Hello ladies,
There's a question I am posed in some variation almost every day: "How do you keep your natural nails so long?". Interspersed with polish, nail art and product review posts, I am going to be featuring treatments I use regularly. I believe these contribute to my overall nail health and maintenance. Whatever length you enjoy keeping your nails, I hope these recommendations will be of benefit and present additional options for consideration. I also endeavor to demystify the process of nail care. There are so many faulty products with convincing packaging. All you really require are a few dependable ones.
I brought my bottle of Zoya Get Even, ridge filling base coat, to the park with me and positioned it upon the wrought iron fence. Such a good model!
Get Even is the second step in the Zoya Colorlock System. While I only occasionally use the full five steps (the sixth item is polish thinner), Get Even is a part of almost every manicure. The reason Zoya Colorlock isn't for me much of the time is my use of the Konad. Colorlock features drops as the quick dry agent. These leave a residue on the nail that is incompatible with stamping nail art. One of the benefits of Get Even is it performs spectacularly outside of the Colorlock System. I use it most often with Creative Nail Design Stickey base coat and Air Dry top coat.
I apply Get Even for three main purposes: strengthening a damaged nail, concealing a wrap or as a primer under sheer polishes. For the first two instances, I only paint Get Even on the affected nails. I use one to two thin coats over my base coat. To insure opacity with sheer colors, I only require one coat after the base.
Get Even has a thin consistency. It leaves a milky wash of color over the nail. It doesn't cover uniformly, but this is purposeful. The product will smooth over areas of texture and create a level foundation for painting color. Get Even dries far faster than standard polish. Applying it under sheer colors will save dry time and avert the need to paint additional coats of polish. Get Even will quell those four coater nightmares!
If you ever have a small crack or peeling, Get Even contains a dense fiber-like compound and polyurethane for strengthening properties. I find it most useful in keeping dark or bright colors from settling into uneven areas and adhering to the nail plate in a way that even 100% acetone can't penetrate. In nurturing a damaged nail, providing a white base can circumvent issues with staining that would otherwise make wearing lighter colors unsightly until the area has grown out.
Get Even is wondrous at covering nail repair patches. Depending on the thickness of the patch, two coats may be necessary. After much experimentation I found I prefer cut pieces of tea bag and brush on nail glue to professional silk wraps. The problem with tea bags is they sit a little higher on the nail and don't tolerate the same degree of buffing. Get Even can obscure them effectively.
The product level in the photo is deceptive. I turned my bottle over to coat the glass. It's about 30% down at the moment. I can't imagine having a full bottle of Get Even for very long.
Thanks ladies and happy painting!