Orly Rubberised Base Coat

Base coats are somewhat of an essential for me. I'm not sure if it's just my nails or not, but I find that polishes tend to chip quite quickly on me and stain my nails terribly if I skip the base stage. I also find that a good base coat makes for smoother application and just better nails. I have quite a few base coats in my stash and whilst some perform better than others it's definitely not a stage in my nail routine that I like to skip.

This one actually came in my Boots advent calendar and for a little while I'd completely forgotten I had it. When I did rediscover it hiding in my polish drawer and got round to give it a whirl I was kicking myself I hadn't dug it out sooner. It's apparently a rubberized base coat which helps polish to bond to it for a longer lasting mani. It's easy to apply and dries relatively quickly ( not the fastest drier in the beauty stash but I'm willing to overlook that) and helps to smooth out your nails to make a nicer surface to apply your chosen colour. This is all lovely but it's actually the increase in wear time that most impresses me here. With a topcoat I can easily get 6 days from my nail polish and there's absolutely no chipping and it's still looking pretty good. Without a topcoat we're talking about 5 days but I'd say that's pretty impressive considering a few of my favourite shades are known to chip on the first day. I also find it does a really good job of helping my nails stay clean, which is no mean feat when you're partial to a bit of dark red. 

Overall, a top base coat!