Review: Sally Hansen Nail Quencher Hydrating Base Coat

Hi everyone! I'm sorry for another review, I'll be posting nail polish again very soon! But I'm in dire need of some advice so I'll start off with this review about Sally Hansen's Nail Quencher Hydrating Base Coat.
Please note: this product is discontinued so maybe this review isn't relevant for everyone, however I found some places where it's still easily available, so I figured, why not?

Sally Hansen Nail Quencher

I actually got this product because I had heard many many ravings about it, it's a holy grail base coat for a lot of nail polish junkies out there! In the first weeks of using it, I thought it was pretty ok: my nail polish didn't chip right away, and it prevented staining rather well.

But after a few weeks it became painfully clear: I don't like it. At all. And I think it's safe to say that, because I finished an entire bottle!

It goes on pretty thick due to its gel-like substance, I figured this is why my nails weren't as stained. But it bubbles, like crazy. And honestly, I don't want a base coat that leaves my nails looking like a moonscape.
The emptier the bottle, the thicker the base coat got. It even got stringy on me, and therefore highly unmanageable.

The drying time wasn't great either, I actually had to wait a good 5 minutes before I could get on with the rest of my manicure. Another disappointment was the brush, it's small. I don't want to spend too much time on applying something exciting as a base coat, so I need at least a medium sized brush and something that dries quickly.
So overall, it's safe to say, this base coat is not working out for me.

Please help me!

And that brings me to the following question:
What base coat do you use or would you recommend? So far I've tried OPI Natural Base Coat, OPI Ridge Filler and the Sally Hansen. Please help me out!

Thanks so much for stopping by! -
Michèle

Follow up

Hi everyone, I did a quick follow up because you were all so incredibly helpful!! Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences with me. After reading all your comments I think I'm going to give either Nail Tek or Essie's Protein Base Coat a try. Of course I'll review these at some point for those who haven't tried these. Wish me luck and thanks again!

Your recommendations

The Battle of the Balms

You probably all know by now that I love Lush's Lemony Flutter and just don't know when to stop, when it comes to my constant raving about it. It isn't the only good product for cuticles out there though, so I thought I'd share my opinions about some other Cuticle balms I've tried so far. I've used cremes and oils as well, but for today the focus is on balms.

	Sally Hansen - Cuticle Massage Cream The jar says this is a cream, but I'd like to disagree. From all four this one has the sturdiest substance, it's not soft at all. Also, it doesn't really melt when you apply this on your cuticles, so absorption isn't good at all with this one. If you put this on at night, it's definitely still there in the morning. The smell isn't that strong, it smells like Apricots, which is really nice. There's also a chance Sally Hansen tests on animals, since they never bothered to reply to my email where I expressed this concern. I give this product a 4 out of 10.
	Essence - SOS Nail & Cuticle Balm Now this is such a cute jar! When you first get this, the balm looks like a swirled candy cane, a sweet mix of pink and white. Essence SOS Nail & Cuticle balm contains shea butter and almond oil. This balm applies pretty smooth, and it does melt, absorption isn't perfect but it's not as bad as with the Sally Hansen balm. The smell of this one is strong! It smells like sweet almonds, I love it. I give this product a 7 out of 10.
	Lush - Lemony Flutter Ok, my beloved Lemony Flutter. Lemony Flutter contains lots of good stuff! Among the ingredients are many different oils like soya, flaxseed, avocado, castor and many more oils. The base of this balm is shea butter with fresh lemon infusion. This one goes on the smoothest of the bunch. It also leaves my cuticles the softest. Lemony Flutter is a bit greasy though, that's why I like to apply this product at night. The smell is very strong, I've heard some people can't stand it, but I love it. It smell like fresh lemons. I give this product a 9 out of 10.
	Burt's Bees - Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream I know the opinions differentiate on this, but I think this is the next best thing to Lemony Flutter. It contains beeswax and different oils like citrus and almond oil. The substance isn't as soft as LF, but I love that it goes on quite transparent, so it isn't that noticeable. Unlike all previously mentioned balms. The smell is lovely too, it's best described as the smell of Napoleon candy! I didn't find it to be as hydrating as Lemony Flutter and that's the only reason why it isn't my favorite. It was a neck to neck race though, so: I give this product a 8 out of 10.

So these were all my opinions, please share your favorites?

My current routine & products

Hi everyone! How's everyone doing? I'm getting a lot of questions regarding my routine or products I use and I keep promising making a post about it, so here it is :-).

	Nail polish remover is usually the first thing I'll use when I start a manicure. There are many kinds of remover available, but the mildest ones work best for me. My nails don't really mind whatever I use, they can stand straight acetone pretty well. But my skin tends to disagree! To avoid super dry and wrinkly skin I use either Sephora's acetone free remover or the one by Etos (acetone free as well, but way cheaper). I'll use Sephora's remover when my hands are a bit dry to begin with, since it contains Macadamia oil and vitamine E! I also love the smell of this one. The Etos remover is from a Dutch drugstore and I really like it, it's cheap, works fast and doesn't irritate my skin!
When my nails are nail polish free I like to file them a bit. I use a very fine buffer file to remove ridges and some staining. I don't really know what brand mine is, since it was a gift. I think I do this once a month. However, some times I use this file on the new growth only, to smoothen everything out without the risk of thinner nails. For shaping your nails I'd strongly advice getting a glass file. These files are so fine, they'll definitely cause less tearing. These may cost you a bit more, but they last you a long time! Mine is from Herome, and I'm not leaving the house without it ;-). When you file, do this in one direction to minimize any damage.
	This is something I absolutely love: Cuticle Remover by Nfu Oh. I apply this on my cuticles and after a bit of soaking I'll use a rosewood stick to get rid of any excess skin. I love it! I always think only little will come of, well usually I'm wrong. Some cuticle removers do absolutely nothing or irritate the hell out of my skin. Not this one! I've used little scissors in the past to cut my cuticles, but I'm not going there again. Why go through the hassle and pain (if you're as clumsy as I am) if there's stuff like this! After using this product you'll want to was your hands. Tada, no more messy cuticles! I do this once a week.
Now we're ready to apply base coat. I use different base coats for different reasons. When I choose to wear a sheer or jelly polish, I always grab OPI's Ridge Filler. This BC dries pretty opaque, which is very convenient when you want to avoid a visible nail line! Most of the times I use OPI's Natural Base Coat. It applies pretty well, but I found it doesn't prevent all staining. The bottle's almost empty, so I started looking for something else, and I've decided to give Sally Hansen's Nail Quencher a shot. I've only used it a few times, but I'm liking it so far. It's hydrating, contains no formaldehyde and I've heard it prevents staining pretty well. If you have any experience with this one, please do share!
	After applying base coat and a color, I always finish with a top coat. Not only because of the shine and the fact your polish will last longer, but because I want my polish to dry fast. That's right, I use a quick drying top coat. I've tried several but OPI's RapiDry and the David top coat work pretty well for me. RapiDry thickens up quite fast though, but nothing a little thinning can't fix. My current top coat is the David top coat. The formula of this is amazing, and it dries fast! Maybe a not as fast as OPI RapiDry but I think the formula makes up for that. It even fixes some bubbling in my nail polish! I've heard extremely different opinions about this product, but I like it a lot.
When everything is done, it's time to pamper your cuticles! Until recently I used different kinds of cuticle oils and balms, but I think I may have found my Holy Grail cuticle treatment: Lemony Flutter by Lush. Rubbing this lovely lemon scented butter into your cuticles will really help them remain soft and hydrated. I love doing this before I go to bed, so I wake up with really soft and healthy looking cuticles. I'm not a big fan of cuticle oils as some of them contain mineral oil and actually make my cuticles even dryer.
	Another crucial product in my routine is hand lotion, I can't live without it. I've been looking for the perfect hand lotion for quite some time. I've gone through a lot of brands but finally found one I really like. I use Nivea's Anti-Age Q10plus lotion, it absorbes rather quickly and doesn't leave my hands shiny at all. Also, after turning 26, I figured some anti aging stuff wouldn't hurt haha. I've actually already repurchased this a couple of times, which I can't say about the other 8 tubes of hand lotion that are condemned to the bottom drawer of my Helmer.

So now you know all about my routine and products I use. If you've used some of these yourself, please let me know how you like them!
I hope you find this article a bit helpful. Thanks for stopping by, take care and till next time!