My Favorite Base and Top Coat

Some questions I am frequently asked are "how do I do a basic manicure?", "how do I keep my polish from chipping?", or "can you recommend a base and top coat for me?" so today I'm picking up where I left off in a three-part series addressing these questions.  Catch up on part one How to do a Simple Manicure or part two How to keep Nails from Chipping.

What base coat and top coat do you recommend?

I have very strong opinions about what top coat you should be using (spoiler: it's Seche Vite) but I'm totally flexible on base coat as long as you're using something.  I think there is a lot more flexibility with base coats than there are top coats.

All About That Base (Coat)

My favorite base coats are the Zoya Anchor Base Coat and the Zoya Naked Manicure Naked Base coat.  The Naked Base is more like a treatment so I generally save that for when my nails are feeling abused or neglected, whereas the Anchor Base Coat is more of an all-purpose base coat.

Can you use a treatment as a substitute for a base coat? You're not supposed to, but I'm completely guilty of breaking this "rule" all the time.  Base coats are thicker and offer more protection between your nail bed and the polish you're using.  That means if you're going to use a color that may stain your nails (I'm looking at you, Splish Splash and Fly) use a proper base coat so you have more of a barrier.  If you use a treatment you're going to get stained.

What's the point of using a treatment?  I've primarily used treatments to strengthen my nails and to nourish them.  I struggle with peeling nails on account of all my years as a nail biter, so when I was first trying to kick the biting habit I would use OPI Nail Envy as my treatment of choice.  Nail Envy is a formaldehyde-based hardener and it works to strengthen your nails by reacting with the keratin in your nail bed.  Your nails are made up of keratin so as the formaldehyde reacts, it increases the cross-links between the keratin, effectively reducing the rate at which your nails will peel.  You don't want to use a nail hardener forever though, as eventually your nails get too hard and they'll crack.  Then you'll need to explore the world nail saving products like I did.

The Life Changing Magic of Seche Vite 

As for top coats, I swear by Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat.  I've been using it for years (after trying several different ones) and this is the best thing out there since sliced bread.  Okay, so some people like Out the Door Top Coat and HK Girl Top Coat too but Seche Vite stole my heart with its smooth formula and glossy finish.

Why is Seche Vite the best?  Seche Vite is amazing because it's fast drying, super glossy, and wonderful and smoothing out bumps and ridges.  It can take your manicure from "can't touch anything" to "totally fine" in a few minutes, though I err on the side of caution and wait about 10 minutes.

What about Seche Vite and pregnancy?  There is a label on Seche Vite which says that the polish contains an ingredient known to the state of California to cause birth defects.  The state of California is great about notifying us of ingredients which may cause cancer and birth defects, or reproductive harm, but not so great about helping people understand what a safe level of exposure is.  In the case of Seche Vite, the chemical of interest is toluene and it would take a lot of Seche Vite smelling to do one harm.  Toluene is harmful in its gas state so the primary cause for concern is when you apply top coat.  However, if you're painting your own nails in a well-ventilated space for 15 minutes once or twice a week, the concern, in my opinion, is minimal.  If you're a nail technician working in a salon for eight plus hours a day, your risk is considerably greater.

I hope you found this post helpful about what base coats and top coats I'd recommend.  If you're not already using Seche Vite I'd love if you could leave me a comment and let me know what you're currently using.  

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How to Keep Your Nail Polish from Chipping

Some questions I am frequently asked are "how do I do a simple manicure?", "how do I keep my polish from chipping?", or, "can you recommend a base and top coat for me?" Today I'm picking up from where I left off in a three-part series addressing these questions.  If you missed part one, How to do a Simple Manicure, you can check it out here.

How do I keep my polish from chipping?

Honestly? A little trial and error, a little experience, a little bit of using quality products, and a larger bit of proper application.

Everyone has different body chemistry and different brands of nail polish will work better or worse for you depending on your individual chemistry.  OPI and Zoya are two brands that work incredibly well for me, but Essie is a brand that is incompatible with me.  Essie Chinchilly is one of my favorite colors ever but it only lasts a few days on me.  There is literally nothing I can do to make an Essie nail polish last as long on my nails as a Zoya nail polish.  At the same time, I have a friend who can't wear Zoya without it chipping off and Essie wears wonderfully on her.  So find what brands work for you and run with it!

Aside from what brand of nail polish you wear, making sure your application process is done well will go a long way (see "How do I do a simple manicure?").  Proper use of a base coat like Zoya Anchor and a top coat like Seche Vite, as well as wrapping your tips, will all help to ensure that you've got a manicure that will last.

What is wrapping your tips?  This means you hold your brush perpendicular to your nail bed and using the side of the brush, apply color to the very tip of your nail and a little bit on the underside of your nails. That way when your polish starts to chip, it chips from the front of your nail and not the top of your nail bed.  Wrapping my tips alone increases my wear time by at least a day.

The key takeaways here for having a manicure that will last longer than a day or two are:

• Use polish with a formula that compliments your unique body chemistry;
• Use a good-quality base and top coat; and
• Make sure you wrap your tips!

Give these tips a try and let me know if they help!


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How to do a Simple Manicure

Some questions I am frequently asked are "how do I do a simple manicure?", "how do I keep my polish from chipping?", or "can you recommend a base and top coat for me?" so I thought I would address all these questions in a three-part series starting today.  Enjoy!

How do I do a simple manicure?

These are the steps that I follow every time I give myself a manicure.  Usually, my manicures will last five to seven days depending on what polish I used - I have the best luck with Zoya and OPI polishes so that's why I use them so frequently in my manicures.

Step 1: Shape nails.  If I want to shape my nails I try to do it when I'm still wearing nail polish.  If I file my nails when I'm not wearing nail polish I can get distracted by my nail line and end up with a crooked nail bed shape.

Step 2: Remove old nail polish.  Using acetone I take off any old nail polish but I also don't skip this step if I'm not wearing polish.  If I'm not wearing polish for some reason there is still oil or lotion on my nail bed that could impact the adhesion of any nail polish I wear so making sure I've got a clean, oil-free nail bed to work with is important.

Step 3: Push back cuticles. If you polish over your cuticles you're going to increase your chances of having your polish chip.  Pushing your cuticles back helps to reduce the chance of this happening and I use a tool like this.  I think it also helps to create a more symmetrical nail bed shape but that's my personal preference.  I don't usually trim or cut my cuticles (which can be dangerous if you do it wrong) but if my cuticles are looking especially poor I'll use a chemical cuticle remover to remove the dead skin.   If I do use a chemical cuticle remover I'll go back over my nails with acetone.

Step 4: Apply base coat.  Generally, when someone asks me how I keep my nails from chipping I'll ask them what they use for their base and top coat.  They'll look at me like I've grown two heads and I look at them the same way back.  Don't skip this step!  For the last two years Zoya Anchor has been my favorite.

Step 5: Apply your color.  Probably the most exciting part of the process is picking out your color and putting it on.  Gorgeous cream?  Brilliant sparkling glitter?  Wear them all!  By the way, when you're applying your color I would really recommend that you wrap your tips with your color instead of just putting it only on the top of your nail bed.  What does this mean?  This means you hold your brush perpendicular to your nail bed and using the side of the brush, apply color to the very tip of your nail and a little bit on the underside of your nails.  What if you don't have nail beds that extend beyond the tip of your finger?  You're in good company because I generally have a nail or five that are short and don't go past my finger.  I try and pull the skin down and away from the nail which works ok, but I've resigned myself to having to clean up the tip of my finger with polish.  I also make sure that there is just a tiny bit of polish left on the brush otherwise the entire underside of my nail bed is flooded and it can look like a disaster.  I'll do a separate post to illustrate this better.

Step 6: Clean up.  Painting in the lines is hard.  Painting in the lines is especially hard if you're not ambidextrous.  Eventually, it gets easier to paint your dominant hand with your non-dominate hand (I'm right-handed and the majority of manicures on this blog feature painting by my left hand) but it is a skill that takes practice.  Fortunately, you can fake this by cleaning up around your cuticles with a little jar of acetone after you're done applying color!  Of course the more neatly you're able to paint the first time, the easier it will be to clean up.  I have a little glass jar that I pour some acetone into (remember - many grades of plastic are incompatible with acetone) and then I use an eye shadow brush to gently remove any nail polish that's on my skin or directly adjacent to my skin.  I don't wait for my polish to be dry before moving on to this step either, I find it much easier to do if the polish is wet or at least a little tacky.

Step 7: Apply top coat.  Just like base coat, when someone tells me they don't wear top coat my eyes bulge a bit and I wonder how they get through life.  Seche Vite is my favorite.

Step 8: Moisturize.  You know what helps keep your nails healthy and strong?  Moisturizing your cuticles and skin.  Grab your favorite lotion, cuticle oil, or both and slather it on your hands.

Step 9: Admire your work.  Great work, you.  Great work.

And that's all it takes!  Try out my steps and let me know what you think in the comments below.


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ASP Wrap Kit

Hello world, I'd like to introduce my new favorite product to you: ASP's Wrap Kit.  Previously I've shared another nail saving kit: Orly Nail Rescue.  However, I believe that ASP Wrap Kit is a better long-term nail saving product.  Here's the story.

Back in March I arrived at work to discover that my experiment had flooded the lab with water overnight.  This was obviously not good news as I had to spend a few hours that morning cleaning up the mess.  During the mopping, I drastically broke a nail.

Breaking a nail, especially one so far down, is a really annoying occurrence.  Frustrated, I threw on a bandage and kept working.  I knew that just up the road was a Sally's Beauty Supply and surely they had something that could keep my nail together.

On my lunch break I dashed up the road and scoured the shelves of Sally's Beauty Supply looking for a nail saving kit.  I found one in a package called ASP Wrap Kit.

The kit contained a wood stick, a nail file, brush-on glue, resin activator, pre-cut silk fingers and pre-cut fiberglass fingers.  Basically everything I needed to save my nail while I was at work without any of my nail care supplies.  I believe the cost of the kit was in the range of $15.

By the time I picked up this kit, the little broken nail flap had become completely detached so I was even more impressed that I was able to use the kit to save my nail.

Lunch time nail reconstruction was deemed a success!  I can't even tell my nail was glued back on in that photo.

To give you a better idea of how the kit works, that same day I wound up with a crack in my pointer finger nail, repaired it with this kit, and documented the process for your viewing pleasure.  Let's look at the crack I was dealing with.

Not too bad, but definitely one that could easily catch on something and tear completely off.  (If you look closely at the finer to the left of the cracked on, you can see the split I repaired with this nail kit earlier in the day.) The first step of the ASP Wrap Kit is to use a cotton ball soaked in acetone to remove any oil or lotion that may be remaining on your nail.

I then assembled the items I would need: glue, activator, and silk. The second step is to use a layer of glue on the nail, followed by a light misting of the activator to the nail surface.

With that step completed, the third step is to select a piece of silk the size of the nail I would need.

The fabric was then placed on the nail and the remaining excess was cut off.  The first time I used this kit I cut the excess off near the end and wound up having to file a lot to reshape my nail.  Cutting off the excess now was a much better idea.

With the silk sized and on my nail, the fourth step is to use a thin layer of glue, a mist of the activator, another layer of glue, and another mist of the activator.  This sandwiching did a fantastic job of holding the crack together.

Can you spot the crack?

Final verdict: I think the ASP Wrap Kit is a must have.  The silk wraps held up phenomenally to an assault of pure acetone and lasted for 17 days when I had to file the silk off of my nail in order to remove the wrap.  I did have to reapply nail glue and activator to the surface of my nail about every three polish changes, but this is a much longer period for me than what I'm able to achieve with Orly Nail Rescue.  The other advantage the ASP Wrap Kit has over Orly Nail Rescue, is that Nail Rescue tends to produce bulky areas on my nail bed that you have an odd shape (like my middle finger here).  I didn't feel as though that was an issue while using the silk wraps.

One last picture, a before an after while using ASP Wrap Kit.

What do you think?

Orly Nail Rescue

Vile Wrench Holder

I have fallen in love with Orly Nail Rescue.  I bought it this past fall and used it a couple of times then, but it wasn't until now that I've gotten the hang of using it where I can get good results.  The other day I was trying to pull out an 8 mm wrench from its wrench holder and wound up causing a break between the nail plate and the free edge for half of my nail.

I had two options:
1) Carefully remove the broken piece
2) Use Orly Nail Rescue and save my "long" nails!

Option one involved reducing the length of my nail by a little over 1/4th of an inch (yeesh!) so I chose option two.  The Orly Nail Rescue kit, which I bought at Sally Beauty, includes brush-on glue, repair powder, and a little file.  I haven't used the file because I find its shape awkward and hard to hold.

The kit is very easy to use.  Simply paint a little glue over the crack, then dip your finger in the powder.  I've found that if I complete three full cycles of glue, dip, brush off excess glue that the break will stay held together really well.  It also helps just to put glue along the crack and not anywhere else on your nail.

Check out this before and after using the nail rescue kit:

Filing the glued area till it's level ensures that the fix is invisible under nail polish.  Okay - sometimes it's a little lumpy (look at my pinky and middle fingers in this post) but I'd rather have lumpy that stubby.  I've had this crack in my middle finger since December 19th and I'm pleased that I've been able to keep my nail long until I can file the nail to match the others.

I prefer this kit to the tea bag method because I suck at cutting bags that match the shape of my nail bed and I find that I file away the tea bag way too easily.

Have you used Orly Nail Rescue before?  What are your thoughts on fixing breaks?