A good speed dry top-coat makes everything so much easier, I honestly panic when I'm coming to the end of a bottle. Regular top-coats just dont cut it with me any more. I've came across 2 that I would fully recommend, but I do favour one slightly more.
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Sally Hansen Insta-Dri
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with sally hansen products but Insta-Dri works well for me. The brush picks up a serious amount of product (which I prefer), It allows you to give the nails a hefty coat without any dragging but you have to make sure you spread it across the nail evenly or you'll be left with thicker pools at the side of the nail bed. Within a few seconds the nails are touch dry, as the name suggests, and you're able to get on with your day after a few mins. The only downside for me is that it doesnt harden as quick as I'd like, you just have to be careful not to press your nails against anything for a good few hours or you'll end up with some dents and the gloss will dull quite a bit.
Price: £5.99 from Boots
Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat
Sorry about the photo, its from the Nails Inc website. I've already done a review on this, you can read it here. Out of the 2, this would have to be my favourite. It hardens almost instantly compared to insta-dri and I find it to be slightly glossier aswell. Theres one thing I would change though, the brush. Unless you pick up a lot of product you're going to end up with dragging/streaks. I think Nails Inc should rethink the brush design on this top-coat.
Price: £12 from here.
With all top-coats I've tried, its impossible to get right to the end of the bottle without the polish starting to gloop. Its a pain but unfortunately it happens due to the formulations being designed to dry quick. I know theres loads of hype surrounding Seche Vite but on the few occasions I've used it I ended up with tip shrinkage. So for that reason I really dont rate it.
What Top Coat do you use?
Edit: Insta-Dri turned all gloopy less than halfway through the bottle.
I have a love/hate relationship with Sally Hansen too...acetone free nail polish remover- never ever again!!! I'd be interested to try the Nails Inc one you've recommended...I've been using Sally Hansen Mega Shine (in my March favourites post)- it's great if you want a super glossy finish but similarly to yours it can dent even once 'dried'..shame. I've heard good things about Dior topcoat. XxX
ReplyDeleteHavent tried Mega Shine before but used Diamond Strength Nail Hardener a few weeks ago, it was a nightmare. I've never thought about trying the likes of Dior for a top coat. I'll have a wee try the next time I'm at a counter.
ReplyDeletexo
My friend swears by the Dior one. It was too expensive for me at the time so opted for SH. I nearly bought Diamond Strength- glad I didn't now!xx
Deletei have gone through about 4 bottles of the sally hansen insta dri - ive recently run out and its so annoying having to wait for about 2 hours until my nails are dry! will have to pick some up tomorrow xx<3
ReplyDeletehttp://cloudsandcuticleoil.blogspot.co.uk/
Its such a pain trying to use a normal top coat isnt it.
Deletexo
You havn't tried the seche vite top coat? It's very raved about and I use it on my clients. Its brilliant. Make sure you use a good bonding base coat too x
ReplyDeleteHiya Steph :] yes I've tried it, I mentioned that at the end of the post. Everytime I've tried it though I find it causes major shrinkage at the tips, it affects some polishes worse than others so thats why I wouldnt recommend it. I find Nails Inc Kensington Caviar hard to beat.
Deletexo
This is such a useful post, thankyou :)! xx
ReplyDeleteaww too bad you had such a miserable experience with seche vite, i actually happen to love that one...might try the sally hansen one though...been eying it for quite some time now haha xx
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