troadoes: Nail Polish Stash Part 1- Top Coats, Base Coats, Treatments, Nail Art Goodies, and Stash Storage

Today kicks off the day where I start spamming you with pictures (wait...don't I do that already?) of my stash. Today's post is about my many base, coats, top coats, treatments, nail art stuff, and how I store it all. It's the most boring post (mostly since I'm doing a lot of typing in it), so it comes first.

NailTek Foundation II was my first base coat. Previous to this, I had been using some Sally Hansen Top/Base Coat, which had eventually turned yellow on me and was sent off to Zoya last year for the polish exchange. I like it, but I can't use it continuously for long periods of time or my nails get to dry and start splitting/peeling.

Seche was next, since I'd heard great things about the top coat, and Sally's was doing one of those promotions that gave you a free Base coat with Top coat purchase. It's pretty crappy though. It's thin, and doesn't prevent staining at all..if you have a lot of ridges to your nails, this won't smooth them out. Used in combination with Seche Vite, you'll eventually be able to peel off your polish in chunks.
My next endeavor was Beauty Secrets Base Coat, which I like, and therefore bought a large bottle after my smaller one ran low.

I never tried Nubar Foundation

Orly Smudge Fixer-works to an extent, but will usually end up dragging off your polish for larger smudges and dents before it smooths them out.

Sally Hansen Nail Quencher I picked up when it was BOGO50% off and on clearance for $1.79. I like it, which is why I have 3, I hate the bottle though...since if you get any around the edges and try to clean it off, polish remover takes off the blue coating on the bottle.

I bought the 2 pack duo of Nailtek II at Ross for $4.99. At the time I had gone back to using Foundation II and was thinking I liked it...The splitting nails started again a couple weeks after...so I ended up with a backup..still deciding what to do with it.

Nail Envy I haven't tried...just snagged it on clearance at Ulta, packaged with my beloved Avoplex...it's also pending consideration as I haven't had any real use for treatments.

Essie Fill the Gap came in a set I got at Ross with 2 other polishes for $7.99. I haven't given it a good go yet

Barielle Nail Brightener- Opalescent white..kind of useless if you have any significant staining/yellowing. I can see it maybe working if your nails weren't stained, but it defeats the purpose of needing a brightener IMO

Barielle Natural Nail camoflage-I love this stuff. Reduces the appearance of staining on nails. I think this will be very necessary for when I start working again and have to resort to boring nudes.

Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler-A really nice base coat, fills in ridges, leaves a smooth finish..polish doesn't drag at all when you apply it over this base coat.

Barielle Manicure Extender-not to be used alone...or your polish will never fully dry. haven't given it a good whirl yet.

Can you tell I love Camo or what?

Top Coats--the only reason why I allow myself to change my mani so often...if they weren't quick drying, I'd polish a lot less :]

OPI Rapidry was my first topcoat after the aforementioned Sally Hansen. It does leave your polish shiny, but the dry time is atrocious. Suzi must have a lot of time on her hands if this is quick drying for her.

Orly Sec n Dry was after that...at the time I thought it dried quickly...it was certainly a large improvement over anything I'd tried before...it's one of the crappier topcoats I've tried overall though.

I bought Seche Vite after hearing raves for it on the boards. It's alright..it definitely dries fast...and it's my favorite top coat for pedicures. I'm less fond of it on my fingers because it has an annoying habit of shrinking back if you don't wrap your tips. This phenomenon increases as you work your way through the bottle. It's also worth mentioning that you have to use it on wet polish..the drier it is, the more shrinking you'll get as well.

Out the Door is my favorite polish for regular use and Konads. It works better over drier polish, but will work on wet polish as well (you may end up with polish on the brush though if it's too wet...) It evens out some difficult to work with cremes too.

I got Orly In a Snap in a kit and haven't tried it yet

Nubar Diamont is my favorite top coat-it does dry fast, but isn't very good over wet polish. I like to wait 3 minutes before applying it, and it's dry in another 2. Doesn't scuff as easily as Seche or Poshe.

Poshe is a fast drying top coat I like to use over glitters. It dries faster than Seche, but scuffs more easily.

I forgot I already took a pic of in a snap, so here it is again... I haven't tried the WnW or Color Club

Essie Matte About You is an excellent matte top coat..I have a backup of this as well.

China Glaze Ghoulish Glow does glow in the dark, but only after you've held it under a light source for a while before turning off the lights.

Out the Door Northern Lights is my favorite holographic top coat because it gives you holographic shimmer in a dry fast top coat. There's no need to apply another top coat over it.

Orly Prisma Gloss is also quite nice. It dries pretty quickly, but I still use a dry fast top coat over it as it doesn't deep dry

My beloved Konad Kit..

Fimo canes..which I haven't touched at all..they were a gift.

Rhinestones..

Stash Storage! My polish stash lives under my twin sized bed...the pink spot on the carpet is where my cat Zero exploded a sample jar of All Girl pigment...