essie gel couture nail polish + top coat kit, beau-tie + top coat

I have horrible luck usually with nail polish staying on. Used it on my toes for a beach vacation and the color has lasted 3 weeks. Had only minimal chipping but that was me being clumsy & toe dragged in rocky pool. Great stay power. Applied easily with quick dry time too.

Finally a nail polish that has staying power! I’m not allowed to have acrylic nails or gel polish that requires a uv light to dry because I’m a healthcare worker & the hospital I work for is strict about this policy with those that work in direct patient care. Regular nail polishes never seem to have the staying power that those gel polishes have for me! A co worker told me to give the Essie gel couture line a try so I started with this bottle (v.i.please) & I’ve now got 14 bottles of Essie gel polishes. I’ve used 3 of the 14 colors so far & they all stayed on for 2 weeks with only the tips of my nails & the growth from my cuticles to show the wear. The color range is wonderful & the polish easy to use & easy to remove! That’s another huge bonus because soaking my nails in acetone & using the electric nail drill would thin my nails so terribly! I have tried the Sally Hensen gel polishes before & I do like them but never got the same lasting power that I do with Essie gel polish. This is just what works for me & it’s worth a try if you are looking for something like this.

This is the best nail polish! Lasts for a long time and looks like a gel manicure from the salon!

While no polish is going to be chip proof, this is the only regular paint on style polish I’ve tried that lasts more than a few days without chipping. There’s definitely some shrinkage and wear around the edges after a few days, but I went a week without any major chips or pieces flaking off. I even touched up the edges and went another week with very minimal wear on it then. I workout regularly, wash my hands often, and do dishes without gloves. I definitely put some wear and tear on my nails and this polish still looked decent after a week.This photo was taken after 5 days of wear for reference!Tldr: it’s not gel or acrylic quality, but it’s the longest lasting and most chip resistant polish I’ve ever used.

So far, I love Essie Gel Couture! It is so easy to apply and dries quickly. My favorite feature is the brush as it is wide and flat which makes applying the polish so much easier. I was at first unsure of the wide brush on toenails (picturing polish to be all over my skin). However, this was the first time I have ever had a clean and near perfect application while painting my toenails! The brush allows more control over the product, so as long as your not applying too much at once, you shouldn't have any issue applying no matter what nail size.Now, I just put this on today so cannot yet speak for the durability. However, I was so impressed and happy with the application that i just had tp review it.EDIT: I have attached a photo of my nails 5 days after application. Now, I am right handed, and I have been working with my hands a lot (cleaning, cooking, setting up and tearing down for 2 parties, day to day activities etc) and I must say I'm pretty impressed! I've used other gel polish as well as Jamberry wraps, but I feel Essie Gel Couture has held up better than other products under as much pressure of the day to day plus added activities. If you're going to do your own nails, I do recommend Essie Gel Couture.

The color is VERY misleading. It appears to be a deep, dark almost purple hue/shade, but in actuality, it has a red hue/shade instead, despite several coats. I specifically did NOT want a color that was (more) on the red spectrum.Also, it is very runny, very thin, almost watery.I am disappointed, especially for the price that I paid.I AM FURTHER DISAPPOINTED AFTER MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS PRODUCT!! NOT WORTH THE PRICE I PAID!!Overall, the nail is very watery, very runny. This tempts you to put on more, which causes problems with the end result- lengthens drying time, doesn't completely dry properly due to too many & too thick coats, etc.Even after sparingly applying one coat, then allowing it to completely dry, and then applying a thin, second coat, & allowing that to completely dry, (10-15 minutes each time), & then applying the Top Coat, which I allowed to completely dry, (again, another 10-15 minutes), the product failed to live up to its claims of being high-performance, (luxurious) long wear, and comes second to Sally Hansen Miracle Gel, which I am not a fan of either.Sally Hansen Miracle Gel is VERY thick, sometimes too thick, altho requires the same time to apply.On a side note, I've noticed that despite having the top coat, the nail polish transfers, like when I'm filing papers, I'll notice a "line" on the piece of paper where it made contact with the top of my nail(s). This is very frustrating.I was hoping to replace Sally Hansen Miracle Gel with Essie Couture, but, that won't be happening. My search continues for my: go-to, easy to apply, long-lasting, chip-free nail polish.Perhaps a UV light is the way to go.

When I first began using this stuff I was convinced it was the holy grail for me. I love the way it applies. The slightly wider than the norm brush applies polish perfectly -- at first. And therein lies the issue. In my experience, this polish degrades very quickly once the bottle is opened. I haven't documented it with any precision, but I'd estimate within a few months it becomes gloppy. And I've tried the thinning drops, which do improve a bit, but not enough. Interestingly this seems to be a more serious issue with darker colors.The next issue is the shine. It's lovely initially. But within a day or two it loses it's shine (unlike OPI infinite shine).Last, it's a slightly thicker finish. So within a few days, it's easy to peel it off, often in one sweep. This seems ideal from the perspective of a clean removal -- but it's very bad for the nail, especially if you do it more than once, leaving them weak and brittle. It does remove with remover with relative ease, but the fact it can just peel away is problematic for me (and a bit tempting -- if it happens to one, I want to do it to others).Shine