If you’ve met me in person or spent a few minutes scrolling through my instagram feed you’ll realize I have a thing for nail polish. If you ever see me without a manicure, chances are something traumatic has happened recently. Part of my Sunday evening routine is to give myself a manicure – yes I do my own nails – while watching the latest episode of Outlander. (If you haven’t checked it out you really should, it’s amazing and the books are even better.)
Over the years I’ve come to realize that getting the perfect manicure that will last all week without chipping is something of a science. There are a few key ingredients, the most important of which is a good base coat.
The right base coat will keep your manicure intact all week long (and sometimes even longer) while protecting your nails from cracks, yellowing, and breakage. It is the key to growing long, strong, beautiful nails. I’ve used a base coat since high school, and I’ve never needed gel manicure, or acrylic nails to get a long and polished manicure. In fact, I can grow my nails out just as long as any acrylic nails I’ve ever seen, and they’ve never once cracked or broken (except for the time I slammed them in my car door, but that was my own fault.)
My all time favorite base coat is a pretty recent discovery. It’s Tenoverten’s The Foundation. With Horsetail Leaf Extract + Vitamin E this base coat has given me the best nails (and manicures) ever. It’s cruelty free, and 8-free – which means it’s formulated without dibutyl phthalate, toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, xylene, or triphenyl phosphate. Not only does it strengthen and protect nails, but it also prevents polish chipping, repairs peeling nails, and acts as a ridge filler so that your polish applies smoothly every time.
Oh, and did I mention the bottle itself is adorable?
Authentic Stereotypes 
How long have you been using this base coat? Have you noticed any change, improvement, etc? When I hear the words “nourishing” “strength” and “nail growth” for base coats, my ears go *PING*! I’ve been using Nailtiques Nail Protein 2 and while I do love it, I’d rather using something that does not contain formaldehyde, as my ALL of my actual nail polishes do not contain it. 🙂
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I’ve been using it for about two months now. It’s definitely made my nails stronger and smoother. They no longer peel or break and are growing like crazy. I had someone ask me if I was wearing acrylics the other day – it was just my natural nail with a bit of polish!
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I love it when people ask if you’re wearing acrylics. My nails are my pride and joy 😂 Thank you, I’ll need to hunt this one down and trial it 😁
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