Questions about nail polish

slouise12

I have been an avid lurker of the F&B board for the past few months and have picked up quite a few great recommendations. I recently started using OPI and Essie polish but found that both chip in a matter of days. I did get the Seche Vite top coat, but have not been using a base coat. 

Now for the questions. Do you think a base coat will help the polish last longer? Any recs for a good base? What is a reasonable expectation for polish to stay chip free? I would be happy with a week but I don't know if I should readjust my expectations and be happy with 2-3 days.  Thanks for any suggestions!

Photo5kCupcakes

I have had good results with the Zoya basecoat. Zoya lasts the longest for me.

I am not an Essie fan. I find that it chips in a day or two.

NSL

My nails seem prone to chips no matter which products I use, sadly.  I tend to get 2 days of chip-free wear and 3 days of minimal chipping before I need to change a polish.  It's fine by me because I get bored with colors pretty quickly, but it's definitely a bit of a PITA on days when I really don't feel like going through the process off taking off and re-applying polish.

Kim&Dan

I think a base coat helps. Different polishes work better for some people than others, for example Essie doesn't work well for me and chips quickly. I wear OPI's base coat, OPI, Zoya and Sally Hansen xtreme wear for color and Seche Vite for a top coat. 

slouise12

Looks like a base coat and some Zoya polish are next on my list. Thanks for sharing what works (or doesn't work) for you. 

Kim&Dan

slouise12:

Looks like a base coat and some Zoya polish are next on my list. Thanks for sharing what works (or doesn't work) for you. 

If you create an account on Zoya.com through a share the love link you automatically get a free bottle with your first purchase. If you need a link you can use mine https://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/0103D250 and I will get points added to my account.  And if you end up liking Zoya be sure to like them on facebook because they run promos several times a year.

slouise12

Kim&Dan:

slouise12:

Looks like a base coat and some Zoya polish are next on my list. Thanks for sharing what works (or doesn't work) for you. 

If you create an account on Zoya.com through a share the love link you automatically get a free bottle with your first purchase. If you need a link you can use mine https://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/0103D250 and I will get points added to my account.  And if you end up liking Zoya be sure to like them on facebook because they run promos several times a year.

Thanks! I will definitely sign up tonight when I get off my phone and on the computer  

thetruthhurtsyo

Another "Essie sucks" vote here. OPI lasts a day or two longer for me. Definitely use a base coat and I personally found using seche vite causes my paint job to chip a lot faster. I bought a Sally Hansen base coat last week that works well. Also, not sure if you know this.... but try using thinner coats of polish and it'll last longer too. 

rappje

I write a polish blog, so I have tried a ton of base coat/polish/top coat combinations.  I will say that the biggest factor is your personal chemistry, and the second is the interaction of the polish and the top coat.

For many, Seche Vite and Posche topcoats don't play well with Zoya.  OPI chips on me like crazy regardless of the base or topcoat.  For me, the best base coats are Zoya Anchor or Orly Bonder.  You can find Orly Bonder at CVS and Sallys, Zoya Anchor can usually be found at Ulta.

As for topcoats, I love Nubar Diamont.  I barley ever have a chip with it, and it dries quicker than anything I have ever used.  I buy mine on Amazon.  HTH's!

Jenna84

I think various polish/top coat combinations really do behave totally different based on one's body chemistry and you unfortunately just have to try different things to find the best ones for you. For me personally, I get the best results with NO basecoat and the regular OPI topcoat. I use OPI, Essie, and China Glaze polish and can get 7-10 days easy with no chips. And I am hard on my hands at work (work at a hospital). In fact, I had on one of the China Glaze polishes from the hunger games collection and wore it for 16 days with only a few tiny chips. That polish was a freak of nature, I don't know how it lasted that long. Anyway, any basecoat and the whole thing peels right off my nail. and Seche vite makes it chip within a day or two.