Sponsored: ASK Base&Top Coat + Revival Nail Polish Remover

Sorry for the lack of posts for recently.  I've been testing the ASK base coat trying to find a good top coat to go with it, but have been unsuccessful.  Every time I did my nails by morning parts of my nails would be chipped or after showering the entire nail would peel off.

Here's what the base and top coats look like again.

I've been using the base coat for almost a month now and I haven't found any top coat to go with it to prevent chipping or peeling.  I've tried Seche Vite, China Glaze Fast Forward, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, Etude House Jelly Pop, Duri Brush&Go, Duri Miracote and of course the ASK top coat.  The ask top coat seems to work best with the base coat.  Still chips, but you can almost get a full day or wear out of them if you don't mind small chips here and there through out the day.  After using the base coat it kind of reminds water based polishes like Sula Paint and Peel polishes because chunks of polish would just come off after showering or doing dishes.  I didn't like the Sula polishes when I tried them and I don't like the ASK base coat either.  It didn't really do much to help keep polish on my nails.

As for the ASK top coat, it's slightly better than the base coat.  Dries fairly quickly which I like, shiny with two coats, but doesn't prevent chipping as well as other top coats.  Still chips the next day though not in huge pieces, just little bits here and there.  I probably wouldn't use this as a final top coat.  Maybe as a layer between polish and stamped polish.

------

As for the ASK Revival Nail Polish Remover, here's a picture of the product once again.

I really like this polish remover.  I loved even more after reading a comment from jaded_imp to add more acetone so that it doesn't feel as greasy. 

When I first used the polish remover it removed polish very quickly and I didn't have use much product to get rid of polish on all 10 fingers.  It was very conditioning and didn't make my nails look dry with a whitish cast to them, but I found it to be slightly greasy for me.  I felt like I couldn't touch anything without leaving a greasy stain/mark on it.  However after following jaded_imp's suggestion I added more acetone and it works great without the greasy feeling.  And even though I added more acetone to the mix the remover was still very conditioning.  My nails and cuticles never looked dry after using the polishing remover.

------

Quick conclusions about the three products - I would pass on the base coat, maybe give a try for the top coat and definitely give the polish remover a try.

ASK Rich Sapphire + RA-106

Here is the is the mani I did on Sunday to test out the longevity of the ASK polishes on the nails.  Pictures are from two different cameras so that's why the colouring is different.  I painted on one coat of the ASK base coat, then three coats of Rich Sapphire and topped it with two coats of ASK top coat.  For the ring finger accent nail I stamped on an image from Red Angel plate RA-106 using Konad white special polish before the two layers of top coat.

I don't think the base and top coats helped to keep the mani from lasting a long time.  When I home Tuesday night I noticed that there were a few chips on my nails with one peeling away.

These are pictures of my left hand, I couldn't get focused pictures of my right hand.  My index finger had the peel while my ring finger had the corner chip.

Not very long lasting.  Two days, maybe 2.5 days of chip-free-ness.  I didn't even do anything like crafting or sewing, I just went out to have some wings and gelato.

I'm not sure if it's the polish itself or the base and top coats being crappy.  I think it might possibly just be the top and base coats not being that great.  I did my nails earlier after cutting down my nails and I've already got small chips on three nails.  And I didn't even take pictures yet.

I'll test the longevity of the polish again, but with my regular Seche Base and Seche Vite.  If it's no good again then the polishes are probably not gonna provide long lasting wear.

One last thing to add, my bottle of ASK Romantic Sunset has already started to separate.

No biggie, just shake to mix it back up, but odd as I've only had the polish for a week.  This hasn't occurred in any of the other ASK polishes.  So just weirdness with this one.

Sponsored: Ask NailWear

Recently I was contacted by Lisa from Ask Cosmetics to review their new polishes and their polish remover.  I've never done anything like this, but thought why not.

Ask Cosmetics is a Canadian company and I've seen their products shown on The Shopping Channel since I was in my teens*, mostly their T.I.P.S. nail conditioner and also their Contour file.  I've only known about their nail care products, but they also have skin and hair care products.

Here are the products that I was sent for review:

A bottle of their Revival nail polish remover, base and top coat, four of their new polish colours in Rich Sapphire, Classic Peacock, Oh So Aubergine and Romantic Sunset.

First time doing a jump cut to read more 'cause this is gonna be a long post.