A Fast Dry Top Coat That Actually Works

Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat over two layers of Essie Mojito Madness

I love wearing nail varnish but for some reason, it never seems to dry properly on me. I tend to paint my nails of an evening, a couple of hours before I go to bed. Enough time for them to dry, surely? But no, nine times out of ten I'll go to bed with glossy talons and wake up with a smudged mess on my fingertips.

When you think about it, once you've factored in a base coat and a top coat, plus a couple of layers of colour, that's four layers of gloop that need to dry. Or perhaps it's just the way I sleep...

Anyway, I've tried lots of different 'quick dry' offerings from the likes of Revlon, Rimmel, Sally Hansen and Avon to try to resolve this, with varying success. Most of them improve the drying time, but none of them have actually eradicated the problem entirely. I just wake up with fewer smudges.

Does what it says on the bottle.

Enter Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat (£9.00). My nail varnish obsessed friend Zoe told me about it a while ago. Since then I've read lots of good reviews online, but the cynic in me thought it was going to just be another waste of not-so-quick-dry money. Wrong! This stuff is an absolute revelation.

The first time I tried Seche Vite I followed the instructions to apply a thick layer onto freshly polished nails. In this case, I used a base coat and two layers of the now discontinued Essie Mojito Madness (as shown in the top image) just one hour before I hit the hay. I was sceptical when they didn't dry immediately as promised in the blurb, but the next morning I awoke to gorgeously glossy emerald green nails with not a dint nor a smudge in sight. They remained chip free for four days.

Next up I used Rimmel Salon Pro Nail Polish in Oh, Mr Darcy! (4.49) a mere forty minutes before bed and again, they looked as good in the morning as they had the night before. This time they lasted for a full week before chipping, which is pretty much a record for me. I've tried Seche Vite a few other times since and it's yet to fail me.

In summary, Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat is a product that does what it promises to do exceptionally well (if only we could say the same of all beauty products). As well as massively shortening the drying time of pretty much any polish, it delivers a long-lasting, high gloss sheen and increases wear time. I couldn't ask for more. I've not done scores on The Beauty Scriptures before, but if I did, this product would get the full five out of five.

Have you tried Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat? Some reviews I've read have said it reduces wear time of their nail polish but I've found it to have the opposite effect. I'd love to know your thoughts.

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