The Polish That’s Like Highlighter For Your Nails

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In my next life, maybe I’ll come back as a manicure person — one of those folks who manages to carve out the time for a weekly nail appointment, a restrained woman who doesn't immediately turn microscopic chips into craters. Or, someone with a steady enough hand to do an at-home manicure without making a total mess of things.

Instead, I’m someone who has never met a manicure I didn't ruin within an hour of getting it. Though I don’t always want a bright color, I do like having my nails done; there’s something about looking down at my fingers when I’m typing and feeling like I have my shit together because my nails are polished.

Clear polish, then, is the easiest and most obvious choice for someone like me, but everything I’ve tried seems to lose its luster within hours and does nothing to address the inherent dullness of my nails, which are often tinged slightly blue as if I’m permanently shivering.

The miracle product, which I finally found, is Dior’s Nail Glow. It looks like diluted pink Jell-O in the bottle, but with just one swipe it adds the most perfect rosy-tinged shine to your nails (here’s an example). It turns dull, yellow nail beds into the stuff of hand models. Got a big meeting or job interview in an hour? One coat makes your nails presentable, and it’s is subtle enough that even if you smudge one, it’s hard to notice.

If you’re regularly requesting Ballet Slippers at the salon but constantly dinging your manicure before you even walk out the door, this one’s for you.