Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus Review

You may have noticed a relative dearth of nail posts the past couple months here on BJB. My nails are naturally just terrible, weak and extremely prone to peeling, so I decided (after trying many, many treatments with less than stellar results*) to pull out the big guns and try Nailtiques. The Formula 2 Plus is recommended for people with "excessive, problem nails" who have used Formula 2 for 6 weeks with no results. I had no desire to waste my time further, since I'd already tried so many other treatments with marginal success, so I opted for the 2 Plus. It's the true heavy-hitter of the nail treatment world, with a price to match ($9.50 for 0.25 oz, oy), but I was willing to try anything. And, since it cost so much, I was really inspired to follow the directions to the letter, something I hadn't necessarily done with other treatments! So, I applied it to my nails once a day, removing every few days to start over, and kept my nails otherwise polish-free. After a month or so, I downgraded to once every couple days, as they recommend. I know you're wondering: did my amazing feat of nail self-restraint and dedication pay off?

European Secrets Hoofer's Choice Nail and Cuticle Cream Review and Pictures

I mentioned this in my December Favorites post and promised a full review, so here it is! I suffer from really dry, grouchy cuticles. I've always had a ton of hangnails and cuticle peeling, which I'd never realized was really fixable until I got more into makeup and I saw pictures of people with friggin' perfect cuticles. I first tried a couple of kinds of cuticle oils, since that's the most popular way of caring for cuticles, and they helped, but not enough. I also always felt like the oil wasn't absorbing and doing its thing, which is very frustrating! I decided to try Hoofer's Choice after reading about it on MUA and seeing how crazy cheap it is at Sally's (I think ~$3 for an ounce), though I didn't expect too much. It is, after all, called Hoofer's Choice, and was supposedly designed for use with horses.

Recommendation Thursday: Nail Polish Base and Top Coats

I always wear a base coat of polish, even when I'm just doing quick swatches for the blog, because it helps prevent staining and allows the polish to glide on and stay put.  Top coats are equally important for sealing, evening out any bumpiness from glitter, and extending the wear of polish.  When I go to the trouble of painting my nails, I want the color to last!

A couple of RTs ago, I wrote about nail care, which included some base coat options (but only those that had other "bonus" features), and there will be some repeats here, though most of the products recommended do not overlap.

Note: The usual size of nail polish bottles is 0.45-0.50 oz, but I note if the size of a product differs from that range significantly (there are some that are only 0.25 or 0.33 oz, and others that are as big as 0.60 oz).

Base Coats
Base coats can be sticky, to help the polish adhere better, or contain treatment ingredients, to make your nails healthier.

Orly Bonder, CND Stickey, and Butter London Nail Foundation

For the sticky type, Orly Bonder ($9 for 0.6 oz from Sally Beauty) and CND Stickey Base Coat ($8.50 for 0.33 oz) are by far the most popular.  Less popular, but perhaps better performing, are China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat ($6 from Sally Beauty) and Essie First Base Basecoat ($8 from salons and some drugstores) are great choices.  If you want to go high-end, Butter London Nail Foundation ($18 from Nordstrom) performs excellently.

Recommendation Thursday: Nail Care

For a summary of Recommendation Thursday, see here.  For tips on nail care, see here!

There are a lot of product areas to talk about with nail care, but I'll just go in the same order as I did for Tip Tuesday to make it easy on us.  First topic, then, is nail treatments, and boy, is it a doozy.  Future Recommendation Thursdays will focus on smaller topics (for example, "pink blush" or "lengthening mascara"), because you do not want to know how much time it took me to sift through all this information!

Tip Tuesday: Nail Care

For a summary of Tip Tuesday, see here.

Nails have been on my mind lately, since I've been testing and wearing a lot of nail polish.  My nails are generally weak, peel-prone, and soft, and my cuticles are often dry and I get lots of hangnails.  This post is as much for my benefit as for yours, though I certainly hope you find it helpful!  (Psst: leave a comment here or on the TT summary page about what other topics you'd like to see covered!)