Although I often shine the spotlight on nail-polish colours as they tap dance across the stage with their top hat and cane, it’s important to remember that wearing a good base coat is vital for any manicure to go the distance. And what works for one person could be Chip City for another.
Over the years, I’ve worn many different base coats, and since I’m reaching the bottom of my OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, I thought I’d better review it now while you can still see a bit of product left in the bottle! 😉
If you’re a regular Swatch And Learn reader, you may have noticed that I like to rotate the base coat I use. For this reason, it’ll probably take me forever to finish all the bottles I’ve accumulated. (Hehe, when I first started collecting polish more seriously in 2008, I also started collecting base coats!)
So did the OPI Natural Nail Base Coat impress me? Let me go into further details!
OPI Natural Nail Base Coat Pictures
(In case you’re curious, click here to see my SpaRitual Earth Matters Swatches & Review. It’s what I was wearing in the above photo.)
OPI Natural Nail Base Coat Ingredients
Claims: TRUSTED
√ Prevents staining of natural nails
 ? Promotes a long-lasting manicure
Key Notes
- Name: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
- Amount: 15 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
- What I Paid: $4.25 USD (bought on eBay years ago)
- Where to Buy: Trade Secrets & NailPolishCanada
OPI Natural Nail Base Coat Review
Application
The Natural Nail Base Coat by OPI goes on flawlessly. It’s thin and watery enough so it flows onto your nails with minimal effort. Just keep in mind that because the formula has that consistency, you have to take care so it doesn’t flood your cuticles.
You’ll notice that in the bottle, the liquid is a translucent pink. When I used this on my nails, I didn’t notice any significant change in the colour of my nails, so I don’t think the pink is enough to alter any colour of lacquer you paint on top.
Dry Time
For me to score a base coat high, it must have a fast dry time. If I have to wait forever for it to dry and it’s just the first step in the manicure process, that’s a no go!
I’m pleased to report that the OPI Natural Nail Base Coat dries quickly. By the time I finished painting the last finger on my second hand, the first finger on my other hand was dry enough to paint my first coat of colour.
Finish
While a lot of base coats dry with a tacky finish or a matte finish, the Natural Nail Base Coat by OPI dried shiny and smooth. It wasn’t tacky to the touch at all.
Performance
I’ve worn this under tons of OPI lacquers as well as nail polishes by other brands. Even when I wore blues, yellows, or reds, I didn’t notice any major nail staining, so that’s a good sign that this base coat is doing its job at protecting my nails.
My manicures usually last quite a long time. (I hardly have issues of polishes chipping in a day or two. Before I started blogging, I could easily wear the same polish without re-touching it for 5 days straight, and I type on the keyboard daily at work!)
With this base coat, I didn’t notice any reduction in my manicure mileage. But, I also can’t say that this increased the wear time because ever since I started blogging, I began painting my nails more often – typically 2 times per week or so. And I don’t consider wear time of 3-4 days to be outstanding in my specific case.
Pros
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Cons
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Final Verdict: 10/10
I’m very pleased with the Natural Nail Base Coat by OPI. Haha, and you can tell that it’s been working well for me by the bottle pictures, which show it as being nearly done!
That being said, I probably won’t repurchase this, but only because I have a ton of other base coats to finish first before buying anything new.
Also important to note is that even if you try a base coat that doesn’t extend your manicure mileage, you should consider playing around with a different top coat. Sometimes a base coat and top coat that don’t play well together can make your manicure chip a lot faster. You have to experiment to see what works for you. It seems to be different for different people.
What is your trusted base coat that never lets you down? Have you discovered your winning base-and-top-coat combination?
Edit: Yay! OPI retweeted my blog post to their Twitter followers! 😀
I’m currently trying this one out and so far, so good. My favorite still remains to be NailTek Foundation II Base Coat just because it dried super fast, the matte texture felt like it gripped the polish more and I’ve never experienced staining with it, ever. I’m curious how this compares to Nail Envy as I’ve heard quite a bit about it lately. I hear you about having way too many base coats in the rotation. I’ve been using Orly Bonder exclusively for swatching just so I can finish up the bottle sooner than later. That one’s definitely busted for me!
Carmela recently posted: Nail Art Wednesday: I’ve Got Beach (Waves) on the Mind Nails
Hey Carmela!
Aww…sorry to hear that Orly Bonder didn’t work out for you. It was okay for me, except when I used it under a yellow Orly polish. Then my nails got stained like crazy!
I also currently use the OPI Natural Nail Base Coat and I have nothing to complain about. Nevertheless, my favorite one remains Bonder by ORLY. It definitely increased MY manicure mileage! 🙂 I started recently started following your blog through RSS feed and I must say: you are thorough and I love it!
Hey Daphney!
I’ve tried Orly Bonder before, too, and really liked it except for when I used it under a yellow Orly polish. Then my nails got stained badly. Did you ever try it under a yellow? If so, did Bonder prevent staining for you?
Aww…thank you so much! 😀 Welcome to Swatch And Learn, and I’m thrilled to hear that you’re enjoying my posts so much! Thanks for the encouragement!
Nice sharing of review..I really like the color of your nail..
Jeanie recently posted: Skiing In Courchevel
Hey Jeanie!
Thanks! 🙂
I change up my base coats a lot too. I really like CG Strong Adhesion Base Coat and Orly Bonder. I think people forget how important base coats are so this was a great idea for a review.
Cynthia recently posted: Sinful Colors Zeus
Hey Cynthia!
You know what? I hardly hear about China Glaze base coats. Very strange, isn’t it? So that makes me really curious about them. I’ve never even bought any of them, either. (Haha, but looks like I’ll have to wait and get through my oodles of bottles of base coats before I try something new.)
Glad you appreciated this review! 😀
any base coat you find and stuck with yet? I am using zoya and I really like it! I am running low and have free points on amazon and IDK whether to buy this OPI or chinaglaze adhesion, poshe treatment, nubar, CND, or Essie 3 in 1…=/ seriously at a loss. I am debating btwn OPI and CG but I use all zoya polishes and recently started on Seche Vite with good results. I am still looking for a better top coat than SV that doesn’t cause shrinkage. I am also using perfect formula as a base coat and my zoya over that….I am loving perfect formula but the price is kind of too much….
Hey Kim!
I’ve tried sooooo many base coats – more than I’ve reviewed on here, and yes, I have stopped searching for my Holy Grail base coat!
The funny thing is that it’s not actually a base coat, even though it does the job of one plus more. It’s OPI Nail Envy, the original formula (the one in green packaging). You can wear it by itself for a shiny, healthy look, but when worn under nail polish, it really protects your nails. When I remove my polish and have used this as a base coat, my nails don’t feel as dry (especially because remove tends to be very drying for me).