Review: Sally Hansen Nail Quencher Hydrating Base Coat

Hi everyone! I'm sorry for another review, I'll be posting nail polish again very soon! But I'm in dire need of some advice so I'll start off with this review about Sally Hansen's Nail Quencher Hydrating Base Coat.
Please note: this product is discontinued so maybe this review isn't relevant for everyone, however I found some places where it's still easily available, so I figured, why not?

Sally Hansen Nail Quencher

I actually got this product because I had heard many many ravings about it, it's a holy grail base coat for a lot of nail polish junkies out there! In the first weeks of using it, I thought it was pretty ok: my nail polish didn't chip right away, and it prevented staining rather well.

But after a few weeks it became painfully clear: I don't like it. At all. And I think it's safe to say that, because I finished an entire bottle!

It goes on pretty thick due to its gel-like substance, I figured this is why my nails weren't as stained. But it bubbles, like crazy. And honestly, I don't want a base coat that leaves my nails looking like a moonscape.
The emptier the bottle, the thicker the base coat got. It even got stringy on me, and therefore highly unmanageable.

The drying time wasn't great either, I actually had to wait a good 5 minutes before I could get on with the rest of my manicure. Another disappointment was the brush, it's small. I don't want to spend too much time on applying something exciting as a base coat, so I need at least a medium sized brush and something that dries quickly.
So overall, it's safe to say, this base coat is not working out for me.

Please help me!

And that brings me to the following question:
What base coat do you use or would you recommend? So far I've tried OPI Natural Base Coat, OPI Ridge Filler and the Sally Hansen. Please help me out!

Thanks so much for stopping by! -
Michèle

Follow up

Hi everyone, I did a quick follow up because you were all so incredibly helpful!! Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences with me. After reading all your comments I think I'm going to give either Nail Tek or Essie's Protein Base Coat a try. Of course I'll review these at some point for those who haven't tried these. Wish me luck and thanks again!

Your recommendations

Review: Lush Handy Gurugu

Hi guys! Maybe it's just me, but when I'm in love with a product, things often go wrong.. My favorite hair mask: discontinued. My favorite veggie salad: not so veggie anymore. My favorite hand cream: they changed the formula. Can you believe this? I'm not kidding! But in a way I'm glad, because in the search of the next perfect hand cream I found a match. In fact, I love it even more than the previous cream I've been using.

Lush Handy Gurugu

First of all, Gurug..what?! Hell, I don't even know what it means but I do know Lush's Handy Gurugu is something special. Lush did this lovely writeup on their website:

You'd think because this hand lotion has such a light and fluffy consistency it would be lightly moisturizing, but Handy Gurugu is a rich cream that sinks in quickly and really goes to work on dry, sore hands. We mix in a multitude of butters including fresh Shea butter, purchased fairly from women who whip it up by hand in a village in Ghana (they're really strong - trust us we went and tried to whip it up ourselves and let's just say our arms were quiet puny compared to theirs)

And, as far as I'm concerned, they're not lying! Handy Gurugu is fabulously fluffy and light yet really moisturizing. It's quickly absorbed and doesn't leave my hands greasy (as with Smitten, which would be great for extremely dry winterhands), which is a major plus. I love the smell too. The scent is very strong though, I think you'll either hate or love it, it's definitely not for everyone. It reminds me of a giant herbal explosion; it smells extremely earthly. The smell lingers for a long time too, I can smell it almost throughout the entire day. If this makes you feel a bit reluctant, I'd suggest a little batting of the eyelids and ask for a sample to try it out!

For some people the packaging could be a downside, because it's in a tub you'll have to stick your fingers in it. If you don't want cream under your nails, use your knuckle to get the product out of the tub, I do this with day creams as well!

I love how Lush uses only cruelty free and fair trade ingredients. This is most likely bustin the price as well, but I don't mind paying a bit more for a good cause. The price of Lush products vary a lot depending on the country you live in, here in The Netherlands a jar of Handy Gurugu retails for €12,95 for 100gr (or $16 for 3.4oz)

So in conclusion, I found a new love in Handy Gurugu, if you ever happen to stumble upon a Lush, I'd say at least ask for a sample!

Ingredients

Rose Water (Rosa centifolia), Fair Trade Organic Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii), Glycerine, Stearic Acid, Organic Almond Oil (Prunus dulcis), Triethanolamine, Fresh Lemon Juice (Citrus limonum), Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Rose Absolute (Rosa centifolia), Chamomile Blue Oil (Matricaria chamomilla), Organic Evening Primrose Oil (Oenothera biennis), Organic Peanut Butter (Arachis hypogaea), Organic Pumpkinseed Butter (Cucurbita), Organic Cashew Nut Butter (Anacardium), Organic Almond Butter (Prunus dulcis), Tincture of Benzoin (Styrax benzoin), Cetearyl Alcohol, *Benzyl Salicylate, *Coumarin, *Geraniol, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Farnesol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Chlorophyllin, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.

MEMORIAL DAY MANI - RED, WHITE & BLUE

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. Here is my mani:

Zoya Gaia for the base color, Orly - Royal Navy for the diagonal parts. Then I used a Stripe Right pen in Red Glitter to accent. I topped it all off with Klean Color - Chunky Silver. My ring finger has some star accents on it, but with the chunky silver it might be hard to see.

LOTS OF ZOYA SWATCHES

Here are my Zoya Exchange polishes I got, or at least the second half of them any way. One might be tempted to ask why did I get so many blue toned pinks that look alike and to that I must say SHHHHH! They are all pretty and different in their own rights! Just enjoy the pretty pictures!















































You KNOW I HAD to get this one!

SALLYS HAUL - THEY HAVE FRUIT NOW!

Had to go to Sally's last night because . . . . LOL Like I really need a reason to go, I just went! Anyway, I found a bunch of new nail art kits including the little fimo fruits! I have a SERIOUS banana pedi in the works coming up! Hope to work on it this weekend!

I had a 20% off my whole purchase coupon, and a gift card - needless to stay I made away like a bandit!