Essie • All in One Base • Top/Base Coats
(8 reviews)
| Average Rating. | 3.3 |
| Would buy this product again. | 37% |
| Package Quality | 4.5 |
| Price | 2.9 |
| Ingredients | |
*TOP REVIEWER* deadonarrivals on 6/10/2013 11:12:00 AM more reviews by deadonarrivals
Age: 30-35 Skin: Oily, Olive, Neutral Hair: Brunette, Coarse Eyes: Brown
Is is a good product to repurchase again but it is not perfect. I used this product per directions as a base and top coat. I'm testing this product out and so far no chips in four days. My method: 1 coat of all in one base for base coat. 2 coats of Essie polish. 1 coat of all in one base for top coat. I know a lot of people prefer a quick dry top coat but I'm one of the rare view that find problems with them. Over the years, I've tried pretty much every quick dry top coat in Sally's as well as drugstores. No matter what base or polish I use, I always get shrinkage and peeling from quick dry top coats in about the same day or next day after I do my manicure. So, for this issue, I avoid quick dry top coats. This product takes about and hour to fully set! This is ridiculous in that aspect because most regular top coats fully cure in 30 minutes. I was a bit heated when I smudged a nail after patiently waiting for what seemed like all day. Another issue is that this doesn't give a high gloss shine. I get a satin finish from using this as a top coat. But, the reason why I would repurchase this is because my manicures last! I'm the chipping queen! No matter what I do or use, I chip badly. I have never had a manicure last 4 days so far with not one single chip. I'll tell you this, I'm guaranteed a lot chips from these activities: 1. washing my hair 2. cleaning my car 3. shopping (touching all the racks) and trying on clothing. Well, I did all 3 of these activities this weekend and no chips!
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BulkyDecorativeClock on 2/17/2013 11:52:00 PM more reviews by BulkyDecorativeClock
Age: 30-35 Skin: Dry, Fair, Cool Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine Eyes: Brown
Like the reviewer below me, I also don't understand the poor reviews.
I have normal nails & needed a base coat to protect my nails from yellowing. This has worked out beautifully for my needs!
-dries quickly
-super-thin texture
-light ridge-"smoothing"
-maintains a longer manicure
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*TOP REVIEWER* mwebba1 on 2/16/2013 3:26:00 PM more reviews by mwebba1
Age: 25-29 Skin: Very Oily, Dark, Warm Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown
I'm not sure why this just doesn't receive more love but I am here to testify as to the awesomeness of this product. And awesome it is! I am a nail polish whore, I could never stay faithful to one brand so I have tried all base coats. Was switching between Orly Bonder and OPI Natural when I happened upon this at my local Wal Mart. It is an Aquamarine color (I like base coats to be distinguishable from top coats) and for the second straight mani - this being the only difference in my painting regimen, I have had my polish last for more than 7 days with MINIMAL tip wear. This has never happened before, so I know it is this product. I used this under OPI The Spy Who Loved Me and Essie Really Red with Seche Vite Top Coat and they both lasted for longer than 7 days. Give it a try. Well done, Essie I've found my HG.
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buffydoggy on 12/29/2012 7:48:00 PM more reviews by buffydoggy
Age: 30-35 Skin: Normal, Fair, Cool Hair: Blond, Wavy, Fine Eyes: Blue
This has got to be one of the worst bases I have ever purchased. I ran out of my Rimmel base so I decided to splurge and get this Essie base coat (in Canada it's not exactly cheap). I have used this for the past couple months but I think it would be better just to go without.
What it does:
1. My nail polish peels right off with this stuff - like right off the nail. I use a lot of Rimmel Pro 10 day polish, OPI and I just bought a few OPI for Sephora polishes and a day after I put on the base, two coats of polish and a top coat the polish literally peels off the nail so the nail is bare. I didn't do anything particularly strenuous with my nails either.
2. Doesn't protect my nails from stains!!!! I wore a OPI for Sephora red polish for a week and oh my goodness!!! I have huge ugly stains on my nails. This base did nothing! I paint my nails all the time and have never had this problem. My nails looks awful, like I've worn a cheap colour without a base!!!
Do yourself a favour and stay away from this product. I don't know about any of the other qualities the product says it has but the reason I bought this - to protect my nails and lengthen the time of the manicure - it does not do.
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ECLion on 7/1/2012 4:59:00 AM more reviews by ECLion
Age: 19-24 Skin: Dry, Fair, Neutral Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine Eyes: Hazel
Just meh, and for the price, that's not ok. I purchased this to wear just as a clear polish. I don't like the look of my hands with nail polish, but a clear base keeps them looking neat and healthy. I found this base too sticky and tacky to work with easily, and it didn't dry very quickly. I am fairly new to the world of nail polish, but I have experienced stuff that dries much more quickly.
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paperskies on 5/29/2012 8:59:00 PM more reviews by paperskies
Age: 19-24 Skin: Combination, Fair Hair: Black, Curly Eyes: Brown
I couldn't understand why my manicures were suddenly chipping after 24-48 hours of wear. Until I realized that it started happening when I began using this base coat. I've also noticed that when using this with Seche Vite (HG!), the shrinkage is twice as bad. My nails started peeling and have since stopped since I switched back to my old base. I honestly don't recommend this at all and this is coming from someone who adores the Essie line.
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*TOP REVIEWER* ashleyanders on 5/2/2012 7:17:00 PM more reviews by ashleyanders
Age: 19-24 Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Neutral Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium Eyes: Blue
What It Claims:
"Scientifically proven to improve your nails. Trust me - it was even tested under clinical conditions.
* 45% stronger nails in 5 days
* Visibly longer nails in 5 days
* 90% smoother nails instantly
* 2x shinier glossy top coat that lasts for days"
Claims: True or False?
1) Stronger nails: False
2) Longer nails: False
3) Smoother nails: Moderately true
4) Shinier top coat: False
Packaging:
Very aesthetically pleasing. Simple design consisting of a clear glass container, an embossed logo on the sides, and a sticker with the product's label. The bottle comes in a hard plastic container with all of the information. While it's useful to have all the information at your disposal it is incredibly wasteful. The cap is easy to twist on and off, although the shape and size of the bottle makes cap removal a bit awkward for me. The brush is longer, thin and rounded, but unlike the brushes for the regular polishes I find that the brush works well for application.
Formula:
What I love about this base is how easy it is to use. The base has a thin formula that spreads very easily on the nail without flooding the cuticles. It dries to the touch very quickly with a very slight tacky feeling - nothing that is too noticeable but I find it's more obvious than other bases I've tried before. It comes in a green tint but goes on clear and doesn't alter the nail polish colour. One downside to the formula is that it's only mediocre in performance. If I apply polish to it once it has dried to the touch the polish only lasts 1-2 days before I start to see some tip wear. It works best if you really wait for it to dry, preferably between 10 and 20 minutes. Which isn't a huge deal but it's not ideal to have to wait so long after application in order to get better wear (although I'd say that it definitely extends wear by 2-3 days this way). The biggest potential downside however is that I believe it does not agree very well with my nails. It's possible that it dries my nails out, especially if I leave the polish on the nails for an extended period of time (weeks). It's also possible that it makes them a bit weaker, although this could also be from applying and removing polish too often. It doesn't seem to be exceptional at preventing staining but I rarely have an issue with staining so it's not something that concerns me with base coats. I also want to mention, this should not be used as a top coat. I've tried it (without realizing that it recommends this on the box) and it caused the polish to remain wet and tacky far longer than if I were using a real top coat. It also seemed to alter the colour a bit as a top coat.
Wear time:
Ultimately I don't know exactly how much wear time is contributed to this base, but when used with polishes from different brands and different finishes I usually get between two and three days without wear. No base coat definitely results in wear and sometimes chips far sooner, so it must help, but it doesn't seem to be significant (unless I really leave it to dry)
Bang for your Buck:
I got this 15ml/0.5 oz polish for about $11.00CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart. While pricey, it's also a bit more product than what you get from Essie polishes.
Final Consensus:
I'm somewhat disappointed in this base. I've been using it for a few months and while it doesn't do a terrible job it also doesn't seem to do much for my polish wear, and possibly negatively affects the health of my nails. It seems, however, that all of the treatment polishes I've tried have had the same negative effects, so it's likely that my nails simply do not respond well to such specialized products and not that it's innately damaging. If you really like the brand I'd recommend giving it a try but I feel like you could get something of the same quality for a cheaper price.
* Overall Rating: 2.5/5
* Price: 2/5
* Packaging Quality: 4/5
* Repurchase: No.
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*TOP REVIEWER* ArizonaAngel on 4/28/2012 12:43:00 AM more reviews by ArizonaAngel
Age: 36-43 Skin: Normal, Medium, Cool Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine Eyes: Hazel
To be fair, I bought this kind of by accident. I didn't read the part that said "For Normal Nails", I don't consider my nails normal by any means as I have one that tends to get "peely" and the others just aren't where I want them to be. I got this at Walgreens for 8 bucks and decided to give it a shot. My usual base treatments seem to be letting me down so I wanted to get something else and I got this. I used this alone for a week, reapplying every day. I got mixed results.
As far as it being a treatment, I didn't care for it. I took it off and had two more peely nails, ones that have never been that way. Also my cuticles were dry as a desert and I had a hangnail - which I haven't had in literal years.
As a basecoat this was great though. My polish stayed on like nothing else. And it was a polish by a different company. But all in all...I need something more for my tips. However I will use this up on my toes. I won't buy again.