Used to really love painting my nails, but then I took a looong break. Many years. Unfortunately I developed a nasty nail biting habit in that time.
Enough was enough, and I purchased Sally Hansen Miracle (not) Gel in Pink Sands, along with the glossy top coat from the same line. This is a couple weeks of progress, just painting, re-painting, cleaning up my cuticles, moisturizing.
Once I get to a full month of no nail biting (soon!!), I'd love to treat myself to a modest collection of polishes. A good base coat, a fast-dry top coat, a red, a black, some dark shimmers.
Since it's been so long that I've kept up with the online nail polish community, I don't really know what's "good" anymore. Looks like Orly has a rubberized base and armor top coat that are both well-regarded? And that Seche now has a "Vive" formula that doesn't shrink wildly?
I'm open to anything, both from drugstore and indie brands. Priorities are paddle brushes and long wear. I don't want to get into gel, at least not yet.
Also.. I've always preferred using 100% acetone as my polish remover. Now that I'm over 30 years old, I'm wondering if that's no longer a healthy removal method for my dry hands. Thoughts?
by giltwrench
3 Comments
Maybe to to better sum up my question:
If *you* had to start a nail polish collection from scratch, what brands would you gravitate towards?
ILNP, LynB Designs, Sassy Sauce are all great. The formula is top notch (self leveling, durable etc) and they each have a variety of finishes and shades.
Your nails are soooo pretty! Soooo you have a lot of catching up to do lol
My fave brands are: Polished for Days, Cameo Colours Lacquers, Bluebird Lacquer, KBShimmer, ILNP, Picture Polish, Painted Polish, Pahlish, Essie, Great Lakes Lacquer, BKL
There are a lot more but they are my standouts.
A great way to dip your foot in is Polish Pickup which happens on the first friday of every month. Next date is Oct 04. A bunch of polish makers create a polish based on a theme and it’s a great way to test out different brands all from one shop.