Does Nail Polish have a Shelf Life?

[impcon]

I have some unopened bottles of nail polish that I have accumulated over the last few years for possible projects and I am wondering if anyone knows whether the stuff has a shelf life or not. My wife said that she had some that seemed to go bad after it sat for some time but inail polish is basically lcaquer from what I understand and lacquer is forever soluable in it's own solvents. My thinking is that she never agitated ( stirred - shook ) her nail polish enough because I know from experience that lacquer will settle and needs to be stirred thouroughly - especially anything with metallic particles in it. Anyone have any ideas?

[Ace-Garageguy]

You're 100% correct. If it will still move around at all in the bottle, agitation and thinning as appropriate will bring it back.

[vypurr59]

If it seems to thick for nails, it may be that the thinner has evaporated. Sometimes just adding a small amount of thinner and shaking will help revive it. But I have even taken completely dried up bottles of it and added thinner and got it back to a liquid state. These were also no metalflake, solid color nail polishes.

[impcon]

Thanks guys. Your posts confirm what I thought. I am not so sure that having or not having the aluminum "sparkle" would matter. The polish or paint is just a carrying agent for the metallic particles and shouldn't make a difference. When I was painting 1:1 cars, I used lacquer primer originally and as said, even when dried up, it can be rejuvenated by adding thinners and stirring.

[1930fordpickup]

The wife may leave the lid off to long when applying to her nails , that may be way she thinks it is bad. It does take awhile for the girls to paint and talk on the phone at the same time.