REVIEW: Caronia Nail Care Top Coat, Base Coat, and Cuticle Conditioner

Got a problem with easy-chipping nail polishes? All it takes is just a day and there would be slight cracks and peel on your nail bed already? Say goodbye to them now! Because you can now have professional-like manis and pedis in the comfort of your own home! What I'm going to review is the Caronia Nail Hardener And Base Coat, Caronia Fast-Dry Top Coat and Caronia Kwik-dry And Cuticle Conditioner.

In 1968, founders of Vibelle Manufacturing Corporation, Don Vicente Ang and his wife Belen introduced the first locally produced nail polish brand in the Philippine market, Caronia.

Caronia, named after the luxury ship, RMS Caronia easily became a popular brand among Filipinas because it provided them an alternative to limitedly available imported nail care brands.

Caronia Nail Hardener And Base Coat (PHP49)
Caronia Fast-Dry Top Coat (PHP49)
and Caronia Kwik-dry And Cuticle Conditioner (PHP39) 

CARONIA NAIL HARDENER & BASE COAT

If you want your nail polishes to stay longer on your nails without chipping or anything, I suggest that you use a base coat. To tell you honestly, I don't use any base coat before applying nail polish back when I was elementary nor when I was in high school. But when I became so addicted to nail polishes, that's when I became more aware to things essential for healthier nails such as base coats, top coats, nail polish remover.

Tell you what, this is my first ever brand of base coat that I was able to try. The next one is the San San (I'll be posting a different review for that one). Anyhow, Caronia changed my views whe it comes to nail care. Number rule which I have known: Invest in an efficient base coat prior to using colored polishes. It will prevent stains and will help in making your nails fuller and stronger with every coloring.

What it claims: Protect your nails from breaking and chipping with a base coat that locks on to nail polish color!

What I like:

• doesn't look cheap.
• prevents my nails from yellowing
• retails for only PHP39 for a 15ml bottle
• does what it claims
• makes my nails harder which always weaken when cleaned using cuticle pusher
• dries quickly
• widely available

What I don't like:

• smells like rugby.
• brush is so thin that it takes too much strokes to cover my nails with base coat
• has 30% Toulene, Formaldehyde, and DBP! For short, it has the Big 3 Toxins we always dreaded and wanted to avoid on products (Anyhow, it doesn't matter if you're not a health conscious. But I am! And as I said, I never care to nail products before as long as there's nail polish. I have already bought it before I discovered that nail polishes also has toxins which might be harmful for the health)

CARONIA FAST-DRY TOP COAT

If you're really into nail polish, without a top coat will definitely make you feel that your manicure isn't done well. Like a house without furniture. While you can top off your polishes with colorless, Caronia Fast-Dry Top Coat assures you to dry your nails even faster.

What it claims: Get durable, glossy finish in express time!

What I like:

• very effective in drying my nail polish faster
• very good in providing your nails that glossy look even after days of handy works
• protects your nails from chipping. (Well, with base coat and top coat, I noticed that even after a week, there is still very minimal to no chipping which is a lot better than having applied nail polish only)
• 15 ml bottle costs 49php only
• doesn't contain the Big 3 Toxins except I'm using it together with the base coat
• widely available

What I don't like:

• smells like those rubber balloons that children always wanted to play
• makes me feel dizzy everytime I caught a whiff
• the brush is too thin for my nails (I'm having thin nails as well)

CARONIA KWIK-DRY & CUTICLE CONDITIONER

While I already topped my nail polish with my preferred top coat, I still apply Kwik-Dry & Cuticle Conditioner. Although it's not that necessary (in my own opinion) since my top coat is already fast-drying, I still apply it for conditioning purposes. It also prevents my nails from getting smudges, dirt and even light touches--which I always get from certain activities--which ruin my manis and pedis. Anyways, who would want ugly nail polish? Of course, you would want it to be as perfect as the first time you apply your nail polish. So if you would want a well-moisturized, added fast-drying components and smudge-free nails, you definitely would want to give this a go!

What it claims: Dry your nail polish faster and keep it smudge-free while you condition your cuticles at the same time!

What I like:

• totally Big 3 Toxins-free (though, as I was saying, using it together with the Caronia Top Coat does not make any difference at all)
• has mineral oil for further moisturizing effect (Best use it at night before you sleep to find you nails the next morning totally smooth-looking!)
• very cheap as well for only 49php for a 15ml bottle
• doesn't smell strong like the top coat and base coat, probably because of its ingredients
• Widely available

What I don't like:

• None

WOULD I BUY THIS PRODUCT AGAIN?

As of now, I'm still in the process of trying out new things to find what suits me best. But in any instance I'm not satisfied with any product which offers the same service, well, yes, I am most certain to buy these again!

Have you tried any Caronia product? Feel free ro share it here with me! Happy blogging! xx

My Mid-year Haul Collection! (Whoops, Bench, iWhite Korea, Eskinol, SkinWhite, A Bonne)

My life this past couple of weeks involved window-shopping, stalking for new products and of course hoarding things to test them out. It’s because we previously lost our internet connection so I always get bored. Initially, I spent half of my June savings for some products and pieces of clothing that I might need for school.

We all know that June-July is the midyear so sale on goods are here and there. If you are a fashion/beauty junkie, I definitely would not have to remind you of this. Hahaha! So yeah, I believe that I should not let these months pass without hoarding some of the things from my wish list.

From L-R: Pants from Whoops at PHP399
Couple of Pants from Bench at PHP399/ea
Nail Polishes from San San ranging between PHP36-PHP45
iWhite Korea Bundle Packs (Moisturizing Facial Wash at PHP139, Whitening Peel-off Mask at PHP199, Aqua Moisturizing Cream at PHP169, Facial Cream at PHP179)
Eskinol Facial Wash and Scrub at PHP5/ea
Skin White Lotion at PHP19.50
A’Bonne Spa Milk Salt at PHP74

Whoops Pants at PHP399

The first thing from my wish list is pants. I have at least ten pairs of it but they have grown quite big for me already. Maybe it was because of the way they were washed that they don’t fit me well any more. So that’s why I had to buy some. I target high-waists pants or those that have rips on them but when I saw this at the mall at more than fifty percent off (from P1195 to P399), I immediately went to the fitting room and got my size. I bought the blue one first on size twenty-five but soon figured out that it’s quite fitted on my legs so I exchanged it for a size twenty-six and in this color. I think the one I tried on was tried at least a hundred times hahaha! Whoops are still on sale, by the way. They have pants in huge variety of colors and sizes at P399, P499 and buy 2 for P1200.

Bench Colored Pants at PHP399/ea

More pants!!! Bench as we all know is one of the most successful and popular local brands we have here in the Philippines. So when I found out on their Facebook page that they will have their colored pants at fifty percent off, I seriously had to run to the mall and buy these two. I got one in maroon and one in blue. And they are for PHP399 (from PHP799) each as well! I regret buying the other pants from Whoops and hoped that I should have dropped by Bench first so I would not have to buy the other pants and spend my P399 instead on the gray pants from Bench. Ugh!

And now, here's my iWhite Korea product hauls!

iWhite Korea Whitening Pack at PHP199 for 95g tube
(with two sachets of teir facial cream)

You can read my iWhite Korea Whitening Pack review here.

iWhite Korea Aqua Moisturizing Cream at PHP169 for 50 tube ml
(with one sachet of facial cream and one sachet of nose pack)

You can read my iWhite Korea Aqua Moisturizing Cream review here.

iWhite Korea Mositurizing Facial Wash at PHP139 for 70ml tube
(with one sachet of nose pack and whitening pack)

You can read my iWhite Korea Moisturizing Facial Wash review here.

iWhite Korea Facial Cream at PHP179 for 65ml tube (New packaging)

You can read my iWhite Korea Facial Cream review here.

I am an avid beauty junkie, as you can tell. I still have lots of unused face products on my stash, but I feel like I had to buy some more. iWhite products has been on my wish list for a long time now and I’m really happy that I was able to buy them now. I’ve been using the peel-off mask but I only buy those in sachets. So it’s my first time to buy them on tube. I’ve used the facial wash before because it was included on one of the promo pack I bought back then but I was still in grade school that time and I haven’t even started blogging yet and I already forgot how that facial wash works so it’s my time to use it again together with the other iWhite products. I’m actually quite excited for my review post!

I also think that I’ve been an impulsive buyer again but when I really saw iWhite products on bundle packs, there’s no time for thinking twice in buying them. I can tell that these are the old package and they are re-packaging but I don’t care since they still have the same active ingredients and contents are still the same.

The tube for the face cream above is the example for the new iWhite Korea packaging. I’m planning to buy its bundle pack but there’s no more stock so I had to buy the new one and they are more expensive than the old ones.

Stocks are very limited so if you want iWhite products at lesser prices (bundle packs) with free sachets of their other products, I suggest you hurry to the nearest Watsons/department stores in your area now.

A Bonne' Spa Milk Salit at PHP74 for 350g

I’ve been reading good reviews about it so I bought one for me to try out. It wasn’t really expensive so I was surprised. I also think that it would be a good substitute for St. Ives Blemish Control Apricot Scrub for a fraction of its price. It wasn’t on sale, but who cares? I wanted it and it’s one thing from my wish list as well. Read my A Bonne' Spa Milk Salt review here.

From L-R: San San Top and Base Coat at PHP36 for a 12 ml bottle;
San San Nail Polishes in Blue Sapphire and Purple Topaz at PHP37 and PHP45 for a 12ml bottle

I didn’t bought them from the mall but I had to include them in my mid-year purchases. Watch out for my review about the San San Top and Base Coat!

From L-R: Eskinol Pimple Fighting Facial Wash at PHP5 for a 6ml sachet;
SkinWhite Advanced Whitening Lotion at PHP19.50 for a 10ml sachet;
Eskinol Papaya Smooth White Facial Scrub at PHP5 for a 6ml sachet

I bought it from the HBC store together with the nail polishes as part of my facial wash review. On the other hand, I bought the SkinWhite Lotion because I think it’s for the face but when I got home, I figured out that it’s a lotion. For the body!!! Anyway, will post a blog review about facial washes in the Philippines soon!

How about you? Have you bought something during the mid-year sale? Bought iWhite Bundle packs or pants on sale? You can share it here with me! Happy blogging!

Love, Hanna