Essie Stay Longer Ultimate Top Coat

I'm always looking for a good top coat and I really like this one. I tested it over a red Essie polish and it lasted about 5 and a half days before any signs of chipping.

I'd been wearing polish by itself for a while because I'd run out of my previous top coat and it just wasn't lasting too well. I find polish chips on my nails easier than others, but this top coat helped a lot. It also gives a great shine and dries fairly quickly. I'd definitely recommend it.

This is a nice easy to apply top coat that dries quickly which is a bonus and gives a nice shine to my nails .It is on the thin side but effectively protects my nail polish from chips for several days which definitely makes my nails look good for longer and I am not having to fix my nails all the time.This product is as good to use as any on the market and yes I would re purchase. I like that is comes in a little cardboard box too so if you are giving it looks special.

I have tried a lot of top coats over the years and this one is great! It arrived in a nice textured box which outlined the product specs, it's in a clear bottle, I did note the large wide brush does not go all the way down to the bottom, but that is pretty standard for nail products, I'd much rather have a large wide brush than a skinny one, as this makes application way easier. Proceeded to do my weekly skittle mani, with a base coat and two coats of polish, then when dry came the time for the top coat! This does smells strong, (but not offensively though) that smell goes away when you cap the bottle, smell does not transfer to the nails. A beautifully wide brush that coats the nail in a few sweeps and I noted the brush did not 'pull' the polish I had already applied, the formula self levelled as described and left my nails with an almost plump look and the shine was lovely! Drying time was good it cured fully in about 10mins. I noted there was a little tip wear on day 3 on my mani, which is super good as my nails are subjected to a lot with my job. Will make this my go to polish top cost for now as it is a really good polish with a great brush and formula, a winning combo if you ask me!

This top coat is a nice viscosity, glides on well and is super glossy when dry!! I didn’t find it any longer lasting that my other top coat - Essie from the long wear range but then again, maybe that’s a good thing! It dried fairly quick, touch dry within 10 minutes (still don’t want to knock anything!), but it did chip on day three. My nails chip super easily in the first instance so a full day wear is actually quite nice.

Overall, nothing to write home about but it’s good and does the job. I would be happy with this as a regular top coat.

I loved the packaging of this product. The red, white and silver was really elegant. The bottle itself is a standard rectangular Essie bottle, which I also really enjoy the design of. The red carried over to the bottle which was a nice touch.

The instructions/'Usage' information on the packaging was pretty brief, and I was surprised it didn't tell me to start with a base coat. It said to use on top of an Essie polish, so I chose Essie 'Chastity' from my collection which is a pink creme. I applied two coats of colour (waiting 5 minutes between coats) and then after 15 minutes I applied the top coat.

The brush was nice and wide, which I was surprised about as the brush on the colour I used was very thin. The wide brush was great as it only took two swipes to cover my nail and meant I didn't smudge the colour underneath at all. I did notice a tiny bit of colour on the brush after application, even though I had waited 15 minutes.

After applying the top coat I tried not to touch my nails until I went to bed - which was about 5 hours after application. That paid off, I woke up with no sheet marks on my nails which I was so happy about. I also noticed that the top coat made the colour on my nails look so smooth and glossy. My nails also felt super shiny.

After 3 days, only slight tip wear on a couple of nails. Really good going for me as I can often have chips after a day!

By day 7, I did have some chips but my nails were still so shiny! I had cleaned and done dishes all week, and also typed all day for 5 days for my job.

I have tried quite a few top coats and this one is amazing. I'm looking forward to trying it over other brands to see if it performs as well.

I tested this on three polishes, an actual Essie colour (For the twill of it) a Chichi Purple Holographic and a random Kmart one. I put the same colours on left and right, and put the two coats of top coat on my right hand since it is the one that gets the most chipping. I picked the colours I did because I know how long I usually have until they look crusty. The holographic usually chips and peels a bit within a couple days but it was looking good after 5 days. I had a couple chips off the end after that. The Essie one for some reason usually looks dull after doing the dishes etc, that one stayed looking good too. The Kmart one was a write off, pretty colour but it cracked and chipped off so probably not very helpful for longevity on crappy cheap polishes. Was very pleased that it also dried pretty quickly compared to some other brands I have tried and I hate waiting for coats to dry. I gave it to a friend who loves nail polish to try too and she has kept the rest of my bottle.

I struggle to find the time to do my nails at home, mostly due to busy schedules but also because I find that my nails chip so frequently that I'm always needing to re-do them! I was super excited to try out this new top coat to see if it could help keep my nails fresh and looking good for more than a couple of days at a time. Overall I was impressed - this top coat performs much better (2-3 days longer wear) than my usual top coat, and holds up to daily wear and tear (and a lot of typing at work!) without chipping or cracking much better. I also love the shiny gloss it gives my nails, which also seems to last longer without dulling, too! I'm looking forward to putting this top coat to the test a couple more times, but I would consider purchasing this again and would recommend it to a friend.

Nice to apply as in it goes on smooth and beautiful, lovely and shiny wet look to it and the dry time is ok , tried it on myself and my daughters and it lasted really well without chipping even on the rough 13 year olds nails

The Essie Stay Longer Ultimate Top Coat works much better than I thought it would! I've used a few different top coats in the past that claim to make your manicure last longer but then the next day, they're chipped, all that time and effort gone to waste. This product does the trick, but I will say it didn't really last 7 days, it was more like 6, but that's with me being fairly rough with them and doing everything as normal. On day 6, I did start to notice little chips but nothing major and they didn't annoy me enough to take it all off. This product claims that it dries quickly and I was definitely most impressed by its ability to back up that claim - it dried in seconds! There's nothing worse than a thick top coat that ruins your manicure because you think it's dry, and it's really not. It goes on fairly thick so you don't need to use too much to get results, but the quick-dry thing is definitely a highlight. Overall, I'm really happy with the product and will use it again - it's great to be able to apply polish and know that it'll last about a week with everyday tasks.