat, or you’ll get too fat.”

Now I’ve reached the point where I have to please myself first and foremost. Anyone who doesn’t like me the way I am just has bad luck and needs to look the other way. ;-)
I have to like the image I see of myself in the mirror, and if I do, then that’s okay. I don’t care what others think of me. They’ll think what they want anyway—I have no control over that either way. ;-)

When I’m walking down the street, very few women give me the impression that they’ve stepped right out of a women’s magazine.
In my opinion—and feel free to correct me here—there’s a world of difference between what women’s magazines and the media sell as the “current image of women” and how women actually look on Germany’s streets.
There are 80.62 million people in Germany (as of 2013), which amounts to about 40 million women of all ages.
That includes a great many individual trends and 40 million opinions that the media certainly can’t fully reflect.

In my opinion, in 2016 every woman has the right to decide for herself whether she wants to go on a diet or not. Whether she likes nail polish or not, whether she likes makeup or not. Hair, makeup, etc.—just like accessories and clothing—are a way to emphasize one’s own personality and express it. This is also noticed by other people, who then form their own opinions about it.
Clothing, nail polish, etc. are always a form of communication—without words, but still quite clear.

Dear Inna,

I’m also in the “no nail polish, no makeup” camp.
I’d love to wear it, but my skin just won’t let me. I can’t tolerate just about anything, and I first had to reach “inner maturity” and find the right man (he doesn’t like “made-up” women) to just leave all that behind.
Today, I just like myself the way I am—simple and uncomplicated. And now that I’m in my early 40s, my coworkers and friends are always asking me how I manage to keep my skin looking so young.
Well, a good 15 years without makeup, and my skin thanks me with a radiant glow.

As for nail polish, unfortunately, the top layer always peels off my nails. But I always look on with envy at my coworkers who have the perfect nail polish to match every outfit. It always makes for a great look.

I really have to strongly disagree here. I've been using makeup since I was 16. On Monday I'll turn 62, and people keep commenting on how youthful I look. Makeup = aging faster doesn't fit either. But I've also never had problems with my skin. But honestly, I couldn't care less. I've now reached an age where I can easily say: "why should I care what I said yesterday," "if someone doesn't like looking at me, they should kindly look somewhere else," "I just look the way I look." And I stand by that. My great role model is the late mother of my best friend (who, sadly, has also passed away by now). That lady was still treating herself, at almost 90 years old, to every fashionable extravagance she felt like. And she was very extravagant!!!!!! That wouldn't be for me. I'm not a bird of paradise. But I learned from her that I only need enough self-confidence to style my outfit the way I think is right. And to do that without looking left and right to see what others think. Although it really doesn't matter at all whether hippie flower-power Birkenstocks or a little suit with high heels are my goal.
Only one thing really counts: presence!!!!!!!!!! Head up, back straight, firm step. That shows self-confidence. Then it doesn't matter at all whether the nail polish matches the outfit.
@Pe-Ka: Maybe it will comfort you if I tell you how I got into nail polish. Until I was 40, I was a terrible nail-biter. I chewed every nail down, no matter what. Because I didn't know how to help myself anymore, and I was so ashamed, I tried nail polish. That helped. Today I have very long natural nails. You don't have to grow your nails the way I do, of course. But there are a few tricks for beautiful nails.
-Gently remove cuticles without pressure. Don't cut, just push them back
- Shape nails with a sandpaper file from the top down to the side (that gives you a firm      edge that won't split
- Paint nails 4 times: base coat (simple clear polish), so the nails don't get discolored. Apply colored polish twice so it covers well. And very important: another coat of clear polish on top, then the polish lasts longer. Polishes are so good today that after about 30 minutes they're already fairly dry (but not impact-proof). They're really good only the next morning.   It should last a week that way. Of course, the polish can't withstand extreme scrubbing around the house. A good nail polish remover that doesn't immediately damage the nails again, i.e. dry them out, is important.
And if you say to yourself: "I don't want to," then you don't have to, and stand by that too.

@uschimaus

That’s pretty much how I ended up with my artificial nails.
I didn’t bite my nails, but I did pick at the skin on my fingers with my fingernails. It looked really bad at times, it hurt, and it even got infected sometimes.
That doesn’t happen anymore with artificial nails because they don’t have such sharp edges.
So ever since I started getting my nails reinforced, I’ve finally had beautifully manicured hands. :-)

It seems as though decorating your nails is mostly meant to cover something up—health problems, bad habits. Wouldn’t it make more sense to find the causes of these issues rather than just hiding them? :-)

@ Inna Biting your nails or picking at your cuticles is a form of self-aggression that begins in childhood and carries over into adulthood as an unconscious, almost automatic action. If, by painting my nails, I become aware of this automatic behavior and then no longer need this substitute action—even when there’s no polish on—then I’ve moved past it and have no further need to explore it. Psychoanalytic navel-gazing is out of place here. Besides, I think nail polish is pretty. I like to experiment with colors (all of them, in fact!) and I don’t shy away from nail tattoos either. Sometimes I just don’t feel like painting my nails, and I still don’t have to pick at them. For me, that means: case closed. Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To be honest, it doesn’t matter whether the nail polish is cheap or expensive—what many people don’t know is that you should always apply two coats of nail polish so it can reach its full coverage. You should also always use a base coat—it not only ensures a smooth surface but also helps the polish last longer :) And finally, don’t forget a top coat, which prevents the polish from chipping quickly, and you’ll have 3–4 weeks of peace of mind without chipped nails.

@uschimaus
I know where the nail-biting comes from; I didn’t want to put it so bluntly so as not to offend anyone. So that psychoanalytic navel-gazing didn’t come from me.
Actually, I’d always assumed that people polish their nails because they think it looks nice. It wasn’t until reading the posts here that I learned there are often completely different reasons for it. That surprised me, which is why I asked what I think is a very logical rhetorical question.