A not-very-scientific-at-all test of CND's stickey base coat.

 When I was doing the leopard-print mani I decided to test out my CND Stickey basecoat. From what I've gleaned, Creative Nail Design (CND)'s Stickey basecoat is meant to prolong the life of your manicure by giving your polish a good base to adhere too... (it's tacky to the touch when you apply it to your nails) and it seems to make sense that that might work!  So a few months ago I decided to give it a go and I bought some on Ebay to try it out!

I decided to use an old topcoat I had lying around which was Boots 17 Double Gloss Topcoat to test it against (as I don't have another basecoat!). 

Here are the results!  This is after a total of NINE days wear!  They had hardly chipped at all by day 7.

 As you can see, to the naked eye the two bases are indistinguishable.
After 9 days 2 of the CND nails are chipped and one of the 17 nails is chipped badly.  Nails on the ring and pinkie fingers remain chip-free.

On the right hand (which I expected to chip more than the left as I'm right-handed) we see minimal chipping, mostly just one little chip on the index finger which is the 17 topcoat.  Both base coats have lasted well on the other nails.

 So... the verdict?  Well I can't really see all that much difference between the cheap  old topcoat (which I used as a basecoat!) and the CND Stickey basecoat.  However, I did add two coats of Essence top coat over my nail design.  Perhaps if I hadn't have done that the results may have been different? Who knows!  Do you think there's REALLY a difference between basecoat and topcoat?  Hmmm, after this test I'm not so sure.  I do know however that if I don't put a clear layer on before a dark varnish that it can stain my nails horribly!  Do you swear by basecoat or can you take it or leave it?  Leave a comment below and tell me what you think :)