Underwhelmed and Unimpressed

You know that feeling that you get when you get your hands on a raved and loved product? Finally, you get to see what all the fuss is about and join the masses in recommending and raving about said product. That's how I felt when I picked up the Seche Vite base and top coats. Everyone and their donkey raves about the amazing shine and longevity that Seche Vite base/top coats promise. I think maybe one or two people didn't like it and that was mainly due to the fact that after a while it turned to goop in the bottle. No worries, I thought, because that usually happens to a lot of base/top coats when you get down to the bottom of it. I was so excited to try it and there was never a doubt in my mind that I wasn't going to love it. Welp, I'm here to tell you that I don't love this stuff and here's why.

Application is a deceiving breeze, haha. The base coat goes on smoothly and evenly. Makes any nail polish apply nice and even. Then the top coat leaves a shiny and glossy finish on every nail, no biggie. Those are qualities I enjoy in a base/top coat. My issue came along with the wear. My nail polish started chipping almost immediately the next day. It started to crack and chip in big chunks. If it made it past that phase, the top coat started to fade away. You could see patches of nail polish exposed without top coat and I still don't know why that happened. At first I thought it was the polish I was using but applied on their own, without base or top coat, they ended up lasting a lot longer. I spent more time picking at my nails than enjoying my manicure, which blows. 

I don't mean to offend anyone who religiously uses the Seche Vite base and top coats. I was expecting a lot more for such a raved about product but it just fell short. I much prefer the Revlon ColorStayTop & Base Coat, which I reviewed quite some time ago here. The shine and application matches Seche Vite's, but Revlon's longevity far surpasses it. It's also a lot cheaper! I'll continue to use these as to not waste product, but after that I'm def. going back to Revlon.

Have you tried Seche Vite base/top coats? What were your experiences like?

Current Favorite: Base Coat & Top Coat

Today's featured products are Revlon's ColorStay Base Coat and Top Coat! I had never been one to think too much about my base coats or top coats. I'd always buy those 2-in-1 base coat/top coat polish which always worked fine for me! Upon watching a video on YouTube I saw a blogger review these saying how she couldn't believe how long it had made her polish last! I didn't even bother looking for reviews and just decided "what the heck?" and they were on sale as well! 

I first tried these coats (I feel like I'm talking about jackets and parka's haha!) over my, then new, Deborah Lippmann polishes. Those manicures lasted me a week and a half with minor tip wear before I started to scrape them off my nails. I wasn't completely sure if that was the nail polish itself or these base and top coats. So I then decided to use these with a polish I was vaguely familiar with wear time! To my surprise the manicure lasted a really long time! I mean there was minor tip wear by the end of week 2 but that's still pretty amazing! The top coat also leaves your nails nicely glossed! I've often heard it being compared to the ever so cult favorite Seche Vite which I have never used myself. 

The last thing I have to say on this power nail duo is that I love how they make your nail color ... well, stay! Usually with all my other coats, by Day 3 the color on my nail would bubble up underneath (does that make sense?) which made it that much easier for me to pick at it and pull it off my nail. With the Revlon ColorStay Base Coat and Top Coat I find that I don't have to worry about repainting my nails because I have to, I repaint them because I want to! Which is the best kind of praise I can give to a base coat and top coat. I highly, highly, recommend you gals give it a chance! You have my 100% guarantee that you shan't be disappointed!

xo