Gel Couture Color (All Colors)

Edit I attached a pic of at the barre over my almond shaped kiss nails Lemme start by saying I don’t trust nail salons, bad experience. So I do my own pedicures and wear kiss acrylic glue on nails in a nude French medium (medium in kiss is long to me) almond shape. I don’t always paint them. But my toes are always painted. When I do paint my kisses, is it ALWAYS with a neutral shade. Toes same although I may occasionally go out on a broader limb with toe colors. I have weird hair and dress flamboyantly and wear a lot of makeup, so I like long almond neutral nails. I found my ideal nude for my nc44 very tanned warm skin in the shade At the Barre. It is literally my dream shade of a neutral warm light pastel beige and is so classy over my long ish almond nails, tying together my weird look without drawing attention due to my other weirdness. They were out of the topcoat so I got it in a 2-pack with a nude light pastel pink called Inside Scoop which would be a better nude for my pinky cool untanned self It’s a more saturated pastel than the classic ballet slippers. I would use it 100% on my toes though. I haven’t used it yet but I will, even on my warm medium/dark skin. I looooove this system. I get one day wear time out of normal polish without chips with any fancy base coat top coat whatever I got em all and they don’t work. Toes last a bit longer. I could almost get away with one coat of at the barre but 2 looks best. It dries much faster than I thought it would and I feel the gel topcoat makes it dry faster. I top up with the topcoat every few days. It dries almost instantly topping up with the topcoat. It is sooo shiny. Brush makes me hit the nail in one shot except my big toe. I recommend those 2 shades if you like a saturated pastel neutral, depending on your level of melanin and undertones. Thanks to the reviewer who suggested upping the topcoat every few days as it really prolongs wear and the shine is incredible! Seriously when I am topping up over dry nails and they hit against something, no marks. Also, if there’s an imperfection on the shade, the magic of the topcoat fixes it!

The closest thing to a lamp-cured gel manicure I have found, and does a lot less damage to my nails. I will likely purchase more colours. I did not use a base coat, only the colour and top coat. PRO: For me, lasts significantly better than regular nailpolish (1 week with some tip wear). I really like the colour (Sew Me), the top coat is extremely glossy, the brush makes applying neatly around the cuticle super easy. It dries pretty quickly and removes easily. CON: It applies very streaky (but evens out with additional coats), expensive, does not last 2 weeks as claimed.

I had a salon manicure with Zip Me Up, which is mint. The color wore for 13 days (I removed it because of a self-inflicted chip). This is pretty impressive for a non-gel manicure for me. Application was very VERY streaky, but evened our with a second coat, so I don’t know how I would feel about doing this myself. At about $12 per bottle (plus the cost of the top coat), it’s even more than my beloved OPI, and I don’t know if I will purchase on my own.

I've always been quite faithful to Essie regular nail polishes. Love their range of colours, the brush, the formula and low level of chemicals used in latest versions. Just like so many other reviewers I had high hopes for this new range. I thought it would be more lasting than the regular. How wrong one can be! I seriously cannot think of a worse nail polish than this. I tried this on several occasions following instructions to the letter and my nails start chipping on the same day. What a complete waste of time and money and most of all a huge disappointment. Would not recommend. Essie regular polishes are much more long lasting than this ridiculous range.

Because I love Essie's colours and have had a fair amount of success with polishes from their regular line, I decided to splurge and try a medium beige-pink shade from Gel Couture along with the top coat. In Canada, these polishes cost 13-14 dollars each when not on sale. I will say, the polish applied beautifully and it was a true, creamy opaque. I had high hopes, using it with the First Base base coat, two coats and the top coat. However, it started to crinkle within a day or two and then chipped. I've tried using just one coat (which, props, still looks opaque) and the topcoat, no base coat, etc. It was worse without the base coat because it really accentuated my nail ridges. I don't find I get better results than with the normal Essie polishes and I honestly like the Revlon Gel Envy topcoat better than the Platinum Gel Couture topcoat--prevents chips much more effectively and is glossier. I doubt I'll be buying more of these and I feel a little ripped off. I just bought a CND Vinylux polish, so maybe I'll get their topcoat and compare...or maybe I should just stick to my current HG for price/wear: the regular Revlon formulas and Gel Envy topcoat.

I purchased a set of Gel Couture polishes upon the recommendation of the sales person at Sally’s. I chose ‘rock the runway’ a candy apple red, and the top coat. The first time I applied on my nails I wasn’t super impressed. I had some chips after a couple of days and the color stained my nails really badly even though Essie stubbornly claims it doesn’t. On the plus side, the top coat is awesome and made my nails really shiny just like a gel mani. I was going to return it all to Sally’s but hung on to them, mostly for the shiny top coat which I was successfully using on other brands of polish. I started using ‘Rock the Runway’ again but this time on my toenails, and I have to say this is the best pedicure polish hands down. It lasts for weeks without chipping. The last time I used it the only reason I had to redo my pedi was because my nails had grown out - the polish was still chip-free and looked nice. I figured out a few tips that make this polish better which I will share here. The first tip is to use a base coat - I use Essie Millionails, haven’t tested other base coats with gel couture so I can’t vouch for them. This makes the polish last longer and prevents staining your natural nails. The second tip is to apply a fresh layer of the platinum top coat the first 2-3 days after the mani or pedi. After that i didn’t need to apply more. Last you need to allow enough drying time between coats, or else it takes forever to dry. This polish is absurdly expensive - however I found a nice selection of gel couture colors on Amazon Fresh that are selling between 6-7 dollars a bottle. I took advantage and bought almost all of them, at that price they are definitely worth it!

I had high hopes for this because I love the essie gel setter top coat, but I was sorely disappointed. The colour I bought was a pinkish-white (not advertised as sheer), and it required 3 coats to not look streaky. Once the top coat was applied, the polish was even less shiny than my regular nail polish. Within 3 days it was crinkling on my nail and I had to take it off. I'm definitely returning this one.

Love these polishes! If combined with an Essie Gel top coat, they'll stay on pretty nicely. I love their colours and the brush is quite thick so it's easy to apply them neatly. They're well pigmented and there are loads of pretty colours to choose from. Would recommend! Along with the ones from Sally Hansen - these are the best long lasting polishes that I've ever tried.

LOVE Sheer Fantasy for a natural looking nail. But, don't cover with their recommended top coat because it shrinks!

What a waste of money. I bought these because my usual nail polish never lasts more than one day. I have peely nails and tend to start picking at my nails if my nail polish lifts. I was hoping these would help prevent that based on the video reviews I have seen. Unfortunately these only lasted 1 day on my nails :(. They started peeling at the edges and I had massive tip wear! I followed the instructions and used the colour "Matter of Fiction" and followed with the "magical" top coat. What a disappointment! They were also around $12 CAD so I feel like that's a ripoff when you can buy a regular nail polish that lasts the same amount of time for around $4. I will try returning these.