Confession: I’ve Never Used Base Coat (Before Now)

CONFESSION of a former beauty editor: I never use nail polish base coat. Well, until now, anyway.

A waste of time. A waste of money. Another bottle to spill/break. Another stupid step to screw up. These are just a few reasons why I never ever used a nail polish base coat for at-home manicures. But all that changed a few weeks ago, and I can’t belieeeeeeeve that I lived my life that way.

CND hooked me up with a fabulous Shellac manicure (which I’m very much obsessed with, BTW) and we were discussing the possibility of the Shellac process becoming an at-home kinda thing (wouldn’t that be amazing?) and then I admitted it, “You know, I probably wouldn’t do it anyway, I don’t even make time for a base coat with regular polish.” There was a gasp and then silence. Julia, a publicist for CND, looked like she was trying really hard not to scold me. I’m not one to take a scolding, so that was very smart of her. Instead, she politely and sweetly offered to send me CND’s suite of base coats. I’m sure not all base coats are the same, but I can honestly see the major difference in my manicure with a base coat. CND’s Ridge Out and Stickey Base give me a better at-home manicure than the local cheap-o place I rely on down the street. Polish goes on smoother, so I don’t need as many coats, and my nails look healthier upon removal of the hue. By spending the extra two minutes for CND base coat(s), I’m extending the life of my manicure for a full day or two, and that makes it the ultimate payoff.And of course, CND does not use formaldehyde, DBP, or toulene, so I don’t need to worry about any scary chemicals seeping into my innards.

I have used, and loved, Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure, which includes a ridge filler, base, color and top coat in one nice bottle, but I found my nails were often stained. That said, I’ll still travel with that instead of toting along a bajillion bottles, but I’ll also apply CND’s base coat before I ever apply any nail polish, ever again.

Thank you, Julia, for enlightening me, not scolding me, and for the game-changing product.

Can you believe that I lived 30 years without ever applying base coat? Or are you a base coat skipper, too?