British Nail Bloggers: Top & Base Coats

So over at the British Nail Bloggers facebook page, we've decided this week to blog about our favourite base coats and top coats.  I'm very stuck in my ways with these and once I've found a decent product, it's very hard to persuade me to switch.  I've taken pictures of my favourite products, as they're the ones I'm currently using, but I'll talk about others I've used too.

Base Coat

OPI Nail Envy is the only base coat for me.  Since using it, I get hardly any breaks and the condition of my nails has improved so much.  It's quite pricey, but I'm lucky enough to be able to buy it at trade price so it's a lot cheaper.  The bottle last for ages and I use it under every manicure as a base coat.  It's quite good on protecting against staining too - I haven't got any discolouration on my nails and I use some pretty strong (and stainey) polishes.

The other base coat I have tried in the past is Sally Hansen's Green Tea & Bamboo.  Although it's a lot cheaper than Nail Envy, I found that while I was using it my nails were still prone to breaking but were less peeley.

Top Coat

My favourite top coat is Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri.  It's so easy to apply and dries so quickly (which is key for me as I'm very impatient and loathe sitting still waiting for my nails to dry).  If I'm using it I get less chippage than anything else I've used.

I buy mine from Boots and it's only £5.99 so a bargain.

Other favourites include:

• Seche Vite. This product dries super quick but is quite pricey and is prone to shrinking which I detest.
• No 7 Stay Perfect Nail Top Coat.  Super shiney and quite good at protecting your manicure but I find that it dries quite slowly, despite being a fast dry top coat.  It also lures me into a false sense of security and makes me believe that it's really dry, until I go to bed and I get those horrid sheet marks on my nails.  I'll usually only pick this up when I have no. 7 vouchers to use.

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Challenge Week 41: Galaxies

Yet again, I've been completely lax with this challenge!  I also can't believe we're up to week 41!  It's crazy.

This week is Galaxies nails and something I've always wanted to try but never got around to do it.  I used a fantastic tutorial by the Nailasaurus to help me.

This took me two attempts but I was really happy with the final results.  They didn't keep well though, only because I wore them to Thorpe Park yesterday and they got all battered and chipped! :-(

The polishes I used were:

Models Own - Apple Pie
Barry M - Limited Edition Neon Yellow & Prickly Pear
Opi - I Can't Find My Czech Book
Seventeen - Coral
Sally Hansen - Dorian Grey
Avon - Silver (for the shimmer)

These colours all look really good together and I think tonight I'm going to create a splatter manicure with them.

Here are the results:

An InLinkz Link-up

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Challenge Week 35: Matte Magic Nails

The challenge this week has come just in time because my Sally Hansen top coat has started to run dry. I don't get paid until Friday and am super skint so I'll be making the most of my matte top coat this week.

So, I couldn't think which of my favourite styles of nail art to do with a matte twist - would tribal or splatter look better.  Then I decided actually to try a Saran wrap manicure (clingfilm for us British Bloggers).

The varnishes I used were:

• Opi Nail Envy
• China Glaze Make Some Noise
• Sally Hansen Dorian Grey
• Rimmel Pro Matte Finish Top Coat

This manicure is really easy to do and looks super effective.

1. Paint your base coat then two layers of your base colour.
2. Wait for your base colour to be superdry then paint one layer of your top colour on the top of one nail.
3. Using a little ball of clingfilm, press lightly against the nail until some of the colour comes up.  Be careful not to take all the colour up though.
4. Do this for each nail.
5. Once the polish is dry, clean up and add your top coat.

I looked at a few blogs for guidance on creating this look before giving it a go and I loved looking at all the different colour combinations.

In other news - I'm currently looking for someone who can help me redesign my blog.  If you think you can help (and obviously, I'm not looking for free help) please e-mail me at Naileymabob@gmail.com.  Thank you! :-)

P.S I think the next nail related purchase I make will be a light box!

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Sally Hansen: Dorian Grey

Another day, another swatch.

I've been trying to get my claws on Dorian Grey after Saz posted some amazing manicures using it.  The colour is a fab neutral base if you don't want to use nude.  She picked it up for £1 in Poundland.  And I love her for it, of course.

Look at how long my nails are getting too.  I'm using Nail Envy and it's so worth the investment!

The polish applied well and had great coverage so it's great value for £1.  I'm not sure I'd splash out on a full price bottle but I shall be keeping my eyes on my local poundland for more bargains.

The colour looks fab by itself but I've been experimenting with some new glitter toppers I've got so keep your eyes peeled for those.

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Challenge Week 13: Inspired by Spring

It's not really spring here in the UK yet.  We've still got cold weather and snow in some places (though not here).  It's hard to feel "springy".  By now I'm usually in my flip-flops and I'm showing off my pedicures.  Sucks.

My friend Jac got married this weekend (and she made such a beautiful bride too).  Her colour scheme was spring-like - really nice pastel colours.  This inspired my spring manicure.

I used Models Own Snow White for the base then Barry M's pretty pastel colours Berry Ice Cream, Blue Moon, Strawberry Ice Cream and Lemon Ice Cream for the free hand stripes.  I used Barry M's Rose Quartz for the accent then a top coat of Sally Hansen's Insta-dry.

I'm pretty pleased with this manicure.

By the way, Boots has 3 for 2 on all cosmetics at the moment, so I may have had a splurge!

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Ask a British Nail Blogger - Nail Care Routine

So the girls over at the British Nail Bloggers facebook page are starting a fortnightly "Ask a British Nail Blogger" spot.

This fortnight's questions is "What is your nail care routine?"

I try to keep mine simple.  I remove all old nail varnish with actone.  I then trim my nails with a toe nail clipper (if they've had any chance to grow) and use a Leighton Denny nail file to smooth out the sharp edges.

I then use a square nail buff to buff around the edges of my nails (I don't go anywhere near the tips as they're already so weak).  I dust off any excess powder left from the buffer and wash my hands with lukewarm water.  Once my hands are dry I use Sally Hansen's Green Tea & Bamboo as a base coat and then paint my nails.

Once my nails are completely dry, I wash my hands again before using Sally Hansen's cuticle massage cream with apricot oil (I'm definitely a Sally Hansen fan).  I then use a decent hand cream, Soap & Glory's Hand Food or Cath Kidston's.  (See my separate post on hand cream here)

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