Applying gel nails on our nails, depending on the type, color or design, takes quite a long time. As beautiful as they can be after application, several factors can damage your nails and make them look as if you didn’t do your best to take good care of them. One of the related problems we face is the melting of nail polish. However, Why is my nail polish melting?
If your nail polish is melting, it’s likely because you applied it too thickly. Thick coats of polish can make your nails feel heavy and cause them to soak up the excess liquid and drip. To avoid this, use a thin coat of polish and let it dry before applying another layer. This article will discuss other reasons why your nail polish melts.
4 Reasons Nail Polish Melts
1. Acetone
One of the common factors is caused by Acetone. Acetone is a colorless, volatile, flammable liquid ketone (CH3)2CO, used as a solvent. It is the main ingredient in many nail polish removers and can remove nail polish.
If nail polish is dried on the nail and comes in contact with a solvent such as acetone, it can make the nail polish return to liquid form, thus melting.
Acetone is the strongest, so it removes the varnish quickly, an can alsoout the skin. Acetone dissolves the resins that hold the varnish to the nail, causing the nail polish to be easily removed. It is formed by using acetate, such as calcium acetate.
Thus, it breaks down the chemical necessary to make your polish stick to your nails. It allows air to escape through it, and as the air escapes and melts into a small amount of residual polymer.
2. Heat
Another reason your nail polish is melting could be that you’re bringing it too close to the fire. You should know that nail polish is made of flammable chemicals.
So when your dried nail polish is very close to your cooker when cooking, it melts by ignition as most dried chemicals do.
Using expired or nonstandard nail polish could also be why your nail polish doesn’t last long. Products without standards exhibit their faults after some time, so don’t think when applying the lapsed nail polish that nothing goes wrong at the process means nothing could go wrong later on.
3. Weather condition
Another factor could be weather conditions. Nail polish doesn’t like it too hot. When the sun is hot, it affects the nails by dissolving them for evaporation. So next time you’re about to go out to the sun, look for possible solutions to protect your nails.
4. Alcohol
Additionally, another nail polish melting conductor we discovered is alcohol. Keep your nails off alcohol if you don’t want this problem.
This is because alcohol is a solvent that helps break down things such as nail polish. Soaking your nails in alcohol or rubbing alcohol to your nails which may also include vinegar (which most of us use as a cleaning agent, especially in the kitchen), can easily melt nail polish.
Nail Polish Melting Temperature
The melting point of nail polish is 450 degrees F. They may melt if you leave your nails under a heat lamp or in the sun. As the temperature of a solvent increases, the molecules move around. This means that they can move around more freely and that their bonds are weaker.
The solubility of a substance in a solvent is related to the strength of its bonds. At lower temperatures, the bonds are stronger and less likely to break apart when they encounter an interface between two phases. At higher temperatures, however, these bonds are weaker and more likely to break apart.
Can Nail Polish Withstand Heat?
No, nail polish can’t withstand heat. Nail polish is made to withstand a lot of things, but heat is not one of them. Nail polish is made to protect your nails and make them look good, but it’s not designed to withstand heat.
If you’re applying nail polish and then putting your hands in hot water or wrapping them around a warm cup of coffee, you could experience some issues. The best way to avoid this is to keep your hands away from the heat when using nail polish.
Also, nail polish is flammable and can catch fire if you’re not careful. The heat from the flame can cause your nail polish to change color or even catch fire. Keep any open flames away from your nail polish bottle to prevent this from happening.
How to Fix Melted Nail Polish
Nail polish is a beauty essential, but it can be a pain when your favorite shade melts or gets too thick. The good news is that you can use a few tricks to fix melted nail polish and save the day. You can do the following:
1. Shake the bottle of the nail polish
The first thing you’ll need to do is shake the bottle of nail polish. This will mix up the ingredients and eliminate any air bubbles that may have formed at the top of the bottle.
2. Scrape off the nail polish if it melts on your nails
If your nail polish is melted onto your nail but still intact enough that you can see the original color underneath, try scraping away as much of the original color as possible before applying acetone-based remover to a cotton swab and dabbing it on top of the remaining bits of melted polish until they come off completely (this may take several attempts).
3. Store your nail polish in a cool place
You can prevent your nail polish from melting by storing it in a cool place. Make sure you don’t store it on your heater or near any open windows during the summertime.
Conclusion
Preventing your polished nails from melting isn’t a difficult task at all. Just ensure you keep off from some things against your nail polish or things capable of melting your gel nails, such as solvents, too much heat or fire, alcohol on your nails, and so on.
You should also know that when gel polish melts on your fingers is no cause for alarm, and it is not a medical case. You must avoid some habits to get your gel nails back to normal. Remember to keep off from anything that will damage those beautiful nails.