What is a Dip Base Coat- Best Brands & Substitutes
Dip Powder is one of the easiest types of manicures to do, almost as easy as using nail polish. This is because you really don’t need much training or practice to apply it, anyone can work with dip powder.
But to apply dip powder you need to at least understand the different coats/liquids that need to be applied.
So in this article, I am going to explain everything you need to know about the Dip Powder Base Coats. For the other coats check out these articles:
What is a Dip Powder Base Coat
The dip powder base coat is what holds the dip powder down, it acts like glue. It is the 2nd layer of liquid to be applied usually after the dehydrator is applied.
- The dip base is applied to the natural nails to glue the dip powder onto your nails
- It is also applied over a layer of dip powder when you want to add another layer of powder on top of it, to glue the layers together.
The main ingredient used in dip base coats is ethyl cyanoacrylate.
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Best Dip Powder Base Coat
These are the dip bases that I have used and would recommend. Thankfully from my experience, each one will work with any brand of dip powder.
1- Kiara Sky Dip Base
Kiara Sky is my favorite brand for dip powder. This is because all of their dip products are extremely good and most importantly consistent.
And Kiara Sky’s Dip Base is very good it applies smoothly and works effectively to hold down the dip powder. I have been using it for many years now with various brands of dip powder and it has never failed me.
The only drawback with it is that it is more expensive when compared to other brands, but I think it’s worth it. You can click here to see the price for a bottle on Amazon.
2- DipWell Dip Base Coat
Dipwell is another great brand of dip powder, they actually specialize in just making dip powder products.
What I love about their Dip Base Coat is that it’s not just plain liquid, it actually contains calcium and vitamin E which can have some positive effects for your natural nails.
Now DipWell Base Coats does have a slightly thicker consistency when compared to other brands which I am not a fan of. I suspect this is because of the calcium and vitamin E that is added. But performance-wise, it works as expected.
You can click here to see the price for the DipWell Dip Base Coat on Amazon.
3- Azure Beauty Dip Base
What I love about Azure’s Dip Products is how affordable they are yet still great quality. And their Dip Base Coats are just the same.
Another great feature is that they designed their base coat to work as both dip base and top coat so you basically just need one product.
After trying their 2 in 1 product I can tell you that it works great as a dip base but not so amazing as a top coat since it’s not so glossy compared to other brands.
In my opinion if you are on a budget I highly recommend Azure’s Dip Base Coat. You can click here to see their set on Amazon where you get the base and top coat with an activator too.
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Best Substitutes for Dip Base
Use a Dip Powder Top Coat as a Dip Base Coat
After trying a few different alternatives to dip base the only method that worked well was using a dip top coat. The dip top coat worked almost as well as the dip base.
This is because the ingredients in a dip top coat are very similar to the dip base. The only major difference was the dip top coats that I tried had a thicker consistency than most dip bases.
This similarity is what allows some brands to sell products that can be used as both a Dip Base and a Dip Top Coat.
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Can you use Super Glue or Nail Glue as a Dip Base?
Super glue and Nail Glue cannot be used like a dip base coat even though they contain the same ingredient which is the ethyl cyanoacrylate.
I have tried using both super glue and nail glue as dip base and each time the dip powder didn’t adhere well and worse yet it left my nails damaged.
The main issues Super glue and nail glue have are:
- It dries way too fast so the dip powder won’t get a chance to adhere well.
- Super glue is thicker and really doesn’t go on smoothly like dip base.
- Also, super glue is way more damaging to your nails – I learned this firsthand.
Dip Base Coats tend to have more liquid filler which slows down the rate at which they harden which allows the powder to adhere better. This filler is also what makes it safer for your natural nails.
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Can You Use a Regular Base Coat as a Dip Base
Both regular base coat and gel base coat cannot be used as a Dip Base Coat. This is because the dip powder won’t adhere well to regular and gel base coats. I tried using it once and the dip powder kept falling off.
You see Dip Base is more like a glue its main ingredient is ethyl cyanoacrylate which is what is used in super glue. Whilst, regular base coats are clear nail polishes that have more plasticizers and sticky resins to help your polish adhere better.
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