Essie • No Chips Ahead • Top/Base Coats

Where To Buy?

Kica on 5/21/2013 5:55:00 PM more reviews by Kica

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Dark   Hair: Brown, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

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.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

bellabaluba on 5/21/2013 5:32:00 PM more reviews by bellabaluba

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

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.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

crazyolpika on 5/21/2013 12:44:00 PM more reviews by crazyolpika

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

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.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

kristnn on 4/9/2013 7:04:00 PM more reviews by kristnn

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

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.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

pieinthesky on 4/4/2013 8:31:00 PM more reviews by pieinthesky

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

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!

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

Brightji on 4/3/2013 1:51:00 PM more reviews by Brightji

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

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.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

Dakotaf13 on 4/2/2013 10:06:00 PM more reviews by Dakotaf13

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

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.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

03Lauren on 3/5/2013 9:36:00 AM more reviews by 03Lauren

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

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.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

alinre on 2/19/2013 7:39:00 AM more reviews by alinre

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

It just wont dry!

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

Mysticmme on 2/11/2013 6:39:00 PM more reviews by Mysticmme

Age: 25-29   Skin: Other, Olive   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

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.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

lorannpotter on 1/8/2013 10:01:00 PM more reviews by lorannpotter

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

I don't know why so many people have had trouble with this top coat. I recently started buying Essie and I love their products. I have not had any trouble whatsoever with "gloopy" or "streaky" polish. I paint 2 coats of color and today I bought No Chips Ahead. At first I was hesitant because it was so expensive but it is well worth the price. I have had trouble finding a top coat that works well for me but this Essie product is magical. It dried quickly. For those of you who said it took forever to dry, I definitely did not have that problem. I would buy this product again and again.

ALso, I'm not sure if mine worked better because I am using it on top of Essie nail polish or what but it works like a dream!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

MelissaMH on 1/8/2013 1:25:00 PM more reviews by MelissaMH

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

What's in a name? No Chips Ahead is a great way to extend the life of your manicure. I find that with this top coat I can get 5-7 days out of a manicure, even with my most delicate Chanel polishes, much longer than any other top coat I've tried. But if you're looking for a quick-dry top coat, No Chips Ahead is not for you: it can take quite a while to dry. In fact, I find that I have to use drying drops over the top coat. But for a longer manicure, a longer drying time is worth it!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

SWilisons on 1/6/2013 9:34:00 PM more reviews by SWilisons

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

After 48 hours my nails were chipped. That's the same result I get if I use a Wet n' Wild top coat for much less money. I can't speak to the drying time on this since I used OPI Drip Dry.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

ashleylaurenxo on 12/7/2012 2:07:00 PM more reviews by ashleylaurenxo

Age: 25-29   Skin: Sensitive, Fair   Hair: Red   Eyes: Blue    

After reading other reviews I am relieved that I am not the only one that cannot get this top coat to dry! It is horrible. I painted my nails at lunch time and by the time I went to bed I still ended up with sheet marks. No nail polish should EVER take that long to try. I even tried the ice water trick to try and get it to set and it still didn't. Really frustrating when your nails look great before you go to bed and you wake up and they have sheet print and lines all through them. This top coat is going in my garbage.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

GorgeousGloss on 11/25/2012 5:29:00 AM more reviews by GorgeousGloss

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

It does what it should do. Three days with my nailpolish (2 coats of color and 1 coat of Essie No Chip Ahead) and still nog sign of chips!

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

akneil on 11/6/2012 10:26:00 PM more reviews by akneil

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

My nail polish never lasts, I always have chips the very next day. This product does make my nail polish last longer, I only notice little chips at the ends of my nails. I usually use this over Essie polish and have never had problems with bubbling or not drying fast enough. I find ensuring that every coat is dry before the next coat is applied will help you get that 'salon' look. Sometimes I do my top coat the next morning to let my nails dry fully. This product does what it's supposed to do, and if your nail polish chips very quickly it will help!

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

laurencarver on 11/4/2012 1:07:00 PM more reviews by laurencarver

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

This is a good product, it does what it's supposed to. I have a huge pet peeve with chipped nails. As soon as one of my nails has a major chip I move onto the next manicure. This top coat has made my manicures last the 5 days until I get bored of my color with little to no major chips. Yes it does take a while to dry, but at the same time it doesn't promise on the packaging or the bottle that it's a fast drying formula. It's for anti-chipping. And for anybody doing their nails before bed, you're setting yourself up for failure as it is. Get some Seche Vite if that's what you're worried about. Or even some Essie Instant Dry Oil. I thought this product did was it was supposed, and with great shine. The only thing I didn't like was that it does leave some bubbles if not applied properly. But I've had minimal bubbling since i started paying more attention to what I'm doing.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

herfirstimpression on 11/3/2012 2:57:00 AM more reviews by herfirstimpression

Age: 19-24   Skin: Very Dry, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I had no clue this was a top coat until now. I've been using it as a base coat and will continue to do so. I use this as my base and Seche Vite as my top and my color stays put for so very long. This is the best combo I've found so far and I've had my fair share of top/base coats. However, now that I know it's suppose to be a topcoat I may try it, but I'm terrible on letting my nails dry.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

Kbabyx3 on 10/20/2012 11:25:00 PM more reviews by Kbabyx3

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Tan   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Black    

So many bad reviews... I bought this product a few months ago and ditched it for my beloved Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat, but I just started using it again. Manicures have the ability to last much longer with this product than with Seche, the trick is soaking your hands in ice water for 5 minutes or however long you can stand it, 5 min usually does the trick! Dries 100X faster than letting it air dry. Do this and this product will become your new fav topcoat!

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

kbrue082 on 10/14/2012 12:21:00 PM more reviews by kbrue082

Age: 19-24   Skin: Dry, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

I adore this product! I have never noticed it takes a long time to dry, but I always like to make sure I let my nails dry a long long time, so this never would be a problem for me. No chips! And after 5-7 days I can always add another coat to prolong the colour longer. I do find it has a nice shine too.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No