Nail Care Challenge #1 - Base Coats

Hey girls!
For the next 4 weeks, every thursday I'll be taking part of this nail care challenge created by Bárbara over at Betty Nails. I've been wanting to talk about my nail care and the products I use for quite a while now, and this challenge is the perfect excuse to do so.

So, this first week is all about base coats, what we use right now, used before and would like to try.

These are the ones I'm using right now:

Risqué Base Fortalecedora (strengthening base coat) - This was my only base coat for years and years! It's cheap, it does help to keep your nails strong, but at some point I felt like my nail polish would chip too fast and other times it would bubble and I blamed the base coat. Now I only use this on my feet.

Essence Pro White Nail Hardener - Sucks as a base coat! I wore it under China Glaze Atlantis and 2 days later the nail polish completely fell off, in one piece, like I was losing false nails or something. Tried it again under Barielle Elle's Spell, and again, it was a complete fail! Painted them at night and they were chipped the next morning, I couldn't even take photos of it. -.-' But althought it sucks as a base coat, it really whitens the nails. My nails were looking a bit yellow but they really improved after wearing this! I forgot to take a photo of the before, but this is how they look at the moment (with base coat):

Kiss Diamond Hard - My go to base! I absolutely love it! My nails used to break and peel a lot, but ever since I started using this, all my problems were gone. They only break when I hit them hard or use them as a tool. I noticed that they started growing a lot faster then before and I usually take off my nail polish after 4-5 days of usage with no chips.

Right now, I'm using my own mix of Diamond Hard with Pro White! xD My Diamond Hard was getting difficult to apply, but the bottle still had quite a bit that I didn't want to throw out, and since I didn't really like using the Essence base coat I tried mixing them both together, and it worked! ^^ I know have a base coat that whitens my nails, keeps them strong and doesn't chip on the next day! What more could I ask for?

Other than these base coats, I also tried Mavala 002 Double Action, but my nails got really yellow while using that one, and Mavala Nail Shield, but I felt no difference while using that one. They belonged to my mom (that's why I don't have them here with me for photos) and she really saw some improvement on her nails while using the Double Action base coat, so maybe I just didn't use it long enough to notice any changes.

As for the base coat's I'd like to try, they are O.P.I Nail Envy and Sally Hansen Diamond Strength, but they're both so expensive here that I have no idea of how or when I'll be able to get them.

That's all for today and here's a list of all the girls taking part of this challenge:

Tuli @ Prettifyournails 

Dulce @ Miminhos que eugosto

Luisa @ E foi um dia que ela criou o seu blog 

Bárbara @ Betty Nails

Maggie @ Maggie Nails

Leticia @ omeubloggermiasol

Rachel @ Polished Criminails

Cristina @ Clockwise Nail Polish
Ana Catarina @ O meu maior vicio
Solange @ NailLacquer Addict
Marina @ Paraiso Pinky 
Marta @ Séfèrys
Lala @ Cenas da Lala
Rosa @ TheNailPolish&TheBlog
Juliana @  NailPolish Adiction
Ana @ Nailspt
Ana @ This is the last Polish I Buy, I Promise

Sofia @ O Cantinho da Sofz
Melanie @ Samples by Entayen
Pandora @ Caixinha de Pandora

Oh, Cherry Blossoms! ♪

I was going to do some galaxy nails on friday, I even painted my nails a dark base coat, but then I got lost playing Guild Wars 2 Beta Event the entire weekend and by monday, my nails were chipped (probably from playing too much xD). Had no choice but to take it all out and do something else...So I went with cherry blossoms.

This is what I used:

- Risqué Pink Fluor
- Yolizul in white
- Leticia Well #146
- China Glaze For Audrey
- Striping brush
- Dotting tool

And here is the final result:

I think it looks a bit sloppy on my ring finger, it was the first time I did something like this, but I really think it turned out ok on my thumb. Anyone else agrees with me? :P

Gray and flakies

Last week I received some nail mail, 3 Nubar (Reclaim, Elegant Indigo and 2010) and 1 Orly (Fowl Play). Some of them I already showed to you guys and today I'll be showing another one, Nubar 2010. This one is a flakie topcoat and it's absolutely gorgeous! I think I'm in love with it.

I wanted to layer it over some dark nail polish, so I could see the different colours of the flakies, but didn't know which one to choose. I tried it over black, blue, dark teal, green and gray, loved all the combinations but went with the gray this time.

Here are some pictures (pictures were taken in artificial light, no flash):

 Here you can see all the different colours the flakies reflect

 

Nail polishes used: Nubar - 2010 and Risqué - New York

Once again, the Nubar's formula was excelent, easy application and the flakies were evenly distributed without any struggle, like in some glitters. In other hand, Risqué's formula was awful! It was too tick and goopy making it impossible to apply the polish in thin layers.

I really loved this manicure and I got some nice compliments for it yesterday, that was a first! xD I went to the usual take out place to get some food and the lady taking care of my order asked to see my nails and I just showed her my hand, all proud, and then she called all the other girls that work there to take a look too. It was pretty funny. Unfortunately it started peeling last night...it didn't last for long, just 2 days...and I blame you, Risqué!! ಠ_ಠ

Valentine's Day Water Marble

  I wanted to do something cute and differente on my nails for Valentine's Day, but had no idea of what to do.

  I tried to do something like this on my accent nail, but without nail art brushes or a dotting tool, it was like mission impossible! Tried to do the white line with tape and the dots with a tooth pick and a pen only to hate it in the end and I really had to take it off. It was so crappy! xD After an entire afternoon of trying and failing I finally gave up and went with a water marble on my accent nail.


  Here's the result! (Sorry for the dry skin, but this winter has been hard on my hands and skin, I feel that I'm all peeling. Not good...)

 

Right hand

Left hand

 

Right hand's marble in detail. Had some trouble with a few annoying

 water bubbles getting trapped under the polish. (eeek!! Ugly ugly dry skin there!)

Left hand's marble in detail.

I really love how this one turned out, so pretty *-*

Nail polishes used:

 

 Miyo #26 - Pacific

Risqué - Possessão Rosa
Sally Hansen #120 - Polar Bare

The only thing I didn't really like in this manicure was how different the pink turned out in both marbles, it's a lot darker on my left hand...Oh well, maybe I'll do better next time.