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Every wondered why Top Coats are applied over your nail polish when you have a manicure done? Or have you been listening to your friends rave about their favorite quick dry top coats?
Some confuse base coats with top coats. They are not the same thing, so if you have one that says it can be both? Well the answer to that is not really. A base coat is just that a base for your nail polish before you apply it. You apply base coat to your natural nails then apply your nail polish then your top coat. Lot of work yes but it does help with the lifetime of your manicure.
What is a top coat?
Top coats act as a protective barrier to seal your nail polish color and help your nail polish from early chipping or flaking. Now there are a few different types that you may of heard of. For starters there is more than one type depending on what you want. You have your quick-dry, heat-dry, high-shine, matte finish, air-dry, chip-resistant, non-yellowing, UV protective, even drops and more. They range in price from about $3.95 to over $20.00.
The best known of all types of top coats, is the one that you apply to your natural nails when you do your own personal manicure and ones that your manicurist will use if you have a nail enhancements or even gel nails. Many of us just need a type to apply to your natural nails after you apply your nail polish. The higher price the more your top coat is going to offer.
What are you looking for in a top coat?
Most would say quick drying. Who wants to sit around waiting for your nail polish to dry? The best part of about quick dry is it will take about 1 to 3 minutes to dry. Only problem is doesn’t help your nail polish to stay put longer. Now if you can handle the wait time any top coat that is air-dry type, taking up to 30 minutes to fully dry will last longer. Meaning you can wear your nail polish longer with less chance of early chipping or flaking.
There are two types of top coats that are very popular, that would be your High Shine and a new one that is getting a lot of press lately, Mattes. Matte top coats are a new item because there are so many matte nail polishes out there now. You can take any high shine polish and turn it into a matte coat using a matte top coat. Problem many are finding with matte top coats are they chip easy and don’t last as long as a high shine might. But that is also the problem with matte polishes so the choice there is yours, matte top coat that changes any polish into a matte or the original matte nail polish.
Did you know? Many top coats are now coming without formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyle phthalate (DBP) like most brands of nail polish varnishes do. Do they work as well? Only by trial and error will you know which one is best for what you want.
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Overall Beauty Minerals
Expectant Mama
