Poshe Topcoats and Basecoats: Can They Fit into Your Manicure Routine?

I'm sure a lot of you know by now that I love nail polish and nail products. I admit that I'm frequently on the nail board over at Makeup Alley (though I comment a lot less now than I once did), and I have a huge nail polish collection.

I am pretty picky about what products I use. I expect to do a manicure quickly (I can get from polish removal to the end in under 10 minutes), I want my manicure to dry in under 10-15 minutes (at least to the point that I can do basic things, I don't expect to put on gloves), I want nice shine and I want 5-6 days of wear despite the rough things I do with my hands.

I have posted my manicure routine before, though that was a few years ago and I'm always up for revisiting products or tweaking my routine. So, while I had tried Poshe before, problems with shrinkage persisted and it wasn't a regular product of mine. They recently asked me to give it another try, this time paired with their base coat.

So, I set out on a massive trial process. I've been using the two products exclusively in combination with other brands. I've used them with OPI, Essie, China Glaze and Zoya nail polishes. I've added or deleted my Barielle treatment products. How did it go?

It went pretty well actually. I'm not sure if it was because I was using the top coat previously with other base coats, but when used with the Poshe Base Coat, I have no shrinkage issues. I have great shine from the Poshe (equal to Seche Vite, which is fantastic). I can type on my computer or do other basic things about 10 minutes after completing application. Application itself goes well and I think the Poshe is a bit less viscous than SV, which I know a lot of people will appreciate.

Wear seemed to be a little bit of an issue. I can't add in a Barielle product, it cuts wear to 2 days. But with the Poshe top coat and base coat all manicures pretty much last 5-6 days without a chip in sight. (One exception is Zoya, which seems to only last 2 days or so, but I seem to have Zoya issues. I'm taking the advice of my friend Michelle over at All Lacquered Up who thinks Zoya does best with its own top and base coats. I'm trialling that now.)

Overall, I was pretty happy with the Poshe products. Great wear, nice shine, no more issues with shrinkage. All that and it's pretty fast drying. What more could a girl ask for?



Poshe Fast Drying Basecoat & Topcoat

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Product I'm Dramatically Overusing: Poshe Cuticle Care

Did you ever become so obsessed with a product that you want to using it, about 10x more each day than you probably should? But you really just do not care that you're overdoing it? Because you're addicted to the product?

Well, that's me right now with this cuticle cream from Poshe. It contains alpha hydroxy acids which help exfoliate your cuticles over time, keeping them in shape. Not a replacement for a cuticle remover, more of a maintenance product. And yes, you can overdo it with the AHAs, as evidenced by the slight stinging I had yesterday after my 10th application (I washed my hands and was fine, probably more like 2-3 applications a day max is reasonable.) I told you I was addicted to this stuff!

Well, with reasonable use of this product, I have flawless, hydrated cuticles. No more ragged edges, no painful hang nails.

And if you're thinking, didn't Christine write about a similar product before? Yes, I did. I admit that I fell off of the Cuticle Eraser band wagon after a year or so. Why? Suddenly all of my tubes separated into white clumps and oil. It was gross. The Poshe is more hydrating, creamier and I've had no separation issues. I prefer the Poshe over Cuticle Eraser.

Poshe AHA Cuticle Care

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