This £9 base coat convinced me to break my gel nail habit and paint my own nails

Think a gel polish is the only way of getting your manicure to last longer than a few days? Think again. This base coat has completely transformed the staying power of my regular polish.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve lost my manicure mojo. A period of back-to-back gel manicures left my nails feeling as flimsy as tissue paper, so I've forced myself to take a break. I don’t want my salon stalemate to mean having bare, boring nails, so I've been seeking out some gel manicure alternatives, starting simple with good old regular polish.

While it may not have the staying power of a BIAB or Biosculpture, DIY painting is an easy, affordable way of perking up my nails, with the bonus benefit of not having to remove gel polish at home. If you're toying with doing the same but wondering how to make your manicure last longer, I've found the ultimate hack.

Why ORLY's Bonder Basecoat is the secret behind my long-lasting manicure

In my initial return to regular polish, I found that my painstakingly applied colour often chipped within 24 hours. This was incredibly annoying, almost enough to push me back onto the gel train - so what if my nails crumbled to dust? Luckily I stayed strong, closed the tab on the Townhouse Salon booking site and decided to look into something that would give my mani better staying power. Enter, ORLY Bonder Basecoat.

If you’ve ever tried the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer (or one of the many products copying it) this base coat works similarly. The slightly tacky finish - a 'rubberised texture', according to ORLY - clings the colour to your nail for longer. It works in the same way as the best primers - helping all that comes after it apply more smoothly and last longer.

The wide brush makes application fast and easy. It's lightweight, dries quickly and the tacky texture isn't off-putting or overly sticky. From the first use, I saw an immediate difference in my colour's staying power. Five days in, my manicure still looked pristine, lasting well up to a week - a huge improvement on my previous record of 48 hours.

I like that it's such an easy step to add to your routine. Plus, if you still want the healing benefits of a strengthening base coat, you can apply one first then follow with the bonder to boost the staying power of your colour.

I'm now firmly back on the nail polish bandwagon. I like that I can do it all myself without any damaging filing or drilling, and I forgot the joy of regularly swapping your mani colour - there's no chance of me accidentally picking the wrong colour at the salon and being stuck with it for a month (oddly, one of my biggest fears).

I used to think base coats were just about stopping the colour staining your nails - or maybe strengthening them, but this product made me realise they actually have a brilliant use. It's the ultimate manicure support act that leads to high-shine, long-lasting colour without the time, expense and damage of a salon visit. And for under a tenner, you really can't go wrong.