Base Coats

Recently I feel like sharing my experience and discussing what's best for hand&nail care. So today I'll tell you about the base coats I've tried, since for many of us they are an inevitable part of the manicure process.

Before I switch to the base coats themselves, I'd like to share some details. My nails are: fast growing, thick, splittering and stain easily. So, from a top coat I expect 2 things: to prolong my manicure and to prevent staining. I don't really need any fortifying effect, as I achieve it by other means.

In search of my first base coat I explored the whole internet and read thousands of feedbacks and comments before I choose which could work best for me. So I bought Nail Tek Foundation II.

Generally, I was very satisfied. Nail Tek Foundation II did everything what it promised plus I felt that my nails became even harder. To put it in a perceivable form, the "+" are:

~ it dries very fast and becomes somewhat matte when it's dry, so you can see it;

~ prevents staining. With especially 'suspicious' colours I use 2 coats and it works fine;

~ strengthens the nails and makes them grow faster - that was my impression.

The only "-" feature I noticed is that when you use 1 coat of polish, the 'thready' formula of the base coat will be visible underneath. But oh well, I rarely layer just 1 coat, even if the polish is completely opaque.

The next base I bought was Nail Tek Foundation III. Obviously, because I liked Foundation II, but I noticed that the product description of the IIId suits my nails better. By effect, II and III are similar, only maybe II makes nails grow faster, but they both fortify the nails pretty well. So, I equally liked Nail Tek Foundation II and III.

One more base coat of a similar type that I've tried is Essie Fill The Gap. Also a ridgefiller, also dries pretty fast and matte. I didn't really notice any effect on nails, otherwise this base coat is almost a dupe of Nail Teks. 

A completely different base coat - CND Stickey - I bought it after reading many positive reviews and also because one of the nail bloggers I read recommended it very much. So, its name describes it exactly as it is: it's green and sticky. My impression of it... is pretty mixed. The fact that it's sticky makes it hard to apply the first layer of nail polish over it - so I felt at least. Otherwise this base coat had no additional super effects. Dries ok, but remains sticky, so you are always confused if it dried or not...

One more product I use as a base now and then is Essence Pro White Effect. Actually it's something else than a base, but I can't think of any other application. Despite the name on the sticker, it does not whiten anything. As a base coat it also sucks: after some days you can just peel it off together with the polish. Hm. But hey, works perfect for glitters, just like a peel-off base coat :D 

Last, but not the least, is P2 Ridgefiller, which I bought because all above-listed ones simply finished. It's a nice product which you can find in any drug store in Germany, it works similar to Nail Teks, maybe it dries a bit more slowly and doesn't harden your nails that much. Overall: good one.

To add some illustrative effect for this post, I compiled a simple comparative table. I hope it will be useful.

	Nail Tek II	Nail Tek III	Essie Fill The Gap	CND Stickey	Essence Pro White Effect	P2 Ridgefiller
Dries Fast	5/5	5/5	4/5	3/5	3/5	4/5
Prevents Staining	5/5	5/5	4/5	not really	not really	4/5
Fortifies Nails	yes!	yes	a bit	-	-	a bit, I think
Prolongs Manicure				not sure	no! on the contrary
Overall Comments:	Nice one!	Same here: nice one!	Also not bad. Works well with Essie polishes.	Hmm.. I don't think I'll buy it again.	Seriously weird stuff. Never again.	Nice one and really affordable.

That's pretty much my experience with base coats. Not extensive, I know, but I'm planning to try more new ones. "Short list candidates" are Zoya Anchor, INM Milky Bond and CND Toughen Up. I also crave for Essie Protein Base, but I think it's discontinued... :( If you have any nice base coat in mind, I'll be glad to hear your recommendations :)

What about you, girls? What's your favourite base coat so far? Which one would you never ever recommend? I'm very curious ;)

Nail Care: Mont Bleu Glass Nail Files

Today I'll tell you about two pretty items of my nail care routine, and namely about glass nail files from Mont Bleu, which I use every time I do a manicure. That's how they look:

Heute berichte ich euch über zwei schöne Teile meiner Nagelpflege-Routine, und zwar über die Glasnagelfeilen von Mont Bleu, die ich jedes Mal bei Maniküre benutze. So sehen sie aus:

The nail files were sent to me in a blue box, otherwise all the files are sold together with perfectly matching black suede sleeves. Regarding the size: there are normal and mini-size Mont Bleu nail files: 13,5 cm (10€) and 9 cm (8€) accordingly. As a set they cost 15€ together. Shipping from Czech Republic to Germany lasts around 4-5 days.

Die Nagelfeilen wurden mir in einem blauen Kästchen zugeschickt, ansonsten werden alle Feilen in perfekt passenden schwarzen Samthüllen verkauft. Was die Länge angeht: die Feilen von Mont Bleu gibt es in normale sowie in Reisegröße: 13,5 cm (10€) und 9 cm (8€). Als Set kosten die beiden 15€. Die Lieferung von Tschechien nach Deutschland dauert ca. 4-5 Tage.

The design of the files deserves a special attention: manicure for me is an aesthetic process, and a delicate decoration of the files suits to it ideally. The handle is painted blue gradient and embellished with Swarovski elements. But hey pragmatic people, no fear! The crystals stand firm in there, one can also hold the file quite conveniently. The filing surface (from both sides) is of a high quality: it has an extremely fine grit, but works very effectively at the same time. 
Das Design der Feilen verdient besondere Aufmerksamkeit: Maniküre ist für mich eine ästhetische Schönheitsbehandlung, und die feine Dekoration von den Feilen passt ideal dazu. Der Griff ist in Blau gehalten und mit Swarovski-Kristallen verziert. Aber hey pragmatische Leute, keine Angst! Die Steinchen halten sich ganz fest, man kann den Griff auch gut und bequem fassen. Die abrasive Oberfläche (von beiden Seiten) ist von hoher Qualität: sie verfügt über eine extrem feine Körnung, wirkt aber trotzdem sehr effektiv.

So, now generally to the question: why I fancy glass nail files so much? Simply because: 

- glass nail files work gentle with nails, they seal the nail edges which prevents the nails from splittering; 

- glass nail files are hygienic: after the usage you can simply wash it with water;

- glass nail files are long-lasting, if not immortal (if you neither sit on them nor drop them :).

Also, jetzt generell zur Frage: warum ich eigentlich so fest auf die gläsernen Nagelfeilen stehe? Ganz einfach, weil: 

- die Glasfeilen sind schonend zum Nagel, sie versiegeln die Feilkanten nach dem Feilen, womit das Einsplittern verhindert wird;

- die Glasfeilen sind sehr hygienisch: nach Benutzung kann man sie leicht mit Wasser abwaschen; 

- die Glasfeilen sind langlebig, wenn nicht ewig (aber dabei bitte nicht drauf sitzen und nicht fallen lassen :).

Conclusion: 

in my opinion, the nail files from Mont Bleu are totally worth recommending, also as a good (and cute) present - we are not all nail polish addicts, but each of us files the nails from time to time : ) The correlation between the price and the quality is absolutely reasonable, you get a worthful product with a nice design. I don't know what can kill a glass nail file, but if it happens, or if I lose it, I will definitely buy another one from Mont Bleu.

Fazit: 

die Nagelfeilen von Mont Bleu sind meiner Meinung nach absolut empfehlenswert, auch als ein gutes (und schönes) Geschenk für Freundinnen - wir sind nicht alle Nagellack-Junkies, aber jeder feilt doch ab und zu die Nägel : ) Das Verhältnis von Preis und Qualität ist zwar absolut angemessen, man bekommt hochwertiges Produkt in schöner Aufmachung. Ich weiss nicht, was eine Nagelfeile töten kann, aber wenn dass doch passiert oder ich sie z.B. verliere, dann werde ich bestimmt noch Glasfeilen von Mont Bleu nachkaufen.

About the producer: 

Mont Bleu is a Czech producer of glass goods, jewelry, tweezers, pocket mirrors, cosmetic brushes and among all glass nail files. What is really impressive is that the embellishment of the nail files is handcrafted - on every single file! On the web site of Mont Bleu there are endless variations of designs and decoration, e.g. like these below...

Über den Hersteller:

Mont Bleu ist ein Tschechischer Hersteller der Glaswaren, Schmuck, Pinzetten, Taschenspiegel, Kosmetikpinsel und u.a. Glasnagelfeilen. Was wirklich eindrucksvoll ist - die Nagelfeilen werden handgearbeitet, jede einzelne! Auf der Mont Bleu Webseite gibt es unendlich viele Variationen der Design und Dekoration, z.B. wie hier unten...

Web site for wholesalers / Webseite für Großhändler: http://www.czech-glass-nail-files.com/

...and many many others. Just click the picture above and enjoy the variety! Mont Blue was very kind to provide a special offer for my dear readers: enter the cupon code 'BLOG' and get 20% off!

...und viele viele andere. Einfach das Bild oben anklicken und die Vielfalt genießen! Mont Blue hat für meine Leser ein spezialer Rabatt angeboten: gebt einfach 'BLOG' bei Bezahlung ein und erhaltet 20% Rabatt! 

*The products were kindly provided by Mont Bleu for review, however, this did not influence my opinion in any way.
*Die Artikel habe ich von Mont Bleu kostenlos zur Verfügung gestellt bekommen, meine Meinung über die Produkte wurde damit aber nicht beeinflusst.

Essence SOS Set

Ein Paar Wörter über Notfälle - und zwar Nagelbrüche :) Es fand sich, dass es nicht so schlimm ist, kann man ja überleben, besonders mit zwei wunderschönen Sachen von Essence - Nagelkleber und SOS Repair Pads.

Ich habe sie nur vor kurzem für mich entdeckt, besser aber später als nie. Eine Woche vor hatte ich auch die Möglichkeit sie zu ausprobieren: jetzt geht der 7te Tag (!!), dass ich ein Streifchen trage.

Über Essence SOS Produkte schrieben schon andere Bloggers, zum Beispiel Michèle und Michele :) - bei ihnen kann man mit mehr Details und Bilder darüber lesen. Ich wollte nur noch mal bemerken, dass dieses SOS Set sehr zu empfehlen ist (und kostet übrigens nicht viel). Einige Leute benutzen auch Teebeutelstoff, mir scheinen aber die Essence Streifen viel mehr user-freundlich :) Keine Werbung doch, nur eigene Erfahrung!