Seche Vite

Okay so after reading the reviews and seeing quite a few negative ones I was nervous. How could such a lauded product just fail for some people? I think I know the answer thanks to trial and error and a few google searches. 1 - this needs to be applied on WET or TACKY polish. Forget all you know about top coats and you’ll get it. This product should be applied before your polish has finished drying because it doesn’t just sit on top of it, it bonds through all the layers of polish and onto your natural nail. It hardens everything and seals it in to make it last. If your polish is dry it cannot do that. It also can’t be applied to bare nails, so if you just want shiny bare nails stick with a cheap top coat that can be applied that way. This one just can’t be used like that. 2 - it needs to be applied quite thickly. So again forget what you know about nail polish, thin coats of this won’t work. Get a good bead of it on the end of the brush then swipe it down the nail, moving it gently to cover all of it and DONT LET THE BRUSH TOUCH THE POLISH UNDERNEATH! This will stop it from working and it’ll just peel off. 3 - Seal the edges of the nail! So with whatever is left on your brush after you’ve applied it to the nail go around the tip of the nail to seal it in. This will stop the top coat and polish from shrinking back and leaving the tips bare or prone to chipping. It’s not just a swipe on and go type of product, it has a learning curve but once you’ve got it you’ll never look back. And finally Four - it takes minutes to dry to the touch however it takes 20-25 mins to dry to the point that you can touch it and it won’t wrinkle. So leave it alone. It then takes up-to an hour or more for it to fully harden and set to become dent proof. So don’t wait 10 minutes and start poking at the nail, it will dent. I left mine over an hour and when I remembered to check it nothing could dent my nails. They are solid! All in all it’s an amazing product but it definitely needs to come with better instructions, I was so frustrated with it until I found blog posts explaining how it has to be used and I followed them. My nails are set and hard now, I still had some issues with application because it’s so thick but it’s like anything, once you get the hang of it you’ll be doing it perfectly every time. My nails are so so shiny and I’m excited to see how long they last because traditional polish never lasts more than a day on my hands. I typically have to use gel polishes but they are a pain to do on yourself. I hope this review helps anyone that’s struggled with this product or thinks it doesn’t work. It’s not your fault, the company should provide all this information but for some reason you have to find it yourself. I will continue to use it if it lasts like it promises. I’ll update in a few days time to check in with how it looks.

I'm only on my second manicure with this top coat, so if my experience changes I'll be sure to update this. BUT, so far this is an AMAZING experience. I can rub my nailas against a towel 5 minutes after application and nothing happens. Nothing. No smearing, no smudging, no texture imprint, nothing. After 5 days of wear, still shiny, no chips, looks absolutely spotless like I've just done my nails. I also find it very easy to apply. Smooth and easy, and although it dries quick I have enough time that multiple strokes blend seamlessly into one layer. I am super impressed. I previously used the essie and opi top coats. Essie was good but didn't last at all after a few weeks from opening. Opi lasted long, but was to soft, so always had imprints and smears as it seemed to keep sllightly liquid for 24 hours. This solves all the things, and I couldn't be happier. I took off my previous manicure after about 5 days because I did a sloppy job with the polish, but will keep the current (much neater) one on as long as possible to test the wear. Will report back! UPDATE: Above photo is my manicure after a full week of wear. As you can see, some tiny patches have come off, but this is still 100% better than any other topcoat I have ever used. I have one tiny scratch on the other hand by way of super sharp fabric scissors, and not even that went all the way through the top coat. I am sold for life.

I love to knit. I also love to paint my nails. What's the point in this information I hear you say? Well as anyone who is crafty in any way knows you can’t do both, difficult decisions must be made. This bothers me. I want to paint my nails and have them dry in under an hour so I can finish knitting my blanket, yes I am aware I'm old before my time, is this too much to ask? Seche Vite says no. This topcoat was recommended by a friend and I have never looked back. I'm such an avid fan that I rarely finish a bottle instead passing it on to uninitiated friends. You can’t paint nails and practice guitar you say? Here try this! I don't know how it works (witchcraft?) I just know that it does. A slick of this over your finished manicure and within ten minutes your nails are dry. And I don't mean touch dry, the kind of dry that a fight with a zipper in the bathroom can ruin. I mean dry, cured, solid, un-smudgeable! Further benefits of the Seche Vite topcoat is that it's high shine and long lasting. I can now get a solid week out of a manicure before it starts to chip (rubbish nails and the nature of my work means I usually only get 3 chip free days). So what’s the downside? Well this stuff gets gloopy. Quickly. Due to the nature of the fast drying formula after around a month of usage the polish starts to thicken. This is easily fixed with the Seche Vite Restore. This is a wee bottle with a dropper and 2 drops in the polish restores it to its natural state. The restore is well worth buying, you get a longer life out of your polish and the restorer can be used in other polishes as well. The bottle I have has lasted over a year. What I will say is don’t try and save pennies by using nail polish remover to restore your top coat. Yes it thins it, yes it works with other polishes. But it actually ruins the quality of the top coat and stops it from drying as fast. Which really, is the whole point of buying it all along.

I have bought dozens of bottles of this topcoat over the years for myself and for the friends and family that are also into nail art. Painting my nails with anything other than a single solid colour used to be an exercise in patience and frustration, with some smudging in the hours after application almost inevitable. With this top coat, however, most designs set in 5-10 minutes and I don't have to schedule doing my nails for when I won't need to touch anything for a couple of hours. It gives a lovely gloss and goes a long way to preventing chipping, so I use it on my solid colour manicures too. There are some quirks to this top coat that can catch you a little unaware if you are not used to it. Because it is so fast drying the liquid in the bottle can thicken a with the exposure to the air that come with frequent use. To combat this I recommend buying a bottle of the Seche Restore and adding a couple of drops if your topcoat begins to thicken to replace the evaporated liquid. The Restore will be enough for multiple bottles of topcoat, and works quite well at breathing life back in to many of my generic coloured nail varnishes when they thicken as well. When you take a very hot shower, especially when you have multiple layers of nail varnish sealed with this top coat coat, your nail varnish can soften and come off in a single plastic-y sheet if you catch the edge of it. I don't find this to be much of a problem if you're aware of it, and the nail varnish hardens again after your shower. Honestly I actually find it preferable to the large chips that tend to appear with other top coats as it is an easier fix. Sometimes you need to be aware of the slight trick to applying this top coat without smudging certain elements of your design. I've found that leaving the nails to air dry for a few minutes (or using a hairdryer on its coolest setting) to harden the outer layer, and then applying a generous amount of seche vitae with a very gentle hand eliminates smudging and results in the best finish. Overall it's a great product, and I haven't yet found a topcoat that I like quite as much for home multi polish manicures.

After using a lesser topcoat (Dr. Lewinn's) for the first time and it failing miserably to perform as anything other than a clear varnish I bought Seche Vite. From the first stroke I could tell this was top quality from the smell, consistency and fast drying time. It actually bonds all the layers of nail lacquer and makes it hard as glass but not brittle as there was no cracking of the colour throughout the week, it remained pure and smooth. This top coat makes your lacquer smooth even if there are any streaks in application. It doesn't smudge at all after 60 seconds. This gives you nails to be proud of! After 8 days I only had small amounts of chipping to the outer area of the nails on my primary hand and only to 3 nails on my secondary so depending how scrutininsing you are this could last you way beyond a week. I recommend this highly. **EDIT** from the 3rd application it doesn't last as long! Only a few days without chipping my OPI lacquer and other brands. It makes your nail colour peel off in solid sections!

Keeps nail varnish intact for weeks!

This is hands down the best top coat for standard nail varnish. I've always done my own nails and personally just prefer standard nail varnish to gels etc. This top coat goes on well, the shine is amazing and it dries to the touch very quickly. Advice/points to note - on a good quality varnish I've had it last a week easily, less on lower quality but the finished shine is still fab. I find if it does chip it's probably more to do with the adhesion of the base varnish to the nail plate than the top coat. Less is more, the finish is so much better if you can do a single coat in a few strokes. Doing a second often results in drag. Best way to do it is to get a nice bead/glob on end of the brush. A drop is too much if you know what I mean/you'll see. There can be some shrink back but you can avoid it if you properly cover all of the under polish and seal the tips. Keep a moisturiser of some kind near by, when you're done smooth some on the pads of your fingers then gently over the top coat. I Promise if the coat isn't too thick it should just smooth over perfectly. Also if it starts to thicken in the bottle - it is quick drying after all - all is not lost. It responds well to a drop or two of pure acetone to loosen it up again.

I was very doubtful about this product but it really does work - it dries fast and rock hard and the varnish underneath is turned solid too - none of that dire time when it is soft seemingly forever ( I have even gone to bed and had woven imprint on toe nails from bed linen and had to apply another top coat in the morning). Anyway, I digress, this time "topcoat" was Seche Vite Professional Top Coat and it did what it promised - dried my coloured varnish hard and itself hard and super shiny very quickly indeed. There was a hint of colour on the brush from the varnish it was put on top of - next time I may wait a little longer for the coloured varnish to dry a little longer. I applied two coats of Seche Vite. I even tried to dent my toe nail varnish with my thumb nail and could not - it was totally set hard. I was not brave enough to use as directed - straight onto wet varnish. I am looking down at my toe nails now - the varnish is stil unchipped after 8 days and my feet have been in and out of the sea and the sand has only v. v. vaguely dulled the high shine. In fact I am now wondering how easily all this will come off my nails! UPDATE: I removed all polish after about 3 weeks. Because of natural nail growth, there was now a small gap between varnish and 'half moon' so with a finger nail I was able to lift off the Seche Vite like a skin off some of my toes, leaving the coloured varnish behind - in fact on a couple of toe nails the whole lot peeled away (not the nail obvs !) which was fine with me as my toe nails are healthy and strong and it just meant a quick swipe over with varnish remover, follwed by a soak and a drench of Gardeners Hand Therapy (GHT) - which is another awesome product for making nails (*) as tough as old boots. (* eventually - you will have to use it every single night until total nail growth has grown from bottom to top - so it is a long haul depending how quickly your nails grow - I used to have very thin finger nails and now they are very strong - I have been using GHT without fail every single night for 8yrs or so. Defo worth purchasing - it lasts for ages.)

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Me encantó

Rapide et efficace

The best top coat on the market. It goes on super thick, which upon first use, seems weird, but that's the way it's supposed to be and it dries really quickly. Within 90 seconds, you'll be able to touch your tails gently with no smudge. This dries hard and protects your polish better than any other top coat. It's not like getting a gel manicure, but it's the greatest product for regular polish. Gives the very best protection against chipping and gives a great shine. It's the only top coat I use. You can find cheaper top coat, but why not use the best on the market?

Fantástico secante, el mejor del mercado