ace of base

Base coats, that is!  I'm totally an at-home mani/pedi type of girl, mostly because it can get so expensive, but also because I think it's fun and relaxing to do at home in my pajamas.

What's not fun? when my carefully done manicure shatters the first time I wash my hands, and my hard work is ruined.  Not ok, manicure, seriously :-/

I figured maybe it was my top coat that was messing things up, so I bought a new one.  I decided to test out the Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic top coat, since I love their Complete Salon Manicure, and I was... disappointed, to say the least.  My nail polish broke into a million pieces and chipped off.  It was really not good at all.

this is a week-old mani, with my new fave products

So, I went off in search of something new.  I decided to try out a combination of base coat and top coat, using OPI's Chip Skip (base) and Top Coat... I'm linking you to the Ricky's website because that's where I bought them, and I think it's a great beauty supply store.  To say I was impressed would be an understatement.  Chip Skip went on not as a layer of polish but more as a thin layer of primer, which leads me to believe that it's really the key product here.  

My nails lasted a whole week with no noticeable chipping, and about 10 days before really starting to break down. Even more amazing, when I smashed my hand into the pole on the train (spaz moment, I know) and made a big crack down the middle of the polish on my thumb, it didn't peel off!  It just, kind of, stuck in place so you didn't even see the crack.  It was magical ;-)

And yes, $25 may seem like a lot (I know many people don't even use a base) but that's the cost of what? TWO salon mani's?  I have found my nails' new BFF, definitely.

<3 barb

PS - do you have a favorite new (or new-to-you) beauty product?  I'd love more suggestions!