Quick and Easy $1.98 Manicure

While waiting for an appointment earlier this week I learned that the person would be a while so I decided to do my quick and easy manicure. There happened to be an Ulta in the shopping center so I popped in to see what I could find. I had coupons but the best deal for products that would work as base coat, top coat and color coats was this set of Wet n Wild products for 99 cents each. Surprisingly I hadn't used Wet n Wild nail polish in the past (at least that I can remember). At home I tend to use Avon's nail polish (I used to be an Avon Representative and fell in love with their polishes) but I'm always up for trying something new and frugal.

My hands were clean so all I did was sit down, hold a hand in the air and paint on the base coat (clear bottle), let it dry a minute and repeat with two thin coats of color (hot pink bottle) and then after they were dry I finished with a top coat (clear bottle - I figured it could serve as both even though the bottle didn't specifically say whether it was a top coat or base coat). As part of my top coat layer I first swiped the clear liquid horizontally across the tips of my fingernails as I've found this helps forestall chipping.

It's now four days into the manicure and it still looks as great as it did on day one. You can kind of see my thumb nail in the cherry blossom photo above. I'm pretty happy with my $1.99 manicure. I like how shiny the finish is but I might be tempted to try their long wear version in the future.

If you wanted to save even more money you could probably skip the clear coats and just pick a super light color of polish. Then you'd have a 99 cent manicure. Just be aware that if you don't use a base coat your nails may yellow.

Happy spring, my frugal friends!