Product of the Week: Essie Protein Base Coat

This week I have been absolutely loving Essie’s Protein Base Coat. Up until buying a bottle of this a couple of weeks ago, I had never even owned a base coat!  For some reason I just didn’t ever use  them when painting my nails.  However, recently I had become so frustrated with all my polishes either peeling off or chipping within a day (sometimes hours) of application, so decided it was time to do things properly.

Polish after 4 days of wear (over Essie Protein Base Coat)

Essie claims that their Protein Base Coat is a “nail fortifying base” that works to protect and strengthen nails as well as extend the wear of your manicure.  My nails are already in pretty good condition and have always been quite strong, so as far as the strengthening aspect goes I’m probably not the best person to judge. I bought this more for the fact that it would protect my nails from becoming damaged and stop my polish from chipping or peeling so quickly.  In this regard, the Protein Base Coat works wonders.

I’m getting at least another 3-4 days out of my polish, and even then the only signs of wear have been towards the tips of my nails (as shown above).  Very happy indeed.  As an added bonus, it dries very slightly white on your nails, which I find helps polishes apply a little more opaque.  Just for reference, I use this in conjunction with the Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat and OPI Drip Dry drops (which are amazing, may I add).

I hope everyone has been having a lovely weekend!

xx