I have used this for about mmmm.....4-5 months now and this topcoat is my HG. My mani's are lasting about 7 days with no chipping and I'm a receptionist. It's not a high shine top coat but it's not dulling either. No matter what brand polish I use I always use this top coat and it has never let me down.

I absolutely love this product. My nails often get chipped after less than two days of applying new nail polish. And with this one, my nail polish will probably last for almost a week. I apply a base coat, two coats of nail polish, one coat of Essie's No Chips Ahead, and lastly one coat of Seche Vite. With the last coat being Seche Vite, I have not experienced any problems with dullness or slow drying. But the Seche Vite is really good, since it actually hardens the nail polish (it also helps to flush your nails with ice cold water). I often have the problem that the nail polish may seem dry enough, but it is not hardened, so that when you get dressed or whatever you will still get dents or scratches on your polish. I also have a review on Seche Vite.

The only thing I am not too fan of is the brush. It is ok, but not as good as OPI's brushes. So, not 5 lippies.

Also, a tip: I have been told that in the Essie nail salon, they recommend that you do not wait between the coats. Which means that when you're finished with first coat on the 10th finger, you should start directly on the second coat on the first finger you started with. I have tried this technique and it works just fine. It took me a while to learn how to apply the right amount of product though.

I bought No chips ahead thinking I could trust Essie because I like their polish.
I hated, hated, hated it, I threw it in my polish kit and forgot about until last night.
I was on this very page reading others reviews. As i suspected most of you thought just what I did. Takes to long to dry, looks dull, etc.
So I tried to think of its positive attributes and give a fair and honest review.The first good point; as a top coat this product actually lasts,(depending on your job, ie; when I was a receptionist this past winter, my nails were pretty screwed no matter what). Now as a salesperson my nails don't suffer nearly half the abuse.
Next good point, this product is glossy,(dependent on which polish you use with it). When I used it with Avon Quick dry polish shade Tropical punch, the final result was a dull look. When I used it with Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails shade Blue me away the final result was a nice gloss. By the way Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails line is great, for those who haven't tried it. The only other positive was just having patients when deciding to use Essies No chips ahead. I used it during a time I nothing to do as the drying process is extensive.
I did my nail grooming,applied two coats of polish then put my nails under a household fan, a hair dryer on cold/ionic works well too. I then applied No chips ahead, put my nails under the fan for about five minutes and then played a board game with hubby and went to bed. When I awoke this morning there were some marks on my nails from the bed sheets and the shine was a tad bit duller but still pretty good.
Over all I'd have to say this is a bad product and I would not buy it again nor would I recommend it.

This product does help with chipping but it takes forever to dry. I can polish my nails in the morning and by night they still will not be dry. Its aslo leaves your nails with a dull look.

Average to terrible topcoat. Negative: Often causes bubbling, takes forever to dry through, short wear, dries to a thin and dull look (not very gel-like.) Positive: Smell isn't too horrible like some others.

Most importantly, despite the name it actually makes my nails chip more so than the cheap Sally Hansen diamond nails top coat I was using before, which is about half the price of this one. Before my manicure would last about a week, now I get chips within 48 hours. Helps to put a layer on every other day to deal with the chipping. Definitely not worth your money!

Don't buy it. It DOES absolutely NOTHING to prevent chipping and takes AGES to semi-dry and never really dries fully that well. I expected more from Essie as it costs around $14 in the UK. The packaging is not great either - it tends to create a lot of dry residue around the edge of the bottle.

I am a nail polish addict. I am currently trying to find a great top coat. I do not like Seche vite anymore, and out the door bubbles once the bottle is half gone. i love essie products and thought this would be a great top coat. I honestly hate it. It will not dry at all and I have already jacked up my nails like 10 times. I applied the polish over an hour ago. Regardless of shine or gloss that it adds to the polish, they are still going to look terrible once they dry because they got so messed up while waiting to dry. I cannot handle the wait time.

I have mixed feelings about this top coat.
- It does give a lovely shine to my nails. They look like mirrors really.
- Also gives you an extra day or 2 chips free.
- BUT it takes forever to dry to be honest. I didn't think it would, it's a thin polish actually. But it don't have time to wait this long and I'm so irritated when it's not dry yet and I can't do anything. The worst part is after a while you think it's dry, but then it turns out it STILL isn't completely dry.

And because of that I would not buy this top coat again. There are better ones out there. I would not recommend it.

It just wont dry!

My bottle of No Chips Ahead is over a year old and the consistency is still the same.

I use it over Chanel, Essie, Butter, Zoya, and Dior and it keeps chipping at bay. I can get 4-5 days out of it before I need to touch up or take it off and start over.

I'm hard on my hands - I work in cosmetics and the products I work on are corrosive and dulling to polish. This stuff keeps my nails looking professional.