Essie Nails Base Coat – All In One – £8.99
Although I have my fair share of nail varnishes and usually have a lacquer of choice adorned on my nails, I am pretty pants when it comes to nail care. I get very impatient when I do my nails and usually go for the haphazard approach of slapping it all on and going to do the washing up afterwards to get rid of all the paint I have managed to get on the skin around my nails. I favour one thicker layer over three neat ones and only recently have got into the habit of a top coat. The next step that I had been missing (and thanks to a rather sleepy shop in Superdrug I addressed) was the base coat. Base coats to me are a territory I am always sceptical of. Do they really work and help your nail varnish to last longer? Is spending that extra 5-10 minutes applying it and letting it dry all worth it? Well the beauty addict within wanted to find out. Any hey, if it meant my mid-week mani took me through till the weekend without a chip in sight the faff would pay off! When picking my base coat of choice I instantly went to the Essie stand as to date they have never failed me.
There are a fair few different varieties of base coats on sale which initially left me stunned and baffled. Were my nails dry? Brittle? Prone to weakness? These are not questions that I ask myself everyday, however I found myself pondering that Saturday morning. After a couple of last minute changes I went for the choice of ‘All In One’. This is specifically for healthy, normal nails and claims to make your nails feel stronger and smoother. Then it was time to put the base coat to the test! It does up my average mani time and I find I have to be more careful with my tendency to over apply my nail varnish, however to my amazement my lacquered nails stayed prim and chip free for 3/4 days. On the 4th day I noticed a few slight chips but nothing compared to the state they would be without the base coat. Even though it is a faff, I declare the faff to be of worth and my nails have in fact seemed stronger and are less prone to splitting and pealing. Essie – you’ve done it again!
