Product review: Artistic Colour Revolution’s base and top coats

I go through phases of painting my nails. Sometimes I paint them once a week or more, other times I might not even think of the possibility of painting them for six months at a time. Either way, I couldn’t tell you the cause of my behaviour. That said, I think I like it better when I find the time to do it.

This last Christmas gone, I was given a set by Artistic Nail Design. I hadn’t heard of them before, but the set contained a base coat and a top coat. Even when I’m feeling lazy, I always use a base coat and a top coat for my nails. The base coat protects the nail from being stained by the polish and the top coat makes it all last longer. It’s absolutely worth the extra couple of coats of polish and the few extra minutes.

Artistic reactive bonder base coat

Now, the box claim that they can make polishes last up to ten days without a light. That’s referring to the possibility of UV-setting your polish, something that I’m seeing more and more of lately since Shellac polishes took off. Certainly, I’ve had a few UV-activated polishes that just harden as time goes on due to ambient UV. They definitely do last longer.

That said, nowhere on the box is UV mentioned. They claim “patent pending” on the polishes and say that they “interact with the colour to create a long chain molecule that delivers lasting wear and shine.” So far, so vaguely sciencey sounding. I have no idea if there’s anything in it, and there’s no legal protect on the phrase “patent pending” – you can claim that whether you have a patent or not. Still, I won’t pretend I’m not curious.

So far, I’ve used this kit twice. Once with a dusky pink Ciate polish that came in a glossybox and once with a beautiful deep aubergine purple polish by CND Vinylux that I was given as a birthday present.

Artistic reactive gloss top coat

I find the polishes smooth to apply and the brushes to work well with them. There’s no dragging or smudging (unless by my own clumsiness) and the base coat starts to set quickly enough that you can immediately move to your main polish once you’re done with it. It’s easy to get a thin even layer for both base and top coat and both are absolutely clear.

With the Ciate

In terms of longevity, I think this will always vary a little depending on what polish you’re using for your main colour. That said, my Ciate polish lasted a good 5 days without chipping. It’s not the full 10 days but still, with or without UV-setting agents, that’s pretty impressive.

With the CND (I know it looks kind of black, I promise it’s really dark purple).

The CND vinylux polish didn’t last quite as well, but I’m inclined to blame myself for being rough with it. I’d been less patient in applying it and a couple of days in the lab, plus a morning in the gym and some time spent gardening meant I had the first chip three days after applying the polish. Still pretty good, though, and I think with a little more care it would last longer.

All in all, I’m very impressed. These easily rank among the best base and top coat polishes I’ve used. Normally I’d go with Jessica, Creative or CND Vinylux (especially their UV-setting polishes) but these ones do the job just as well, if not better, than any of these. I can seem myself using them for a long time to come.