Nail saviors

31. marec 2014


Hello hunnies! I don't have a manicure for you today so I thought I'd tell you a little something about my 3 musketeers - my three nail saviors. :) 

If you've been reading my blog for a while now, than you probably know I wasn't posting any manicures up until August, last year. The main reason behind this was that I never really wore nail polish much and during the 3 years at college/faculty, I wasn't allowed to wear nail polish on my nails or even have long nails for that matter (I'm a future nurse - so you know what I'm talking about). But when I was done with all of my 'internships' I started to venture in the polish world a bit, mustered up the courage and decided to post my first manicure. The rest is history and I think my nails haven't been bare more than 2 days straight since then - I seriously love to wear nail polish now. :)

One of the reasons I started to wear nail polish were also my soft, weak nails that broke much too easily. They always looked super nice with seriously white tips (people always thought I had a french manicure done), but I couldn't have long nails because they would just start braking, one after the other. So, that was initially the reason I started painting my nails - to make them a bit stronger. And I have to say that really worked, but... my nails soon started to layer and look a bit dull (which I wasn't really happy about) and here's where these three miracle workers came in... :)




Essie Grow Richer - Because I was new the whole 'nail painting thing', I never used a base coat underneath my nail polish (no wonder my nails started to hate me). When I noticed some serious layering and tearing going on with my nails, I decided I need to get something asap. I was searching for Essie's Nourish Me because I read so many awesome reviews, but when I came to the store, there was no sign of this base coat ever existing so I ended up grabbing the Grow Richer 'version'. Later I read they were supposed to be the same thing, under a different name, but it seems they are actually two separate products (correct me, if I'm wrong)? Plus I've seen a Grow Stronger and a Grow Faster version on the internet, so I don't know what's what really. :) Anyway... the Grow Richer base coat is seriously amazing and really makes my nails grow faster and well, richer. It did really help with the layering as well, but it didn't stop it completely... that honor goes to Nailtiques. :) 

Price: around 10 € in our drugstores


Nailtiques Formula 2 base coat - I found this base coat on BeautyBay, it was one of their best sellers. After reading a ton of amazing reviews, I decided to get it and see what all the fuss was about and oh boy did I see it... I noticed an improvement after just a couple of uses. It really makes my nails stronger and it stopped my nails from layering completely. :) I don't use it all the time, because this is a protein base coat and it's not good to use it nonstop (they also have a Formula 1 base coat, which is a 'milder' version and is supposed to be used after your nails have been repaired with Formula 2 and Formula 2 Plus which you can use, if your nails haven't responded to treatment with the regular Formula 2 verison). I just exchange the Formula 2 and the Grow Richer from Essie - one week I'll use Formula 2, the next week Grow Richer (and it also depends on the state of my nails). 

Price: the 7 ml bottle is currently 11.40 €, the big, 15 ml bottle is 18 €


Seche Vite Dry fast top coat - Now this stuff is seriously amazing! It's the best top coat I have ever tried and it makes my manicure last up to 11 days(!) with only a little tip wear. It's a clear top coat that's a bit gooey in texture but applies easily. It gives a wonderful shine to your nail polish and protect is from almost anything - I can do the dishes, shower, plant my flowers... and the nail polish just stays put, looking like new. Now, I've heard some people say that it messes their nail polish up, kind of 'shrinks' it form both sides. I've had that happen to me only once and it was only on one nail because I applied to much top coat. Other than that, it works like a charm every single time. Amazing stuff!

Price: I got the single bottle for 10.20 € back in August


Another reason why my manicures last that long on me and look like new a week or more later, is that I really take my time when I'm doing my nails - sometimes I'll do them for up to 2 hours. I'll file them down, clean them, make sure there are no sharp edges (which can make them tear and break), then I'll apply my base coat, wait for it to dry, apply my nail polish (normally I do two layers and always wait for each layer to be completely dry and I always coat my tips with nail polish - very important step!) and only when I'm done with the nail polish, it's dry and I've cleaned up around the nails, will I go for my top coat and finish up everything. After I apply the Seche Vite top coat I wait for quite some time before I do anything, because even though it dries really fast it is still a bit soft and can be damaged. 


So, here you go... my nail saviors and also a bit about my manicure 'routine'. It turned out to be quite a long post, I hope I didn't bore you. :) Do you use any of these products, if not, what do you use?


12 komentarjev:

  1. Grow Richer izgleda čisto kot moj Nourish me, sem najprej mislila, da je slednji. Meni tudi pomaga pri rasti nohtov, rastejo mi hitreje kot kdajkoli, mi pa žal ne pomaga pri lomljenju. :(

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  2. Jaz bi prav tako rabila nekaj za hitrejšo rast in za cepljenje - oboje:) Seche Vite pa je itak najboljši top coat:)

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    1. Za rast je Grow Richer super, proti lomljenju oz. cepljenju pa definitivno Nailtiques. :D

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  3. meni Grow Richer ni pomagal prav nič :( Uporabljam drugač Microcell spet, ker drugo mi ne pomaga, čeprav vem, da ni fajn tale lak za ''zdravje''.. bi pa mogoče sprobala tale Nailtiques enkrat.

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    1. Res? Meni je pa super in mi občutno pomaga pri hitrejši rasti, čeprav mi že tako precej hitro rastejo... :) Za Microcell pa prvič slišim, a je tudi na bazi proteinov? Nailtiques je proteinski in okrepi nohte, zato je boljši za/proti cepljenju.

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  4. Jaz sem tudi mislila da je na sliki Nourish me Essie :) Meni je ta izredno pomagal proti cepljenju in imam končno lahko dolge nohte zaradi njega :) Čeprav takoj, ko ga ne uporabim se mi spet začnejo cepit :( A potem praviš, da je Nailtiques boljši proti cepljenju kot Essie? Če parkrat ne bi uporabila Nailtiques, se mi vseeno ne bi začeli takoj cepit če te prav razumem :P

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    1. Ja, zelo sta si podobna, ampak očitno sta to dva različna izdelka (ki pa sta najbrž precej podobna oz. pač isto vplivata na nohte). :) Mi je pomagal pri cepljenju, ampak ne toliko kot Nailtiques. Zdaj se mi že zelo dolgo ne cepijo več, ampak ja, če Nailtiques ne uporabljam nekaj časa, pa uporabljam Grow Richer, se mi ne bodo kar naenkrat spet začeli cepiti. Drugače pa jaz vedno eno manikuro nosim vsaj teden dni, tako da nobenega od teh podlakov ne nanašam večkrat na teden.

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  5. Moji so ze od nekdaj grozno lomljivi, zadnjih par let pa se se navduseno cepijo po vsej povrsini, da si jih sploh ne upam pogledat, ker so naravnost grozni. Sprobala sem ze vse mozne metode, od b kompleksa do pivskega kvasa, mazanja z olivnim oljem itd. Ker ni nic pomagalo, sem se lani poleti odlocila za Microcell, ker so ga vsi hvalili kot cudez. Po enem mesecu in pol sem imela tako razcepljene nohte kot se nikoli v zivljenju. Zdaj kot podlago uporabljam OPI envy strengthener, pa je se vedno ista pesem, kljub miljonom pohval drugih uporabnic so moji nohti grozni. Zgubila sem upanje v vse in ne vem kaj naj, a naj vseeno poskusim nailtiques, ceprav mi do zdaj nobena stvar ni niti malo pomagala in zgleda da ni stvari, ki bi jim pomagala?

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    1. Meni so se od nekdaj radi lomili, ker so zelo mehki (no, zdaj ne več tako), ampak cepiti so se mi začeli pa šele ko sem jih malo 'zlorabljala' z nonstop nošenjem laka brez podlaka. Essie Grow Richer je malce pomagal pri tem, ampak prav ustavil cepljenje je pa Nailtiques. Težko ti rečem, če ti bo pomagal, meni vsekakor je in mislim, da se ga splača sprobat - vzami malo 7 ml flaško, pa boš videla... meni so se rezultati zelo hitro pokazali. :)

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  6. Grow richer mojim nohtom ne naredi nič, z Seche Vite imam love-hate relationship, si me pa prepričala, da sprobam Nailtiques. :D

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    1. Meni pa pomaga pri hitrejši rasti, mi pa ne pomaga toliko pri plastenju - za to je Nailtiques. Seche Vite mi je pa top in zaradi njega lahko nosim manikure skoraj 14 dni. :)

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