Monday Manicure Breakdown

Sunday nights are typically reserved for doing my nails in front of the tv. I have to do this after the kiddos are in bed, otherwise they beg me to do their nails too. Sometimes I will but I don't scour my polish labels to make sure the ingredients are kid friendly so I try to avoid letting them in on this particular form of pampering.  Anyway, last night's cocktail was: no basecoat. I know. But I'm in between base products right now. I have Guerlain's la base protectrice in the mail so will hopefully be reviewing that next Monday.  For today I have on two coats of illmasqua in Cameo and a top coat of dior's gel topcoat. The cameo is one of those shades that stopped me in my tracks as I was heading for the checkout counter because of its perfection. I have other illmasqua shades and while they aren't super pigmented or thick, they get high marks in the brightness, originality, and staying power categories. The Dior gel makes it worth it to do home manicures in the first place. It's the only thing I've used that can keep my paint chip free for longer than 24 hours besides shellac. It dries relatively fast for a gel topcoat and delivers the expected high shine.