Product I Use When I Do My Nails And More!

My normal routine for my manicures goes like this:

A PH Balancer- In my opinion, this is *so* important. A lot of people just wipe their nails w/ acetone or Zoya Remove instead of a PH Balancer and feel that it does the same thing. It may, but for me, using this was the key to my polish not chipping. I had used acetone before, but I am telling you, once I started using this, I had maybe one chip in 6 months. I started using one before I ever started using a basecoat (Silly, I know- I was still learning!) I started out using Nail Tek Step One. It took me a year to run out of the bottle and I can't tell you how many manis I did! My own, my daughters, tons of her friends, a few of my friends, my sisters (I have 3) and my mom- all numerous times! Once I ran out, I planned on getting a new bottle, but I can only find it online now and I don't do online orders very often. So I had a bottle of OPI Chip Skip I got for free at Beauty Brands, they had a promotion at some point when I bought an OPI polish or two. I've been using it for a few months now and it's doing fine, so I haven't felt the need to order the Nail Tek.

The perfect basecoat is different for every person, so I will just tell you about the ones I'm really liking right now. Barielle Growth Activator: it's a pretty expensive one, though in the past I have found it at places like Marshalls and TJ Maxx. The other one I really like, which is much cheaper: Gelous from Sally's. I could be wrong, but I think it's under $5. It's a super smooth base for your polish and if I didn't have the Barielle, I would be totally happy with Gelous! I usually use the Gelous on top of the Barielle, then move on to my polish. There are so many base coats out there, you just have to find one you like. Base coats can prevent staining from colored polish, different types provide a treatment, they add an extra layer of protection to you nails and more.

Here's a picture of the products I wrote about above, except the nail tek, which I don't have anymore. I added the box of the Barielle, so you may recognize it if you would walk by some.



The topcoat I like most is Seche Vite. There are times I use the Barielle Manicure Extender under Seche Vite, but it's not needed! Some people prefer Poshe. While I like Poshe (it's really glassy looking, although I think Seche Vite is too), it seems to get scuffed up easier on me. A quick dry top coat is essential though! Sally Hansen also has some good ones, Insta Dry in the red bottle is especially great with the Insta Dry in the clear bottle running a close second! I am not sure if the formula is different between the 2 actually, but the brush in the clear bottle is very different, very wide. I would never even bother to paint my nails with out a quick dry top coat! If you are on a budget- (I know most of us are!) I have found Poshe at Dollar General for $3 - at Beauty Brands it's $10 and at Sally's it's $7 I think, along with Seche Vite.

Here's a picture of Seche Vite and Poshe:


And this is the Barielle Manicure Extender, it comes in a box like the one in the picture above, but the colored line on the box would be a different color:


Lastly, an important product to have, is thinner! Don't use acetone to thin your polish when it gets too thick! It will ruin it, maybe you won't notice right away, but it will! I prefer to use Seche Restore in my Seche Vite. A lot of girls have no problem using the Beauty Secrets in thier Seche Vite, but I feel I get the best results with Seche Restore. In the majority of my other polish I use Beauty Secrets, again, from Sally's. Once in a while in older polishes I feel are special to me, I do use my Seche Restore, but not very often at all.

Most newer polishes are 'Big 3 Free' meaning they do not contain these 3 chemicals, which are considered 'toxic' that a lot of older polishes do contain at least one of. 1) Toulene (this is in Seche Vite and also in Seche Restore which is why I prefer to use Seche Restore in my Seche Vite) 2) Formaldehyde and 3)Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Many do not feel this is an issue to them and honestly, when it comes to my polish, I use both old and new polishes. A lot of girls do prefer to use big 3 free products when they are pregnant- Barielle is B3F and Poshe is a B3F topcoat. There is a lot to discuss when it comes to these chemicals, so I will have to save that for a future post.

Here are pictures of the the 2 thinners I wrote about- just so you know what to look for!



In my last post, I used a plate from bundle monster for the feather design.

You can get 21 bundle monster plates on amazon for $18 and free shipping. It's possible you can get a stamper, scraper and 1 plate at Ulta, by Essence, for $3 (or when I grabbed it a couple weeks ago, it was half off, so $1.49) you will have to check your store though. Other wise, you may have to order a stamper and scraper, although for the scraper, I use a razor blade that has a handle. Some prefer to use a plastic scraper or to cut a plastic card like an old credit card and use it to prevent the metal from scarping the plate. This hasn't been an issue for me personally and I feel like the razor blade gives me the most crisp image. I got a set at Home Depot for probably $4 that came w/ a holder for the razor blade and I'm not sure how many blades. I have used the regular konad metal and plastic scraper and before a couple months ago, I always used the metal scraper, but since I tried the razor blade, I haven't looked back!

That's all for today, I hope something in this post helped you learn something new! Thanks for reading and comments are welcome!