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It may be tempting to store nail varnish sideways. After all, it’s easier to fit it into small spaces. If you’re not a professional nail tech, you don’t need to have the world’s most impressively organised collection, right?
Here’s why, although storing polish on its side may seem like a good hack when you’re lacking space, it may backfire on you in the long run.
What Can Go Wrong?
A bottle sitting on its side for a short period of time is not the end of the world (provided the lid is on!). But longer term, this is really not how you want to treat your precious collection.
Here is a quick rundown of the things that can happen if a bottle of polish is allowed to sit on its side for too long:
The Bottle Can Leak
We’ll start with the fairly obvious one. All it takes is for the lid not to be screwed on fully, and polish can drip everywhere like a melting ice cream!
Although it’s easy to think you wouldn’t make such a rudimentary mistake, you have to make allowances for the fact that you are human, and life happens. Perhaps you were running late for a night out. Perhaps you got a phone call the second you finished painting your nails, or your child needed you.
Its best to assume that, one day, you will leave a gap slightly open. If you can help it, don’t make things worse by storing the bottle on its side and speeding up the leakage. Let gravity take some of the brunt.
The Cap Can Get Sticky (or Even Stuck!)
When polish collects in the neck of a bottle, it can dry out pretty easily. And, all of a sudden, there is a horrible plug of polish, and you can’t get to the polish beneath. This is no fun when you just want to give your nails a quick bit of colour before you go out.
Your nail varnish is not a ramekin of crème brûlée.
Bonus points if the lid is actually stuck to the bottle. In this case, you may need to summon almighty grip strength or an elastic band.
The Brush Can Get Messy or Damaged
You know what happens when you don’t wash paint brushes off properly? They clump up and lose all their flexibility. They stop being a brush and morph into more of a gemstone; a hard block to which nothing can stick.
Save yourself having to salvage those hardened brushes by making sure they are covered consistently in the bottle.
Alternatively, you may find that your product is still wet on the brush, but that it has gathered on the bristles unevenly; perhaps it’s gloopy, or is spread around the handle. Either way, still not ideal.
You Waste Your Product
There are two ways this can happen. Firstly, spillage of any kind means less product for you and more to clean off the outside of the bottle, other bottles, or your precious storage space.
Then, as we have already touched upon, there is the issue of wasting what’s left in the bottles themselves. Unless you shatter or spill the contents of an entire bottle in one freak accident, this is probably the more insidious form of waste in the long run.
It Can Mess up Your Storage Area
It should go without saying that colour polish is colourful and does a great job at drying in place.
If you have purchased a beautiful storage solution, this is not what you want on it on on your other products and equipment. This comes with extra heartache if your collection is in a soft bag, as stains can permeate into fabric in a way they won’t with smooth surfaces such as glass. You can’t simply spray and wipe down fabric the way you would a kitchen counter.
All that said, a messy nail storage area is not just about spills and stains; it’s just as much about untidiness. Bottles fallen on their side in a higgledy-piggledy fashion don’t look especially nice.
What’s the Better Way to Store Polish Bottles?
In short, upright. And, if it’s your thing, with dividers.
As ever, its also good to keep your products in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight. Keep your collection in a regular place where you know you can find it, and try to organise it according to simple rules. A 2-layer organiser like this one from Yokilly is perfect if you want to store everything upright on your desk or vanity unit (accessories included).
If your woes come from having only a small storage space, you can read further about storing nail products in a small space. Alternatively, if it’s gel polish that is causing your biggest problems, this guide on how to store gel polish may come in handy.