The best base coats don’t just make your nail polish last longer—they can also keep your nails strong, healthy, and chip-free. A good base acts like a protective foundation, reinforcing weak or brittle nails while helping polish adhere better, so your mani stays flawless for days. It can also prevent peeling, cracking, or splitting, which is especially important if your nails are prone to damage (or if you’re a sucker for a good gel mani). Whether you’re dealing with thin, fragile nails, oily nail beds (yes, that’s a thing—more on this later), or you just want your polish to last for more than a day, the right base coat is the unsung hero that deserves a place in your DIY mani routine. To find the very best options, Allure editors tested tons and reached out to nail experts to find out which formulas they keep in their kits.
Our Top Base Coats
Frequently Asked Questions
Best Overall: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
OPI
Natural Nail Base Coat
Why it’s worth it: OPI’s 2025 Best of Beauty Award-winning Natural Nail Base Coat quickly became an editor favorite during testing for good reason. We found that its glossy formula not only created a flawless base for polish, but also prevented discoloration (when worn solo) and extended the life of our manicures (when applied under color). With consistent use, we noticed stronger, healthier nails, making this base coat a rare all-in-one: It strengthens, protects, extends polish wear, and delivers salon-worthy shine.
“What I like most about this base coat is that it gives you a really even coat—I just need two swipes on each nail and I’m good to go. It also dries down fast, which means quicker, less messy manicures overall.” —Kassidy Silva, social director
- Key ingredients: ethyl acetate, butyl acetate
- Best for: thin, brittle nails; extending polish wear time
Best Peel-Off: Olive & June Peel Off Base Coat
Olive & June
Peel Off Base Coat
Why it’s worth it: Olive & June’s Peel Off Base Coat does exactly what it promises: It allows you to peel any nail polish—whether it’s gel, the intended use, or not!—off, without needing acetone. But don’t worry, your color won’t quit after day one or two. When applied just to the center of the nail (with a small border left bare), it still allows the edges of your polish to stick. When you’re ready to remove, use a cuticle pusher to lift around each nail, then easily peel the polish off. Bonus: It’s packed with glycerin to hydrate nails and prevent the drying effects that often come with gel polish and acetone. “People are going to [peel off their gels] anyway, so we might as well give them a product that’s going to prevent damage,” New York City-based nail artist Julie Kandalec previously told Allure.
“Since you don’t cure the peel-off base coat, it can be used under regular polish as well—which is how I plan to use it in the future. I found that the wear time was just a bit short for my taste when I layered the peel-off under the gel, but imagine it will come in handy for special events when I coat my nails in loads of glitter.”—Kara McGrath, former content director
- Key ingredients: glycerin
- Best for: removing polish quickly and easily, keeping nails hydrated
Best for Minimizing Chipping: Orly Bonder Basecoat
Why it’s worth it: Another favorite of Russel’s, Orly’s Bonder Basecoat is the one to buy if you struggle with lacquer longevity or have oily nail beds (yes, that’s a thing, she says, and it makes your polish come off quicker!). According to Russel, this formula is a rubber base coat—it’s designed to dry with a slightly tacky finish to help polish stick to your natural nails, making your mani last longer and preventing chipping or cracking. Los Angeles-based manicurist Alex Jachno likes to think of it as the double-sided tape of base coats.
- Key ingredients: ethyl acetate, butyl acetate
- Best for: extending nail polish wear, preventing chipping
Best Strengthening: Nail Essentials by ASP Artificial in a Flash Super Hard Base Coat
ASP
Nail Essentials by ASP Artificial in a Flash Super Hard Base Coat
Why it’s worth it: If your nails are weak and brittle, nail expert Juli Russel swears by the Nail Essentials by ASP Artificial in a Flash Super Hard Base Coat. “It hardens your natural nails and adds reinforcement to help prevent breaks,” she says. Thanks to hydrolyzed keratin, a protein that penetrates the nail to strengthen and smooth, this base coat is like a mini nail rescue. When your nails are at their worst, take a polish break and apply it every morning—you’ll be back to strong, healthy nails before your next salon visit.
- Key ingredients: ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, hydrolyzed keratin, calcium
- Best for: thin nails that break easily
Best Undercoat: ePhD Bond Repair Nail Treatment
Epres
ePhD Bond Repair Nail Treatment
Why it’s worth it: UV light and gel polish can damage your nails over time, causing dryness and thinning. If your nails are struggling, a strengthening base coat (hi, ASP) is key—but you can also use an undercoat (which should be applied underneath your base coat) for some extra TLC. The ePhD Bond Repair Nail Treatment is Jachno’s favorite. “Think of it as the most beneficial pre-base coat step,” she says. “It hydrates the nail bed, supports growth, and helps your manicures last longer. I’ve never used a better treatment, and I use it on all of my clients.”
- Key ingredients: ethyl acetate, diethylhexyl maleate
- Best for: healing nails and encouraging growth
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a base coat and an undercoat?
According to Jachno, a base coat is a “specific product designed to adhere to the natural nail and create the foundation for polish or gel.” She says base coats improve wear time, prevent staining, and support nail health. The term undercoat is a bit broader, referring to “anything applied underneath color,” says Jachno. “This can include treatment layers like nail treatments, primers, bonding treatments, and nail dehydrators used during prep,” she says. In short: Undercoats are about preparing and protecting the nail, while base coats anchor polish.
Do you need a base coat for your nails?
To get more wear out of your manicure, Russell always recommends using a base coat. “It’s literally designed to help polish stick to your natural nail,” she says—so skipping it is only doing you a disservice, especially because most base coats also promote nail health. “Some gel polishes come with the base coat built-in, so it’s optional in that case,” she adds.
What ingredients should you look for in base coats?
“Look for ingredients that support adhesion while protecting the natural nail,” says Jachno. Russell points to Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) as a must for grip and chip resistance, while hydrolyzed keratin stands out for reinforcing weak nails. “Strengthening and conditioning ingredients like calcium, proteins, and vitamin E can help repair the nail plate,” adds Jachno.
Meet the experts
How we test and review products
When Allure tests a product, our editors look at it from every angle in an effort to best serve you. We review ingredients, scrutinize brand claims, and, when necessary, examine peer-reviewed scientific and medical studies. In addition to testing each and every product that’s included in each and every review, we rely on experts who shape their fields, including dermatology, cosmetic chemistry, and medicine, to help us vet the ingredients and formulas.
For our list of best base coats, we considered each product’s performance across five primary categories: product ingredients and efficacy, packaging, fragrance, texture, and product wear. Every product was determined to have excelled in each category by our editorial team, which is composed of in-house writers and editors as well as contributors—along with special consideration from board-certified dermatologists. To learn more information on our reporting and testing processes, read our complete reviews process and methodology page.
Our staff and testers
A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors—in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon—is essential to reaching that goal.
After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the “best” for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We’re proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we are able to fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.
Upgrade your at-home manicure set with these editor-approved additions:
