I Have How Many Top Coats: Top Coat Challenge

I finally decided to do it, a top coat challenge. After months of being on a search for a Seche Vite replacement, I realized I had 8 top coats and one arriving any day in the mail. It was definitely time to find out how they performed against each other.

I won’t lie, I love Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. I love that I can put it on, and my nails will be dry in a matter of minutes with a glassy shine. I’ve always joke that it’s cancer in a bottle. That’s even before I read the warning on the bottle. The warning says it contains ingredients known by the state of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. My husband and I called it quits in the baby department 3 years ago when our youngest was born, so I’m not worried about the “birth defects” part, but I suppose just knowing it’s got bad stuff in it makes me wary.

I started this top coat challenge 4 days ago on Thursday, January 17, 2013. I wanted to make sure I didn’t give any of the top coats any unfair advantage, so I didn’t use a base coat or color by any of the nail companies featured in my challenge. I assumed top coats would work better with color and base coats from the same line. For a base coat, I used Orly’s Bonder.

My main goal was to see who had the best wear, and overall shine and texture. I realized after the fact that I should have picked a cream color for this post. I was thinking about which polish I could manage to wear for 4 or 5 days straight instead of which polish would photograph the best for my purposes. For selfish purposes, I chose OPI’s The World Is Not Enough from the Skyfall Collection.

Base Coat – Orly Bonder
OPI – The World Is Not Enough

On my left hand starting on my thumb to my pinkie:

CND  Air Dry Fast Set Top Coat
China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat
Zoya Armor Top Coat UV Block
Qtica Extending Top Coat
Essie Good Top Go

On my Right hand starting on my thumb to my pinkie:

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Sally Hansen Mega Shine Extended Wear Top Coat
Sally Hansen Nail Shine Miracle Top Coat
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat
no cop coat just the OPI color

I polished my fingers starting with the Orly Bonder base coat, then three thin coats of OPI’s The World Is Not Enough, and each finger got one coat of the appointed top coat. I started at 8 pm, and was done by 8:50 pm. I started checking to see how fast the nails dried. Here’s the order they dried.

• 9pm – Seche Vite
• 9:05 CND Air Dry
• 9:06 China Glaze Fast Forward
• 9:08 Sally Hansen Insta-Dri
• 9:08 Essie Good to Go
• 9:09 Qtica Extending Top Coat
• 9:35 Zoya Armor
• 9:45 Sally Hansen Mega Shine
• Went to bed at 11:45 and Sally Hansen Nail Shine Miracle was still tacky. I woke up with sheet prints and fuzz stuck to it

I found that Seche Vite and Sally Hansen (SH) Insta-Dri had the thickest formulas. The thinnest formulas were China Glaze, SH Nail Shine Miracle and Qtica.  It was hard to evaluate shine because of the micro glitter in this OPI polish, but I liked Seche Vite, CND, Qtica and SH Insta-Dri the best for shine.

I found that I had the least tip wear with Qtica, Essie, SH Insta-Dri.

All my pictures were taken at the end of a 24 hour period. These were 24 hours after I first painted my nails.

Day 1 – After the first 24 hours

Day 1 – Tip wear, and chip – index finger, left hand – China Glaze Fast Forward

Day 2 – 48 hours after application

CND on the left verses Seche Vite on the right. More tip wear visible on right.

Day 3 – 72 hours after application. I was losing large sections of polish. The first section to come off was from the left hand’s index finger. The one coated in China Glaze’s Fast Forward. A few hours later, SH’s Mega Shine also had a huge chip taken out of it. By the end of the day, I was also sporting a noticeable chip out of my right Seche Vite thumb.

Major chipping along with tip wear. Day 3

Day 4 – 96 hours later.

Losing large chunks of polish. I was aiming for 5 or more days, but I can’t stand it anymore.

I was intending to go for at least 5 days with this top coat challenge, but I just couldn’t. Finding both my index fingers in such a terrible state was heart driving me crazy. I also lost significant parts of my right thumb and middle finger. Both pinkie fingers had small chips on them, but something I could have over looked for a few more days. Six of my ten fingers chipped.

The top coats that didn’t chip were:

• CND Air Dry
• Zoya Armor
• Qtica Extending Top coat
• SH Insta-Dri

I had more visible tip wear with Zoya and CND. I was surprised that SH Insta-Dri performed so well. I wasn’t expecting something so great from a drug store brand, I’ll definitely be getting more of this. I was amazed at Qtica Extending Top Coat. It was my first time using it, so I’ll have to use it again before passing judgement, but so far so good. It had the least visible tip wear of any of the top coats, and had lots of shine. I didn’t see any shrinkage, and it didn’t take forever to dry.

If I had to rank these 9 top coats here’s best to worst based on the last 4 days.

1. Qtica Extending Top Coat
2. SH Insta-Dri
3. CND Air Dry
4. Zoya Armor
5. Essie Good To Go
6. Seche Vite
7. China Glaze Fast Forward
8. SH Mega Shine

I won’t even score the SH Nail Shine Miracle because it never really dried. That stuff is going straight in the trash. If it won’t dry 3 hours after the fact, it doesn’t deserve to stick around! Do I still love my Seche Vite? YES! I just picked up another bottle while this top coat challenge was going on. It’s for the nights I do a 10:45 manicure and still want to get to bed before 11:30. Seche Vite saves me from sheet prints.

Since I also change my polish every other day, I rarely run into the problem of them chipping. I don’t go for long wear, I go for fast drying and shine.

Do you have a favorite Top Coat? How long do you wear your polish in between changes? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just let me know in the comments below.

Racing Stripes

I’ve been attempting to create a green racing stripe on my nails for months now. This is the first time I’m willing to post any photos. They’re not perfect, but I am getting better.

I’ve been longing to create some perfect nail art. I know it’s not something that just happens,  but many hours are spent in practice. I’ve only been doing my nails regularly for 10 months, so I still have a lot to learn.

I used China Glaze Exotic Encounters from the Safari Collection as the green base. Sally Hansen Quick Color Nail Pen in black for the large stripe, and Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in White for the small stripe. I sealed it all with a coat of Seche Vite.

I’ll try it again, but I hope it turns out even better next time. I free-handed the stripes, maybe next  time I’ll tape them. I haven’t had success with tape manicures yet, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll stop trying.

This manicure reminds me of this car.

Zebra Stripe Manicure

I got this amazing box of Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in my Spring Beauty VoxBox from Influenster. I had never tried them before because they cost more than a bottle of Sally Hansen nail polish. I wasn’t sure how they worked, and everyone I asked about it had the same misgivings about spending $9.99 on 10 days worth of nail polish instead of getting an entire bottle. I suppose you could say I have frugal friends.

I would’ve picked up a box of them if I had ever seen them on sale, but alas, I’m never there for a sale. Thankfully, the good people at Influenster and Sally Hansen sent me a free box to try.

My verdict is in, and I say they are so fun. My free box of Salon Effect Nail Strips was the zebra print called “Wild Child”. I should say, it’s a lot of look. This is not a print for the faint of heart. Thankfully I’ve been wearing bolder colors and nail art over the past several months, so I wasn’t scared off by the zebra print.

It took me longer than expected to get them applied because I was worried that if I rushed, I’d ruin them. 

They’re supposed to last 10 days, but I don’t think that will happen. I use my nails like tools. I chip everything. Really. Everything. I can’t abide a chipped manicure, so I change my polish about 3 times a week. I’m hoping these will last about 5 days. It’s also a way for me to change my nails with my wardrobe.

Now that I’ve fallen in love with them, I suppose I’ll pick up a box of them every now and again when I want a fun print and don’t want to do the nail art myself. I really want to try these next. They’re called “Tattoo Much”.

Fast Track Beauty

Yes, I’ve already admitted I’ve been looking a little dowdy recently. Well, a lot dowdy. Being a mom of two children under the age of 4 can really take a toll. I hate to admit it, but there have been days that I’ve left the house and forgot to put on deodorant. Days without brushing my teeth, even days where I’ve been so busy that I’ve left the house in my fuzzy slippers and not known it. It’s amazing that I forget these things now, when before children I would never have left the house with out make up, much less deodorant.

Recently I spent an evening with a good friend who just had a baby. We were talking about lack of sleep, expectations of working moms, and how she just didn’t feel as glamorous as before. We laughed about the changes in our lives. Her enjoyable afternoon no longer consisted of a leisurely afternoon at Sephora, but rather just getting the baby to nap. I’d trade a full spa pedicure for a chance to shave my legs AND wash my hair in the shower before the kids start to scream and argue. I no longer have time to do both unless I want to mediate an argument while naked and soapy in the shower. Um, no thank you.

I know not all of us have children. That’s just my excuse. I do know that we’re all busy. Somehow I haven’t met a single woman who isn’t overcommitted. With all the things we have to do in a day, we all need some fast and easy beauty items. Here are a few things that put me on the fast track to feeling beautiful, in a minimal amount of time.

When I have time to sit down and do a proper manicure I’ll use a base coat, two coats of color, and a high shine top coat. When I don’t have time and want an instant pop of color, I reach for my Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish. Right now, I’m in love with grey tones, the perfect neutral that’s not a nude. This one from Sally Hansen is called “Slick Slate”. It makes my short nails look chic in no time flat. Two minutes later I can safely dig in my purse for my keys and not worry about my nails. Really.

Color – Slick Slate

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for lipsticks. I currently am carrying around 8 different shades in my purse. (this count doesn’t include the 3 glosses and two lip balm products I also have in my purse) I have a weakness for lip color. My all time favorite is a deeply saturated red. If you’ve ever worn a deeply saturated red, you know how it’s best to take care to prime the lip first. Balm first to moisturize, then line the lip and fill with liner, finally apply red lipstick with a brush. This does not fall into fast lane beauty items. What does, are the new shades of Clinique’s Almost Lipstick. Most every woman I know has at one time tried the cult favorite “Black Honey” and loved it. Even if they borrowed it from a friend in the bathroom at a party. More than a decade ago Clinique used to have a plethora of shades in the Almost Lipstick line. Most were forgettable. After creating some beautiful new colors that work on nearly any skin tone, they’ve released 7 new colors to go along with the original favorite “Black Honey”.

Clinique’s Almost Lipstick Collection

All of the Almost Lipsticks from Clinique qualify for fast track beauty. They are sheer flattering shades that you don’t need a mirror to apply. Instead of picking up “Black Honey” again I decided to try two different shades. I am now the proud owner of “Tender Honey”. It’s like my own lip color, but better. Not too pink, not too nude, with a soft shine that makes them look perfectly natural. For the woman who always wears red, this is strange, but it’s so pretty. I also have “Chic Honey”. On my lips it looks like a sheer berry wine shade, and is so lovely.  A nice alternative to red. You can truly apply both colors without a mirror. I have one in my winter coat pocket so I have it handy all the time, and in a week, it’s already starting to run low. I guess I’m using it like lip balm.

The hardest part of my beauty routine is my hair. I have long, wavy, frizzy hair. Hair  that needs lots of product and a diffuser to tame it. When time is running short, my favorite thing to do is pull my hair up. I can’t just put it in a cute pony tail, because  it always looks like someone ran over it with an SUV. If I’m going to put my hair up,  I have to hide all the ends. This is where a french roll, or a loose chignon looks so  purposeful. I can manage this in just minutes with a few amazing items from Goody. I found the Spin Pins nearly two years ago, and they have changed the way  I do my hair. Two or three Spin Pins hold my hair in a bun or an updo all day. I don’t  have to worry that it will come down. I also love the Modern Updo Maker. It’s a  giant U-shaped pin that makes holding a french roll easy. One pin for a french roll? Yes please.

These come larger, but I love the minis

One pin to rule them all!

Just a few things in my beauty arsenal that I love to use when I’m in a hurry. Here’s to looking fabulous in no time flat! If you have a beauty short cut, let me know. I’m always looking for new tricks.

Rebecca