I was lucky enough to be one of the few people chosen to test drive the new base and top coat from Cult Nails! Are you ready to see what Maria's come up with this time?
I've never done this before, but... here are my bare nails (eep)!!
I had some funky staining awhile back so I lightly buffed my nails. As you can see, there's now a clear line straight through the middle between buffed and unbuffed nail. I've been using a ridgefiller base coat while the buffed part grows out to make the surface even again.
Here are my nails with one coat of Cult Nails Get It On Perfecting Base Coat.
Where's the uneven line between buffed/unbuffed? Where are my minimal ridges? Perfected! One coat and everything was smoothed over.
Get Even has a shiny finish, but not in a slick way. The dried texture is slightly rubbery so it's ready to grab on to the polish. It also dries quickly - I can't stand base coats that take forever to set. Get Even is one of those base coats where Finger 1 is dry by the time you're done putting it on Finger 10.
It was Friday, so I was ready for fun weekend nails. I decided to try out Get Even and Wicked Fast with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away. This shade was released in Spring/Summer 2009, but I didn't buy it until it recently made it back on to drugstore displays as a featured shade of the season. It's very pigmented, so some people can get away with just one coat.
Get Even has a shiny finish, but not in a slick way. The dried texture is slightly rubbery so it's ready to grab on to the polish. It also dries quickly - I can't stand base coats that take forever to set. Get Even is one of those base coats where Finger 1 is dry by the time you're done putting it on Finger 10.
It was Friday, so I was ready for fun weekend nails. I decided to try out Get Even and Wicked Fast with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away. This shade was released in Spring/Summer 2009, but I didn't buy it until it recently made it back on to drugstore displays as a featured shade of the season. It's very pigmented, so some people can get away with just one coat.
I wore it here with two coats and one coat of Wicked Fast.
Here are my tips with Blue Me Away after four full days of wear.
I can't emphasize enough the importance of wrapping the tip of the fingernail with polish and top coat to my friends who want to make their manicures last longer. It really works! Don't leave the edge of the nail bare - seal that color on!
Normally, tip wear is minimized but the combo of Get Even and Wicked Fast cemented Blue Me Away on. Even after days of cleaning, typing, dish washing without gloves, there's still polish on the nail edge.
Normally, tip wear is minimized but the combo of Get Even and Wicked Fast cemented Blue Me Away on. Even after days of cleaning, typing, dish washing without gloves, there's still polish on the nail edge.
Here are my bare nails right after I took Blue Me Away off.
Four days of wearing a bright blue shade over only one coat of base coat and there was no significant staining on my nails themselves. I even got crazy smurf fingers when I was taking Blue Me Away off - there's still a touch of blue staining on the right side of my cuticles visible - but my nails were fine!
I think one of the best tests of base/top coats is how they act with cremes because it's a very unforgiving finish. Jellies would have to be the next hardest finish because of its tendency to bubble and pull away from the tips. Next up was my manicure to celebrate "the end of summer" over the long Labor Day weekend.
I think one of the best tests of base/top coats is how they act with cremes because it's a very unforgiving finish. Jellies would have to be the next hardest finish because of its tendency to bubble and pull away from the tips. Next up was my manicure to celebrate "the end of summer" over the long Labor Day weekend.
Here are my nails with two coats of New York Summer Hot Orange, one coat of Cult Nails Captivated, and one coat of Get Even and Wicked Fast each.
Here are my nails after five full days of wear.
My nails grew out but the polish didn't go anywhere! I wore Get Even and Wicked Fast for a day or two with other polish brands and finishes. The results were consistently the same - once the polish dried, it stayed put nice, shiny and smooth.
I loved Get Even Perfecting Base Coat from the second it dried on my first nail. I had to get to know the Wicked Fast! Quick Drying Top Coat before I grew to love it. Why? Because it's not a thick quick drying top coat, so it shouldn't be treated like one! That seems like a logical no-brainer, but I've been using thick top coats like Seche Vite and Poshe for a few years and old habits die hard.
Wicked Fast is a thin top coat. You don't need a large bead to be slathered and oozed on the nail for it to work. The more you put on, the slower it'll dry and the more likely it'll bubble. You don't need a thick layer or multiple coats of Wicked Fast. One thin coat. That's it. Really. That's all you'll need to make this work! Put it on thinly and it'll dry quickly to a hard glass-like finish.
After trying Get Even and Wicked Fast for the last few weeks, I know that I'm in love. So far, they get along with all of my polishes, they make them last forever, and they're so easy to work with. I love the Cult Nails bottle and brush and I love their formulas. Once again, Maria has blown my mind with her creations.
Get Even and Wicked Fast are expected to go on sale at the end of the month, so keep your eye on the Cult Nails shop and definitely plan on getting your own!
