A Week Solid

I don't talk much about top coats or base coats, or chipping for that matter. Generally I am hard on my nails: horse stuff, clacking around on a keyboard, household chores, etc, seem to be really just how it goes.
I try to do the "jewels not tools" but I'm the go to lawn-mower, leaf-blower, and dog-doopy picker-upper, so my hands do work.

I will say that I think it depends a lot on people's chemistry when it comes to how things "stick", but I think that some basics work for everyone:

• oil - find, absorbant like jojoba or sunflower or almond, etc. 
• biotin - it does strengthen your nails, but you also won't go from 0.25mm thick to 0.75mm thick, but they will grow.
• moisture - the stuff of life, don't underestimate it
• respect the limits of your polish/gel/etc. Meaning, as was recounted to me, don't used your strong thumb nail to pry of anything.

Right now I'm back in polygel for what seems like "good", but that could change. I am getting somewhat better at filing, though I won't say mine are showroom ready, I am getting my head around the shape much better.

I was out of town and really hate doing my nails in hotel rooms (too small, smells are fun for others in your proximity, and weather differences mean who knows about drying...plus, who wants to do their nails on vacation. I don't!)

I wore Color Club Nomadic Nude and topped it with a very old WetnWild Rock Solid clear glass fleck topper called Sparkling Diamonds.

I layered a lot of glass fleck, then Seche Vive (a nice top coat!) and some Borghese extender (super old, from a Ross clearance pile), which did the job.

The rough edges are jumbo applications of top coat. My goal was to ride this baby through a solid week.

And guess what? It worked like a charm! There isn't much I can add except that the Rock Solid was loaded with a pretty pink/green shifty little shimmer. It bumped up the pedestrian nude into a dressy little number for day to evening.

I guess my weak effort at a thesis here is that price isn't a strong arbiter of value in nail polish, top coats, and base coats. What works is what works.

I think this combo is doable, just hit eBay up. Sparkling Diamonds might be dupable, but I am not 100% sure. Nomadic nude is also on the 'Bay, so really no worries.

Though I think any nude with a glass fleck topper is a wonderful way to sass up what is normally considered fairly bland.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!