So I recently finished my bottle of my beloved Essie Gel Setter top coat and when I went back to buy another bottle, I was told it had been discontinued.
So I decided to try a new top coat, hoping it will be even better than my Essie Gel Setter! The Essie Gel Couture top coat was on sale so I decided to give it a go.
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Typically, I can get a two week manicure out of my Essie Gel Setter, with only minimal tip wear. And the manicure will still be super glossy by the end of those two weeks. And when applying the Gel Setter, it dries in under a minute. I also use this top coat with any brand of polish and get the same results. Hence why the Essie Gel Setter is my go-to!
So I have pretty high expectations for the Essie Gel Couture top coat. Ideally I’m looking for:
- Fast drying
- A super glossy finish
- Long wear time
So that will be what I’m basing this review on. Alright, let’s get into it!
I’ll be wearing OPI O Suzi Mio on my nails, along with the Essie Gel Couture top coat.
Day 1
As you can see, my manicure is looking fresh and glossy! I’ve wrapped my tips with both the colour and top coat to help prolong the manicure, which is something I do every time I paint my nails.
Let’s talk about dry time.
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This top coat is relatively fast drying. By the time I’d finished top coating all my nails, the first few had already dried, which is a good start! Although, it’s definitely no where near as fast drying as the Essie Gel Setter is, so that’s something to keep in mind.
Now let’s talk about shine and glossy-ness.
Again, this top coat is super glossy and shiny. However, it’s not as glossy as the Essie Gel Setter. I think this is because the Essie Gel Setter has a very thick formula which makes the nail look glossy and squishy, which I LOVE! However, the Essie Gel Couture has a much thinner formula, almost like water. It’s not so thin that it completely floods your cuticle, but it’s thin enough that the nail doesn’t look as squishy once it’s applied. Again, that’s something to keep in mind.
I also want to mention that the Essie Gel Setter does start to thicken up a lot once you’ve used about 2/3 of it and you also need to be careful with bubbles on the nail. Both of these things are due to the thicker formula. In comparison, I didn’t have any problems with bubbles appearing on the nail when using the Essie Gel Couture top coat, which is a bonus!
Day 5
By day 5, I was ready to change my manicure. Usually I go at least a week before changing my manicure, but the Essie Gel Couture didn’t hold up for that long.
As you can see on my middle finger, I’d gotten a large chip on the tip, and this happened around day 3. That nail is pretty prone to peeling so I didn’t want to leave the corner exposed for much longer.
Let’s start with shine and glossy-ness.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with how long this manicure stayed glossy for. You’ll probably notice areas of the nail that have indented lines or scratches on them, dulling the shine a little. This isn’t something I’ve experienced with the Essie Gel Setter, so I’m not super happy about that. However, by day 5, it still had a relatively shiny look to it, so that’s a tick from me!
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Now let’s talk about wear time.
Personally I expect a top coat to give me a weeks worth of wear, which this top coat couldn’t do. I have partially visible tip wear and a few minor chips. It’s nothing major, however, it’s not ideal either.
You’ll also notice some shrinkage around my cuticle area, where the top coat has visibly shrunk and this happened on almost every single one of my nails. I made sure to cover the entire nail with top coat when I applied it, and even painted beyond where the colour ended in order to avoid shrinkage. So that’s one downside to this top coat.
Final Thoughts
So overall, I’ll continue to use this top coat because it works pretty well – dry time is decent, the shine is decent and wear time isn’t bad.
However, I would still opt to use the Essie Gel Setter if it was available in stores, so that top coat still continues to be my first preference.
I hope this review and wear test has helped some of you to make up your mind about whether or not it’s worth purchasing this top coat! And let me know down below what your go-to top coat is.
I’ll see you all in my next post!
– Soph 💖
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
