Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish and Top Coat Review

Let me start by saying that I love wearing nail polish and painting my own nails. I’ve tried multiple brands of polish including gel type polishes so I was super keen to try this Essie gel combo to see how it compares. I’ve only used it for one week but so far I love it. Continue reading below to find out why.

This polish has lasted really well. I have worn this polish and the top coat together for a week now and only one nail has started to chip (index finger on one hand). I’ve washed dishes my hand without gloves and I’m constantly typing at work too. There has been no tip wear or chipping or peeling around my cuticle area either.

The colour is really opaque. I only needed two coats and that was enough to get a decent application without streaks. The consistency is slightly thicker than the normal Essie polish but I like it better. I found that the normal Essie polish sometimes is too thin and you need to apply more layers. This polish went on smoothly and like I said did not leave any streaks or bubbles. The top is really shiny and glossy. It looks like you’ve had your nails done professionally.

The brush is really nice to use. The size enables you to apply the polish on your nail with three strokes. The brush is quite dense which allows you to fan the brush out across your nail when you are applying the polish. The dense brush also means it holds the right amount of polish to deposit on to your nail.

The bottle is a standard glass bottle with a twisted rectangular shape. It’s easy to hold and use. I also like that the clear top coat has a white bottle instead of being clear which means it’s not exposed to light.

Overall I really like this polish combo and would definitely recommend this to everyone else. I am keen to buy more in different colours.

The Essie gel couture system is the same as many mail polish applications, containing a colour coat and a top coat to lock in the coloured coat. This range is meant to have the shine of a gel, and increased longevity of a gel without the need for a UV lamp. It has the shine but I found the longevity similar to other long wearing top coats, although certainly better than normal nail polish. The edges wore off at approximately day 4 and started to chip off the bed of my nails about day 6.

The formula was a little hard to work with as it was so runny but I imagine after a few uses and it has dried a bit this will not be an issue. However because it was runny it flooded my cuticles quite easily and because the polish dries like a flexible plastic I found it started to lift here first as the polish was wearing off.

So I was fortunate enough to trial the polish and top coat!

This new packaging is so fun and I got a millennial pink colour that I was super keen to try.

The applicator and texture for both products are perfect so you get a really easy even layer and it’s not too runny or gluggy. The top coat also works perfectly to smooth over any uneven parts of the polish.

I’ve been really impressed with how long it has latest as well. It’s been over a week and I haven’t had any chips and the colour still looks fresh and strong.

So all in all I love the colour and I’ll definitely be getting some more shades of this polish and the top coat will be my new go to!

I really like Essie Nailpolish, it's one of my favorite Nailpolishes to use. it lasts long on my nails and the colours are fantastic. You just need two coats and it's perfect.

A nail polish combination that everyone should use. The stylish packaging is very cool, but if a bummer it doesn’t allow you to stack them easily. Following the instructions I applied 2 coats of the gel colour and followed but the top coat. The gel colour went on very smooth and had a thick flawless coverage. The top coat seemed to make the gel colour shine even more and just seal in the vibrant colour. Once again easy to apply. As always needs a decent arount of time to dry just to make sure you don’t ruin the overall finish. On my hands which are constantly being washed, the polish stayed on for about 8-10 days on different nails. I’m sure if you were more careful it would last the advertised 12 days easily. Definitely be using again.

I selected Essie Gel Couture in “Spiked With Style” (#360) for this trial. The polish is bottled in a clear twisted Essie branded glass bottle, so that the colour of the deep red polish is visible through the glass, while the top coat is in an opaque white twisted bottle.

There is no base coat with this gel couture system. It’s designed to be used as a two-step process; two coasts of colour followed by one coat of ‘platinum grade finish’ top coat.

To start, I filed and shaped my nails, pushed back the cuticles, gave them a light buff and then cleansed them well with nail polish remover to remove any natural nail oils before applying the first coat of polish.

The wide, flat, round ended brush mirrors the cuticle area perfectly, making it really easy to get a perfect coat in just 4 swipes of the brush; one down the middle, one down each side, and then one across the tip to cap the free edge. By the time I’d painted my second hand, the thin layer of polish on the first hand was dry and ready for a second coat.

Something I did notice is that this polish has quite a cold feel on the nails with each layer, including the top coat. Any accidental messes on the skin are easily cleaned up with a bit of nail polish remover on a cotton bud.

I did wait 10 minutes between applying the second coat and the top coat, as I wanted to be sure that the colour was dry. The top coat has a really nice thin consistency that applies really well. It’s better than any other traditional lacquer top coat that I’ve used the the past. It doesn’t smudge the colour coats below (like some top coats do), and has a very smooth looking and vibrant high-shine.

Silly me dinged one of my thumbs before the top coat was dry, and smudged the colour underneath, but it was easily fixed by rubbing a finger dipped in a tiny bit of nail polish remover lightly over the dented polish to smooth it out, and then simply reapplying a coat of top coat after the initial application had dried fully.

I put my hand up to trial both the Essie nail polish in the pink shade, 240, Model Citizen and the Essie Top Coat and got on the Trial team with Beauty Review. As soon as I got the products, I was eager to give myself a mini manicure. I used to bite my nails so this was a trial I was interested in.

The nail polish bottle is glass with a twisted appearance. You can see the pink nail colour through it. It has a white lid that twists off easy. 'Essie' is embossed on the glass bottle.

I applied the nail colour first, it went on smoothly with good coverage and dried fast. That was the first step of this two step process. After it dried, I applied another coat of nail colour, then I applied the Top Coat which is clear and is used to seal the Essie Gel Couture colour. The bottle of Top Coat is twisted glass as well exept it's white on the front with a twist off lid. It looks like clear nail polish and seemed to dry reasonably quick too.

I noticed my nails seemed more stronger, not so brittle after using these and the polish stayed put longer than other cheap brands I've tried. I'm pretty rough with my nails, always washing dishes in hot water, having hot baths and showers but my nail colour still lasted longer. I noticed after about a week, the polish did start to look like I needed to give myself another mini manicure due to wearing off a little, from doing household duties. Both the nail polish and the Top Coat were easy to take off with nail polish remover and the 2 step process was easy to do to refresh. I ended up doing my nails again a second time, after about a week just to freshly do them.

The Essie Gel Couture I tried in the shade Model Citizen, I loved the colour of it. It was a light pinkish shade which went nice with my tanned skintone. It had a faint smell like most nail polishes do but it wasn't too bad. I have seen there's a variety of beautiful colours in the range at Farmers and other stores and if you're wanting to do your nails yourself at home, these would be perfect. They're a little pricey for me but I think they're worth it if you want, long lasting wear. The 2 step process is simple and they seem to last well. I've been getting nice compliments from my family and friends every time they see me wearing this Essie Gel Couture 240 Model Citizen and Top Coat.

This duo is a match made in heaven, its a medium consistency. Which is the best to apply stays where you put it! Both brushes are the same and are very pleasing to use, they kinda of shape around you nail which makes application much quicker and easier. They both have a strong chemical solvent scent, but its only there while the bottles are open and once they are dry its gone. With the polish i needed two coats to get nice even coverage, and only one coat of the top coat. This lasted really well, i'm a mum and a cleaner so my hands are always in water. I got a good 7 days out of it and i could of had bit longer. At $18.99 each while seems a little pricey together, is quite cheap if you think about how many full nail coats you can get out of these bottles. These bottles and shiny, classy and sleek glass. They have a twist though them vertically and sit together beautifully its the kind of bottle i want to display on my shelf, not hide away in a draw. While i didn't get quite as long as they say, i am hard on my nails. I think they are really great products that have me impressed, they go on beautifully and wear just as well. It came off easily with an acetone polish remover and with no damage to natural nails. I love these products and would recommend them to anyone who loves pretty shiny nails but no time or money for the salon.

I bought this in shade Fairy Tailor, which is a lovely pale pink. I dont do my nails very often, as if the colour is too dark, I notice it all the time and it annoys me for some reason! So this colour was is perfect. I find the brushes very easy to use, and are a nice wide brush. The polish dries quickly, and is hard wearing. I used two coats of colour, and one of topcoat, and my nails looked good for a week. My only slight negative feedback would be that the polish peeled off a few fingers, which made me wonder if I just hadn't prepared my nails properly first? But overall, great, easy to use product that lasted well. I will branch out an try more colours!