Seche Vite tutorial: how to keep it in perfect shape, avoid shrinkage and how to apply

This is how I keep my favorite top coat Seche Vite Dry Fast top coat happy, subsequently also myself, avoid shrinkage and I apply it....
I have used Seche Vite (often referred to as SV) almost 3 years now, and almost nothing really compares. HK Girl is a close rival, but I experienced smudging of nail art with it, and that's a no go for me.

OK, back to my beloved Seche Vite!

Part one: How to keep Seche Vite thinned and ready to go...

I always buy the "Professional Kit": one normal sized bottle of Seche Vite 14ml/0.5 fl oz and one large bottle 118ml/4 fl oz - and I always buy the large bottle of Seche Restore 59ml/2 fl oz that comes with a dropper, but you can choose to buy a smaller bottle with a built in dropper in the lid.

When I have used about this much (red arrow) - I add 7-10 drops of the Seche Restore thinner and gently roll it.

Sometimes I use my Seche Vite a few times more before I fill it up with fresh Seche Vite from the large bottle, in that case I often add a few further drops of Seche Restore before filling it up. I just carefully pour it right from the large into the small.
It's not an exact science, you soon will get into a routine - because this is all about experience...

Part two: How to avoid shrinkage...

If I get lazy and do not thin my Seche Vite until I'm this far (red arrow) down the bottle and my Seche Vite is getting a bit goopy, I do experience shrinkage like on the photo below - and more (maybe 15 or so) drops of Seche Restore are needed before filling the bottle up with fresh Seche Vite from the big bottle.

The shrinking normally isn't this bad until the day after when everything has completely dried, also remember how much the nail is enlarged in this photo, so the shrinkage naturally isn't this obvious in person.

Thoughts on shrinkage in general:
Personally I never experienced tip shrinkage that I have heard mentioned by others. But here are my thoughts on that and other shrinkage problems:
01. Did you remember to apply both polish and Seche Vite to the free edge of the nail tip?
02. Maybe you apply Seche Vite when your polish still is wet (too wet) - I always wait until my polish is a few minutes dry.
Have you by the way noticed that your second coat (not to mention third coat) of polish actually also shows shrinkage if you apply it too soon after the first (that even might have been applied to a not too dry base coat) - not at once, but as soon as all the layers dries completely after several hours/the next day?
So I'm thinking that if you add Seche Vite or another top coat on the several and still fairly wet coats, shrinkage is bound to happen with any top coat, and yes I tested it.
03. Did you use a thick enough coat? See more in Part three below!
04. I never apply thin coats of nail polish, so maybe that's why Zoya unfortunately dries extremely slowly on me. Even if I wait 10 -15 minutes or so - I still get shrinkage - it brings me back to 02.
05. Finally the unknown factor called body chemistry probably plays a role and makes polishes and top coats react differently from person to person.

Part three: How to apply and use Seche Vite...

The main thing is to use enough - add a rich and generous coat, that's important!! 

This is how I use my Seche Vite, If the bottle is full/almost full, I wipe one side of the brush lightly on the inside of the bottle neck, leaving a good drop like on the photo below:

I place my drop of Seche Vite in the area of the red circle - again not an exact science, it all comes with experience....

- make sure NOT to press the Seche Vite thin, the coat should be rich, loosen your wrist!!
Use a light movement to spread it over the nail (remember the free edge) and take advantage of the amazing self-leveling ability. If you have long nails you probably need to wipe less of the brush and/or dip twice.
If you normally apply thin coats of nail polish you need to rethink that when you apply Seche Vite!
Remember a generous coat!!

If you follow the simple steps above you hopefully will love Seche Vite as much as I do - I couldn't imagine a life without it - at least not a polished life without it!!

Find more tutorials (also how the make your mani last) in the DIY + tips and tricks tab in the menu at the top of my blog - or click HERE!

DYI Homemade nail polish remover, 2 recipes – hjemmelavet neglelak fjerner, 2 opskrifter

Why spend a fortune on nail polish remover, when you easily can make a cheap one yourself?

There is a lot of recipes to be found on the internet, I tried what I thought looked the best, and adjusted it to meet my needs. I like a polish remover to work fast, but it shouldn't dry out the skin and nails, like pure acetone does.

I also came up with another even simpler recipe, that I’ll give you too.

Hvorfor bruge en formue på neglelakfjerner, når du let kan lave det billigt selv?

Der er masser af opskrifter på internettet, og jeg besluttede at bruge de af dem, der så bedst ud, og justerede dem derefter så resultatet mødte mit behov. Jeg foretrækker en neglelakfjerner, der virker hurtigt, men uden at den udtørrer hud og negle som ren acetone gør.

Jeg har også selv lavet en endnu lettere opskrift, som jeg giver dig til sidst.

 Recipe 1/opskrift 1

You need/du skal bruge:

Pure acetone/ ren acetone

Glycerin

Water/vand

A glass container/en glas beholder.

Something to meassure in, et decilitermål af stål, eller andet at måle med.

Something to stir with/noget at røre med.

A newspaper/something to protect your table with/en avis eller andet til at beskytte bordet, du arbejder ved.

A container for your finished product (could be an empty acetone bottle)/en beholder, f.eks. en tom acetoneflaske, til at have dit færdige resultat i.

optional/valgfrit: fragrance/duft

01. First of all, you need to check, that the items you are going to use are resistant to acetone. There are no problems with glass and steel, that’s why I chose those materials and the original acetone bottle.

Allerførst skal du tjekke, at de du vil bruge kan tale acetone. Derfor har jeg brugt ting af glas og stål, samt den originale acetone flaske.

02. Pour 425ml (milliliter) acetone in your container, don’t worry it hasn’t to be that precise.

Hæld 425ml. acetone i din beholder (det er godt 4 dcl.), og det behøver altså ikke være så præcist.

03. Add 50-60ml glycerin.

Tilsæt 50-60ml. glycerin (godt en ½ dcl.)

04. Stir, and let it rest. You probably will see some of the glycerin layering as pearls on the bottom after a little while, that is why a glass container is great to use. The acetone is saturated and cannot dissolve the rest of the glycerin. You can add just a little more acetone. But first I prefer to take around 50 ml of water, and I add it gradually, while stirring, let it settle as you go along and then you add more, if necessary. You can add more or less, as long as the glycerin is dissolved completely, or at least almost.

Rør rundt, og lad blandingen hvile. Efter et lille øjeblik ser du formentlig lidt glycerin, der er faldet til bunds som perler, det er derfor en glasbeholder er god at blande i. Acetonen er mættet og kan ikke opløse mere glycerin. Du kan nu tilsætte en lille smule mere acetone. Men jeg foretrækker først at tage ca. ½ dlc. (50 ml) vand, som du gradvist tilføjer under omrøring. Lad blandingen hvile undervejs og se, om der fortsat synker glycerin til bunds, og tilsæt så mere vand. Men mere end den nævnte mængde er næppe nødvendig, og det betyder heller ikke noget, hvis der er nogle få perler af glycerin, der ikke er opløst.

05. If you like your nail polish remover to have a more pleasant fragrance and be a little more oily, you can add drops of an essential oil of your choice – or a cuticle oil with a strong fragrance.

Hvis du gerne vil have din neglelakfjerner til at dufte og, så kan du tilsætte nogle dråber af en hvilken som helst æterisk olie, som du synes om, eller du kan bruge en lidt for parfumeret neglebåndsolie, det tilføjer også lidt ekstra olie til blandingen.

Recipe 2 – opskrift 2

You also can mix pure acetone with a cheap, oil based acetone-free polish remover, that in itself maybe isn’t effective at all.

You need to mix the remover in the acetone gradually, lightly shake or stir, and test it on your nails to obtain the level of “greasiness” combined with a good ability to remove polish.  

In Denmark we have a brand called DKS Impulsiv a cheap supermarket brand, that I use for this purpose. They do export to a number of countries, so you might be able to find it where you live. 

I use approximately 1/10 part DKS Impulsiv to 1 part acetone. That is aprox. 1 lid full (10ml) of the DKS to 90-100ml acetone. If you do not have a funnel, you can fold some tin foil, at use that.
Scroll down to see my dispenser bottles.

En anden og endnu mere simple løsning er at købe en billig, oliebaseret acetone fri neglelakfjerner, der måske i sig selv ikke virker specielt effektivt.

F.eks. er DKS Impulsiv et godt bud, og 100ml. koster i vores lokale Føtex 20 kroner. Jeg plejer at hælde den gradvist i og teste indimellem, så jeg føler at mine fingre er tilpas ”olierede”, men uden at det går ud over effektiviteten og tiden det tager at fjerne lakken. 

Jeg bruger ca. 1 kapsel (ca. 10ml) DKS Impulsiv til lige knap 1 dcl. acetone, altså til ca. 90 - 100ml, men prøv dig frem, så det passer DIG bedst. Hvis du ikke har en tragt, kan du bare folde en af alufolie.

I love my dispenser bottles (bought on Ebay from China at a very low price). I have one for pure acetone for cleaning stamping plates/tools, one for rubbing alcohol for removing any oily residue on my nails before applying base coat, and one for each of my DIY polish removers. They are simple to use, place a cotton pad, press down a few times - ready to use...
Jeg elsker mine smarte dispenser flasker, som jeg har købt billigt fra Kina på Ebay. Jeg har en til ren acetone til brug når jeg skal gøre stamping plader og redskaber rne, en til propylalkohol, som jeg affedter minenegle med inden jeg lægger base coat, og en til hver af mine egne blandinger. De er enkle at bruge, læg en vantrondel på, pres ned et pargange - færdig til brug...