Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish Review

The colour you see through the transparent bottle is actually the colour that your nails become! The bottle is made of a twisted glass with a white lid and due to the unusual shape it is really easy to spot among the other nail polishes in my drawer. I chose the amazing pink shade called Model Citizen and I am so happy with the colour. It is vibrant and full of colour but doesn't look like a fancy dress colour - it is definitely an every day, bring on summer shade and I love it! I would wear this every single day and probably will. The brush is flatter and larger than I have used before and I loved it! It made application so quick and easy and the nail polish applied beautifully and oh so smoothly - it even smoothed out my ridges! The nail polish dried so quickly I hardly had to wait anytime in between applying layers and for the first time in my life I didn't dent or ruin a nail within minutes of finishing my nails - amazing! There is a very very strong smell of nail polish when applying but it goes away as soon as you put the lid back on the bottle. I am officially in love with this colour, the application and the result and have found my new fave nail polish.

I chose the shade Pre-Show Jitters which is described on their website as an 'alabaster white'. I love the colour, it is an off white with a subtle pink undertone that still looks great against my olive skin with yellow undertones. On my nails it just looks white, without being as bright as a true white and in the bottle it almost looks like a pastel pink.

This shade took 4 thin coats to become fully opaque (I did thinner coats so they would dry quicker) and the polish has a slightly thicker consistency than the normal Essie polish. I found this consistency easier to apply. I had to work quickly, as it started to become tacky after if I tried to go over it twice to even it out. Once I got used to this, I painted my nails in two to three strokes and left them alone to self level which worked well for me.

The polish took about five minutes to become touch dry, ready for either another layer of colour or top coat.

The edges were more difficult to clean up than the regular Essie polish, it really did not want to be removed, which shows how long lasting it is but it was still a bit of a hassle. I used a brush with an acetone free remover initially but switched to a polish corrector pen (with the same remover in it), to be able to apply more pressure to the edges of the polish. This worked much better.

Without a top coat, it did not have much shine and it took several hours before it was resistant to dents and knocks, so I would definitely use a top coat with it. It lasted for over a week without chips used with the matching top coat.

Overall, I really enjoyed wearing this polish and I would recommend it to anyone who wanted a longer lasting colour with a more gel like appearance than the regular Essie or OPI line.

First off I LOVED the brush. The tip is slightly rounded helping you get close to the cuticle without going onto it. It spreads well enough to cover nail easily and fast. The colour is amazing and applies pretty opaque with limited product. It is pretty fast drying but i wouldn't say in 30 seconds like it claims, maybe 1 minute or so between coats. I am pretty rough and work with my hands and i did start to notice chipping after one week, which i think is still amazing considering how rough i am. Nearing two weeks whole sections of nail polish peeled off, I'm okay with that normal polish for me last a few days. I liked this polish and will definitely be purchasing other colours!

I received the dark red colour spiked with style, which i absolutely loved. I have been looking for a nail polish this colour for a while now. It definitely lived up to my expectations - this nail polish is designed to last up to 12 days however i put it through a real test while working and being quite hard on my nails and it still lasted 10 days which i was very happy with. It is a super easy nail polish to apply, the brush is a good size and easy to control, and it doesn't take too long to dry.

I chose the shade 'Take Me to Thread' - its a mauve-y nude.

The twisted square bottle is super easy to hold while applying - why do they make round bottles anyway?!

I tried this on both my hands and my toes. It was really easy to apply the colour coat evenly and smoothly and it only took a couple of minutes between coats to be dry enough for the next layer.

The colour is deep and quite true to the bottle and without the top coat has a nice finish, smooth and semi-sheen.

Colour me impressed!

Also - shout out to the shade namer who came up with sexy-sewing themed names! They gave me a chortle!

I love the Essie Gel Couture range! The brush is nice and wide, and the formula is very smooth so it glides over your nails quickly and easily. I like how the bottle has a fun twisted design too. I find the formula to be a little on the sheer side so you definitely need to apply two coats to avoid any streakiness.

This polish does last longer than most others I've tried, usually my nails chip after about a day, but when I used this polish with its matching top coat I didn't get any chipping until day 3 and even then it was barely noticeable and only on the very tips of my nails. I do wish it lasted even longer but this is still a decent wear time and is easy to do touch-ups. I'll definitely be trying more shades from the range.

I loved my colour choice and several of my work buddies commented on the summery look! I applied two coats, which both went on very easily. I love the roundedness of the brush..it looked like a real pro-job as the top part of the nail bed (up by the cuticle) was covered perfectly (and didn't need any touchups to the shape).

A bit nervous applying the colour directly to bare nails (without a basecoat) but after removing the colour from one nail this morning, the colour hadn't stained my nailbed.

Also I am tending more toward vegan products so I don't know if long term the polish would cause any dryness or damage to my nails.

On the whole, very very happy with the colour and the durability.

I love using this nail polish. It looks like gel when it’s on. My fav thins is it lasts 5 days min before chipping. When I say chip very minimal at tip and usually on my one finger I use a lot to pry things open . I have found even with a small chip I can put another layer over it and it covers it up nicely till I want to replace it.

This really surprised me that I am able to apply without needing a UV light and it dries so quickly. Great range with loads of options of shades to choose from.

Super easy to apply two coats on and the colour really radiates when a top coat is applied.