With nails that don't see the light of day due to excessive nail polish wearing comes unsightly ridges. So as a nail polish addict with ridged nails every manicure starts with a ridge filler base coat.This smooths the nail bed making nail polish application easily, fills in the ridges for a smooth finish and prevents nail polish from staining the nails.
I have previously raved about the Essie Ridge Filler however I have recently discovered one from China Glaze that really is perfect!
Ridges in the nails can be caused by wearing nail polish too often, diet, ageing and damage to the nails by artificial nails/acrylics and aren't easily removed so if you do want smooth looking nails then a ridge filler base coat is your best option. However even if your nails are smooth you may just find this kind of base coat works better than a standard base coat as it will give a nicer base to apply nail polish onto. Or if you like to use metallic/foil nail polishes as this kind of formula always looks slightly streaky and highlights even small imperfections in the nails.
For me a ridge filling base coat is like primer for the nails - preparing nails to evenly take polish and ensuring a smooth finish. I really couldn't be without a base coat now. Which is why I decided to pick up the China Glaze Ridge Filler Base Coat after my Essie Ridge Filler started to become a bit gloppy.
There aren't many ridge filling base coats on the market so I did a bit of research online and the China Glaze one had the best reviews with 4.7 stars out of 5 on Makeup Alley. So I popped over to eBay and found it for a bargainous (yes, that is a word) £4.56 inc p&p here. It is in dollars/sent for the U.S but there are no custom charges and it arrived within a week for me.
Compared to the Essie Ridge Filler that I have been using and loving for the past year the formula is a lot thinner which is why it instantly out shines the one from Essie. This means it can be applied in a flash and dries pretty much instantly. I also like that its clear but with a slight tint so it doesn't change the shade of the nail polish that is applied over it, which is what the Essie one tended to do with pastel/lighter nail polish shades as it was a milky white shade.
As you can see from the before and after images above, even a single coat can really smooth out the nails. Then with one or two coats of nail polish the nails look so smooth and glossy! However if I was giving myself a french manicure or applying a foil nail polish I would be tempted to apply 2 coats of the base coat just to give a perfectly smooth finish.
To show just how smooth this base coat makes the nails look I decided to apply a cheap nail polish with Technic in Tawny Port (£2.10 - eBay here). A beautifully toned winter polish but one that is a bit of a pain to apply and on the thin side. But with the base coat it really did apply much nicer and the glossy smooth finish is pretty impressive.... yes, this is without a top coat!
Whether you have ridged nails or not I would highly recommend this base coat as it just gives that extra that standard base coats don't.
But if you do have ridges nails from too much nail polish wearing or older nails then this will totally transform them!
Fee xo.
