Finding the perfect base coat and top coat is a struggle; especially, for a nail polish junkie like me. I've spent years trying countless base and top coats and I never found any that I used for longer than a few months. I've been using these two products together for the past 6 months but I've been using this base coat for the past year.
The Orly Bonder Base Coat is my currently base coat of choice. I heard about it a very long time ago from Ingrid. They call it a rubberized base coat. It creates a coat over your nails that allows your nail polish to stick to it. As a result, this base coat extends the wear of the nail polish and prevents chipping. I can go three days with no chipping and the colour of the polish looks vibrant. I applies smoothly and it helps your nail colour apply easier. I also think that it prevents my nails from staining. Red, berries and blue nail polish tends to stain your nails even with a base coat. I find that I don't get staining when I use this base coat, or if I do it's not as noticeable as it would be with a regular base coat. It retails for $12.50 CAD (on nailpolishcanada).
The Essie gel setter Top Coat is my favorite top coat at the moment. Essie is my favorite nail polish brand. Until now I wasn't wowed by any of their base and top coats. The gel setter top coat dries fast. It gives your nails a shiny and glossy, almost gel-like finish, which I love. It smooths out any streakiness that your nail polish brush left on your nails. I think that this top coat works best when paired with Essie polishes but I works well with other brands. I just find that it extends the wear of essie polishes more than others. For example, when I use it with an essie polish it doesn't chip for at least 4 days, but when I use it with an OPI polish it lasts for 3 days with no chipping. The manufacturer's suggested retail price on essie.com is $10. I believe I paid around $12 for my bottle at Shoppers/Pharmaprix.
I currently pleased with these two products but nail polish junkie in me is never satisfied with sticking to the same products. I do think that these ones are really good, but there could be better ones that I haven't tried or hear of yet. It's probably because I'm very picking with my nail products. Nevertheless, this base coat and top coat are high quality products and they're definitely worth a try.
Sincerely, JoJo. ♥
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