Nail polish/ top coat/ strengthener Questions?

I have just recently stopped chewing my nails and have been over painting them so they're pretty dry. What is the difference between putting a regular top coat, regular nail polish and a strengthening coat.





Also, I was wondering if those coats that claim to make your nails grow faster actually work.





What are the negative effects of using a 7 sided nail buffer stick. Does it make them weak?





How do you keep the tips clean? The underside of my nails are really dirty and I've never run across this problem since my nails have never been this long.





How often is it healthy to paint my nails? I don't want to over dry them.





How unhealthy is nail polish remover?





THANKS! I know that's a lot but I just have all these questions. :] You can answer as many or little as you'd like. Incite and examples are welcomed.Nail polish/ top coat/ strengthener Questions?
WOW!





lostsa questions.





first Q:


a top-coat is usually a clear, polish-like substance that you are supposed to put over your normal coat of nail polish after it dries.


regular nail polish is just, well, regular nail polish. the more coats, the darker, but i advise against more than two coats. three could work, but that's a bit risky. then, if you put more than two, sometimes it wont even dry completely no matter how long you fan them.


a strengthening coat is the exact same as a top-coat, except for it sounds more intriguing because it sounds like it would protect your nails from damage better. it doesn't.





second Q:


no, those advertisements are completely false. no nail polish or coats make your nails grow faster. the only reason why it may seem that way is because when you put your nail polish on, your nails may be shorter because you just trimmed them. then, a week later when you remove the nail polish, your nails have naturally grown at their same pace, it's just you notice it more.





third Q:


yes, it does weaken your nails, but it really depends. honestly, it's obvious that it would weaken your nails even a little, because every single side brushes or scrapes away SOME part of the nail. for example, the buffer takes off a very thin layer of nail on top to make the nail shiny. but really, as long as you're not using it more than twice a week, it will make no difference whatsoever.





fourth Q:


buy a nail-clipper at CVS or something. it's not only a nail clipper, but it also has a little, tiny knife-looking object that you can swing forward, and it scrapes underneath your nails without hurting you, because it's hardly sharper than a butter knife. if you can't find a nail-clipper (i cant see why not, ask your mom or something) then any sturdy, thin object will serve its purpose for scraping under your nails.





fifth Q:


it is healthy to paint your nails every other week. i would suggest painting them one sunday, keeping it on for a week, and then removing it the next, and go without nail polish for a week, and so on... as long as you wash your hands regularly (with soap!) and use some kind of hand lotion, then you're good to go with the dryness problem. but it's still good to give your nails a break.





sixth Q:


nail polish remover is perfectly healthy. mostly it's just rubbing alcohol with some other harmless fluids mixed in.





i hope my info was valuable to you! :)