The base coat makes gel grip your nail; the top coat seals in the colour and adds shine. Which type of each to choose, how to apply them and how to fix a top coat that turns dull or sticky.
A gel top coat is the final layer of a gel manicure. It seals in the colour, adds shine and takes the knocks of daily wear. The base coat, the first layer, bonds the gel to your natural nail. You need both for a manicure that lasts two to three weeks.
Below, we explain what each layer does, which type to choose, how to apply both and how to fix a dull, sticky or yellow top coat.
The base coat grips the nail plate and stays slightly flexible to move with it. The top coat cures harder and glossier, protecting the colour and any nail art beneath it.
| Base coat | Top coat | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Bonds the colour to the natural nail | Seals in the colour and adds shine |
| Once cured | Slightly flexible, with a sticky layer the colour bonds to | Hard and glossy, or with a sticky layer to wipe off |
| If you skip it | Lifting, chipping and stained nails | Dull, scratched colour that wears quickly |
No, unless the label says a product does both jobs. A base coat usually cures with a sticky layer and a softer surface, so as the final layer it dulls and scratches within days. Nor does a top coat work as a base. It's too rigid to flex with the nail and isn't made to grip it, so the manicure lifts.
A standard gel base coat goes on thinly in a single coat. It adds little strength, so it's best on strong, smooth nails that don't bend. For salons, our Classic Base Coat pro pack comes in sets of 3, 6 or 9 bottles.
A rubber base is thicker and self-levelling, so it fills small ridges and gives thin, bendy nails a little extra support. It's also the better base under pale and sheer shades, which show every ridge. Clear versions such as RB01 Rubber Base Transparent work under any colour, or alone under a top coat for natural-looking nails. The trade-off is that rubber base floods the cuticles more easily and is usually removed by filing, as our guide to rubber base gel explains.
A base coat can only bond to a clean, dry nail plate. Push back the cuticles, lift all dead cuticle off the nail, then lightly buff away the shine. Apply Prep Booster to cleanse and dehydrate each nail. On oily nails or nails that tend to lift, add an acid-free primer.
Brush on a thin layer, working it into the nail and stopping a hairline short of the skin. Cap the free edge, clean any gel off the skin, then cure under a UV/LED lamp for the time in your gel's instructions. Leave the sticky layer alone, since the colour bonds to it. With a rubber base, scrub in a thin first layer and cure it, then float a fuller one on top.
For the colour coats, follow our step-by-step guide to applying gel polish at home. If gel lifts at the cuticle within days, our guide to why gel polish lifts explains what to change.
Most gels come out of the lamp with a thin, tacky film on top, because oxygen in the air stops the surface from curing. This is the inhibition layer, or sticky layer. On the base and colour coats, you leave it in place to help the next coat bond.
A no-wipe top coat is made to cure right through to the surface, so it comes out of the lamp hard and glossy. A wipe top coat leaves a sticky layer like the coats beneath it, which you remove with gel cleanser once the manicure is finished.
For most manicures, especially at home, no-wipe is the simpler choice. The shine is there straight away, and there's no uncured gel to remove next to the skin. Our Diamond Top Coat is a no-wipe, high-shine formula, and salons can stock up with the Diamond Top Coat (pack of 3).
Moisten a lint-free wipe with gel cleanser and pass it over each nail once, firmly, from cuticle to tip. Use a clean part of the wipe for every nail. Avoid cotton pads, which leave fibres in the gel.
That film is uncured gel, so keep it off your fingertips: repeated contact between uncured gel and skin is the main cause of gel allergy. If the skin around your nails becomes red, itchy or swollen, or blisters appear, stop using gel and see a doctor or dermatologist.
Chrome powder only turns into a mirror on a smooth, hard surface, which is why it goes onto a cured no-wipe top coat. On a sticky layer it clumps and turns grainy, as do pearl and other rub-on powders. With a wipe top coat, remove the sticky layer with cleanser first.
Rub the powder in with a silicone applicator while the top coat is still warm, then brush off every loose speck. Seal the chrome with a second layer of top coat, capping the free edge. Our guide to applying chrome powder covers each stage.
A matte top coat replaces the glossy one as the final layer and shows best on deep shades such as burgundy, navy or black. Hand cream and cuticle oil can leave shiny marks on it. For matte nails with glossy tips, cure the matte top coat, then paint glossy top coat over the tips.
Brush the top coat straight over the cured colour without wiping or touching it, since it bonds to the colour's sticky layer. Top coat that peels off in one piece is often a sign that the colour was wiped or touched first.
Use slightly more gel than for the colour. Let the brush float over the nail without pressing, so the top coat levels into a glassy finish. Stop a hairline short of the skin and cap the free edge, where chips tend to start. Check the nail from the side for one smooth curve, then cure for the full time given in the instructions.
Over festive glitter or textured nail art, cure two thin layers of top coat rather than one thick one, which can wrinkle or overheat. Roll the bottle instead of shaking it, because shaking adds bubbles that show as tiny craters in a clear layer. After dark shades, clean the brush on a lint-free wipe before it goes back in the bottle, so it doesn't tint the top coat.
Dullness straight out of the lamp points to a top coat that's under-cured or too thin to level over the colour. Going over a no-wipe formula with cleanser can also dull it. On a wipe top coat, a used wipe smears the sticky layer around instead of lifting it off.
Shine that fades after a week or two comes from fine scratches, hand sanitiser, cleaning products and acetone. Wear gloves for housework, and revive a dull manicure with a light buff, a wipe with cleanser and a fresh top coat.
With a wipe top coat, the sticky layer is normal and comes off with cleanser. When a no-wipe top coat stays tacky, it's under-cured, most often from a thick layer, a tilted thumb or too short a cure.
Give the nails another full cycle, laid flat under the lamp, then remove any remaining film with cleanser. If only the thumb or little finger stays sticky, the lamp has weak spots at its edges. When every nail does, the lamp may not suit your gel. Gel won't cure properly under a phone torch or household bulb, as our guide to UV and LED nail lamps explains.
Yellowing mostly comes from self-tan, hair dye, turmeric, smoke, strong sun or sunbeds, and pale shades show it first. Under-cured gel stains more easily, so cure every layer fully and wear gloves for hair dye and self-tan.
Before a ski or beach holiday, consider a top coat with UV filters to slow yellowing. A light buff and a fresh top coat usually remove a surface stain. If the colour underneath has changed, redo the nail.
Read next: Base coat for builder gel, Best gel top coat and Can you use normal nail polish with gel top coat?.
Yes. Without a base, gel lifts and chips long before its usual two to three weeks. Without a top coat, the colour stays tacky, then dulls and scratches within days. The exception is an all-in-one gel, which says so on the label.
The best pair is one designed to work with your gel colour, which usually means the same brand. Choose a standard base for strong nails or a rubber base for thin, bendy ones, and a high-shine no-wipe top coat for most manicures, chrome included.
You can, but it wears like an ordinary manicure, because regular polish air-dries instead of curing and doesn't bond to gel the way gel colour does. A gel top coat over it is risky too. Unless the polish is completely dry, which takes hours, the top coat can wrinkle or peel.
Use a rubber base, which is a base coat in its own right. Colour gel, top coat and regular base coats aren't made to bond gel to the natural nail, so using them instead means early lifting.
Find the first and last layers of your next manicure in our base coat, rubber base and top coat collections.
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