Dark nail polish is seen as high fashion this year

The problem with dark nails is that chips tend to be more noticeable.
By ANNA WALLNER and KRISTINA MATISIC
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Short, darkly painted nails are one of this year's hottest fashion accessories. Think deep red, chocolate brown or even a purple so dark it's almost black. The problem with such rich hues is that chips tend to be especially noticeable.
Will spending more on polish result in a better, longer lasting result? We let our fingers do the testing and here's what we found:
Spending more does not get you a better product. We found that drugstore brands last just as long and looked just as shiny as designer, department store brands. How you apply the polish is more important than how much you spend on it.
When going with a dark color, be sure to use a base coat. It will protect the nail from yellowing. And all polishes can benefit from a top coat to protect the color and the shine.
Some nail polish contains DBP, or dibutyl phthalate, a chemical that in large doses has been shown to cause birth defects. To play it safe, check those tiny ingredient lists. There are polishes on the market that don't contain DBP.
We are not big fans of nail strengtheners as many of them contain toluene and formaldehyde resins. (Watch for these ingredients in some polishes too.) In large doses, these compounds have been found to be toxic and carcinogenic. While these ingredients can strengthen nails in the short term, in the long term, they can cause brittleness and discoloration.
Fast-dry polishes may save you time up front, but they do tend to peel and flake faster than other types.
Water-based polishes that don't contain these scary chemicals may sound like a good idea but in our tests, these products were more finicky to use and didn't last as long as regular polish.