hellooo everyone!!, its been almost a year of my nail blogging hiatus, and I realized that
I still am buying nail polish like crazy so I need to put it to good use that I miss blogging so much! I have a lot of polishes I need to review for you guys, but first I must tell you about a problem I have been having for a while, that I sort-of resolved, which will result in this blog post.
Top coats, they are impossible for me. My nails repel polish, between teaching highschoolers in the Bronx, getting arm surgery, washing dishes(HAHA), doing laundry(HA), typing and drinking too much(thats more like it), my nails chip on a regular basis, and its usually the SAME DAY or the DAY AFTER that they chip.
I know what they say- go gel! Get gel manicure! It lasts forever! My Nails look great! Well, Gel manicures do last me a long time but the problem (for me) with Gel manicures is that I can't change my polish on a daily basis. And all of you who know me personally know that I MUST change my nails at least every two days otherwise I will go insane(part of the reason why I change it also is because they chip and I know that makes no goddamn sense but whatever). I really just like being able to change my polish on a too-often basis because it might not match my outfit, or I might get bored of it, or I'm just insane, or I have too much nail polish that I've swapped or bought and its getting out of hand.
So I went on a hunt of different base coats, top coats, and combinations of them to see which ones work the best, how much they cost ect. There is one top coat that I need that I haven't been able to find, and that is Sephora X topcoat, the internets say it is amazing, but I will talk about that later. The Contenders of this challenge are:
Seche Vite- many of you know this brand I am sure, it bonds all the layers of your polish so it doesn't chip, creating a bond. The problem with this is that it also shrinks the polish on the nail, which many of you also probably know and I HATE. I have also experienced that, when combining the Seche Clear base coat, a polish, and then the Seche Vite top coat, sometimes the entire polish will literally peel off of my nail. What I have done in the past to try and prevent this is put alcohol on my nails to dry them out a bit/get rid of excess oil. It didn't always work however.
A serious pro about Seche Vite- if you like glitter polishes or indie glitter polishes or putting glitter on your fingers and don't want a bumpy finish, two to three coats of Seche Vite will do the trick for you. I know that you may think that your using a lot of product, but the finish comes out smooth and amazing. Also, Seche Vite sells online in giant bottle plus a smaller bottle for like $15. I got mine on amazon, so don't go to the small beauty places and pay $7 a bottle when you can buy this product in bulk for less.
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GelATO-This is something I saw at claires, claims to have a gel top coat finish and prevent chips for days. I used it once, and was disappointed because it had many bubbles inside. This week, I will use it again and give it a try. I need to do more research on it, because it was $7 and theres no reason why this shouldn't work
except that its from Claires and what was I thinking.
Ruby Kisses- This is another great topcoat, from what I hear, it lasts longer on people who don't use their hands a lot/repel polish like I do. I used it and only had minor chipping, no bubbles, great. The best part about it is that you can find it for like, 2$ in a local beauty supply store. Mine unfortunately sold it for 3$, whatever. This brand has many good base coats that I have used for various things, strengthening garlic, growth, ect. I like their base coats VERY much and have been using them for years, and to be honest, the best part about this brand is the fact that they are very inexpensive. A downside is that (I THINK) they are not three free or vegan, and the polishes have a strong smell.
Julep Freedom Polymere Top Coat- This is my favorite. Probably not because it prevents my nails from chipping, but more so because you can sure it under a 60 watt bulb for 2 minutes and, I feel like I'm doing something extra fancy to my nails. I got my first bottle for free in a Julep Maven box, and then I bought my second as an add on for 7$. This thing retails at Sephora for 18$ and on their website for a similar price. Its pretty expensive and not worth it if you can deal with the downsides of the top coats listed above.
Sephora X topcoat- This week I SHALL find and buy the Sephora X topcoat because based on multiple websites, videos and reviews, the consensus is that this works exactly like Seche Vite but without the shrinking of the polish- which is great! So far I have bought some colors and effects top coats from the Sephora X line and LOVE the formula. My favorite from them is the chaotic effects topcoat- I will show you some manicures in my next post where I used Chaotic, and I just know that you will love them :)
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my rants about various top coats that I tried. I'm sure you polish know-it-alls have learned nothing, but maybe some of you had fun.
What's on my nails today is a combination of Jessie J's Santorini from their SO FUN AND AWESOME Cruise collection line and the Mayebelline Bleached Neon's collection's Lime Accent. The Jessie's Girl polish, Santorini has a very slight iridescence to it that is apparent in the bottle, but not on my way fancy camera or my really clean nails. It looks more like a deeper blue than the traditional light creamy blue I have been rocking at work these past few weeks. I really like it now that I sort of (HA) have a tan. Lime accent is also a wonderful, creamy polish that pops and does not need a white base underneath to stand out. To be fair, neither does Santorini, but I wouldn't call Santorini a Neon by any means. Lime accent has a kind of streaky application so you'll need to be careful with your strokes, make sure they are light and balanced.
If you cannot find this polish because it's on the rare side- Sephora makes a dupe of this polish called Over The Top, it was apart of their spring line, and can still be found in stores but is sold out online because it was on sale for 5$. The Sephora brand does not streak as badly as the Maybelline, so if you like the color and want a bette formula, I would go with that.
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