I've spent quite a long time experimenting with base and top coats, for a long time I had a problem with my nail polish 'pushing back' and it was so frustrating. Finally I've found my favourite combination of base and top coat, so I thought I'd dedicate a post to them.
As a base I use the Essie Grow Stronger Base Coat, which claims to be a standard protecting base coat for normal nails. You can buy it in Boots and a lot of other places for a healthy £8.99. It's the best base coat I've found for protecting my nails from discolouring, which is a problem for me as I like to wear a lot of blue nail polish, but with this I've never had a problem. Applying it to the nails is an absolute breeze, it glides on and dries super quickly.
My top coat choice is cult favourite 'Seche Vite' I need not give this much of an introduction to anyone. It's a fantastic product which glides on to the nails and dries in an instant, giving you perfect nails which do not chip.
These two give me perfect nails that are well protected and last a while after applying the colour, I won't be switching these two up for a while.
