“This at-home nail polish is long-lasting, doesn’t chip and delivers a glossy, high-shine finish”

I’ve been on a bit of a journey with my nails recently. While they once grew long and strong, I noticed them becoming a bit more brittle as I approached my mid-30s. Suddenly, I was struggling to get them to grow even half the length that they used to before they’d abruptly break. And before I knew it, strands of hair were getting caught in broken nails while washing my hair in the shower.

To combat the signs of flaking and snapping, I’ve been giving my nails a break from gels, opting for regular nail polish whenever I wanted to refresh my fingertips. And I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how far innovations within the world of nail polish have come.

As a teenager, at-home manicures often saw me furiously blowing on my nails (a totally counterproductive method, I grew to learn) or holding them in front of a fan, only to take one step and realise my right thumb was completely smudged. That’s before I even mention the awkward-to-use nail brushes and how they caused thick, clumpy streaks that were difficult to rectify without taking everything off and starting from scratch.

But today’s formulas have been created to combat and fix all these old-age problems, and promise high-shine finishes, quick drying times, zero streaking and long-wear formulations that manage to stay chip-free for more than a week. While trialling and testing different options during my no-gel manicure stint, I came across a formula that manages to tick all of the boxes: Nails.Inc’s 1-Step Gel It’s Topless Nail Polish, £8.99.

Hinted at by the name, this nail polish has been created to be the only step you need for an at-home manicure. Described as a ‘four-in-one’, it combines the benefits of a base coat, treatment, colour and top coat into one bottle, and while that might sound like a huge promise, it really does deliver.

It applies smoothly without the need for a separate base coat, but it’s the brush that really helps here. The wide brush ensures an even distribution of product, while the shape has been designed to hug the curve of your nail bed to avoid smudging and minimise how many layers you need. Once you’re done, you don’t need a separate top coat, which means this handy bottle lends itself to the speediest at-home manicure application. It also dries into a gel-like finish without the need for a UV lamp. The caveat: I found it needs slightly longer than its stated 50-second dry time, so make sure you allow enough time for it to set.

As for the finish: expect high-shine gloss, solid colour pay-off and, in all honesty, a finish that manages to make even my haphazard skills look semi-professional. Of course, manicurists will always reign supreme, but for an at-home option that looks great, has minimal steps and is super fast to do, this has (sorry, but I’ve got to say it…) nailed it.

Images: Getty; Nails.Inc