Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish and Top Coat Review

Two beautiful products! These go hand in hand, so recommend you use both!

I have the Essie shade "Buttoned and Buffed" (beautiful dark nude colour) and the Essie top coat which has a platinum finish!

I have never had my nail polish last more than 3 days without either flaking or chipping off, and 5 days in, my nails are still strong and looking like my day one nails, even after wrangling a busy pre-schooler, lots of dishes and some gardening :)

I do think the top coat increases the longevity of nail polish immensely.

Loved the gel like nails these two products give, it really feels like you have had your nails done at a salon.

Both products are super drying and give a smooth shine like finish, love them and will definitely be purchasing more shades.

Love the beautiful twisted bottles too!

This is long lasting. As I write there’s still no wearing off and it’s been 5 days. The top coat does a great job of selling the colour and adding shine.

I used 4 layers of the colour Pre-Show Jitters (alabaster white) and two coats of the top coat to achieve an opaque and slightly more raised finish to closer imitate a gel-like manicure. The layers dried quicker than the normal Essie polish, and they self leveled very well which was great when my application was not as even. My nails were so shiny once the top coat was applied and in my opinion, looked very much like a salon finish.

I love the shape of the Essie's brushes compared to other brands, as they are wide, flat and have a rounded end making it easy to apply the polish in two or three strokes.

I did find clean up around the edges to be more difficult than Essie's regular nail polish. It took more effort as the polish did not want to be removed once it was on. The longer it dried, the harder it was to clean the edges up. For me, this was a good indicator that the polish would last. I was using an acetone free nail polish remover, first with a brush, then in a nail corrector pen.

My nails looked perfect for 6 days and only started to show signs of wear on the 7th day. The polish was cracking on a few nails where they bend often. This did not cause any chipping and was only noticable up close as my sister still asked if I had gone and got my nails done professionally. I'm writing this review on the 9th day and I have only one tiny chip!

I think this combination is worth the price and I would recommend it. It is simple to apply, dries quicker than normal nail polish, looks amazingly shiny and stands the test of time.

All I can say is wow. Using both these products together definitely makes your nails look like they were done professionally. Both easy to apply and dry really fast. The texture is really thin and glides on your nail so easily without hassle. Highly recommend these products. Think I've found a new favorite nail polish.

Let me start by saying that I love wearing nail polish and painting my own nails. I’ve tried multiple brands of polish including gel type polishes so I was super keen to try this Essie gel combo to see how it compares. I’ve only used it for one week but so far I love it. Continue reading below to find out why.

This polish has lasted really well. I have worn this polish and the top coat together for a week now and only one nail has started to chip (index finger on one hand). I’ve washed dishes my hand without gloves and I’m constantly typing at work too. There has been no tip wear or chipping or peeling around my cuticle area either.

The colour is really opaque. I only needed two coats and that was enough to get a decent application without streaks. The consistency is slightly thicker than the normal Essie polish but I like it better. I found that the normal Essie polish sometimes is too thin and you need to apply more layers. This polish went on smoothly and like I said did not leave any streaks or bubbles. The top is really shiny and glossy. It looks like you’ve had your nails done professionally.

The brush is really nice to use. The size enables you to apply the polish on your nail with three strokes. The brush is quite dense which allows you to fan the brush out across your nail when you are applying the polish. The dense brush also means it holds the right amount of polish to deposit on to your nail.

The bottle is a standard glass bottle with a twisted rectangular shape. It’s easy to hold and use. I also like that the clear top coat has a white bottle instead of being clear which means it’s not exposed to light.

Overall I really like this polish combo and would definitely recommend this to everyone else. I am keen to buy more in different colours.

This duo is a match made in heaven, its a medium consistency. Which is the best to apply stays where you put it! Both brushes are the same and are very pleasing to use, they kinda of shape around you nail which makes application much quicker and easier. They both have a strong chemical solvent scent, but its only there while the bottles are open and once they are dry its gone. With the polish i needed two coats to get nice even coverage, and only one coat of the top coat. This lasted really well, i'm a mum and a cleaner so my hands are always in water. I got a good 7 days out of it and i could of had bit longer. At $18.99 each while seems a little pricey together, is quite cheap if you think about how many full nail coats you can get out of these bottles. These bottles and shiny, classy and sleek glass. They have a twist though them vertically and sit together beautifully its the kind of bottle i want to display on my shelf, not hide away in a draw. While i didn't get quite as long as they say, i am hard on my nails. I think they are really great products that have me impressed, they go on beautifully and wear just as well. It came off easily with an acetone polish remover and with no damage to natural nails. I love these products and would recommend them to anyone who loves pretty shiny nails but no time or money for the salon.

I really liked these 2 products. They are super easy to apply and just as importantly just as easy to get off with nail polish remover, with the added benefit of being long lasting! I was really hard on my nails this week which wasn't ideal for trialing these nail polishes however i was very surprised that they lasted 10 days before chipping. If you were careful with your nails i could see it lasting a lot longer (:

I've found the Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish and Top Coat an absolute delight to use. Both products have excellent brushes and a high quality formula so my nails end up looking salon-perfect every time with minimal effort. The nail polish is highly pigmented and you can achieve full opacity with 1-2 coats, and the top coat really locks it in place and gives it a beautiful shine. When using these two products together I can go a good 3 days without any chips, which is great for me because I find most polishes start to chip after day 1. I'll be trying more of the gel couture nail polishes, and the top coat is my new go-to!

I chose the shade 'Take Me to Thread' - its a mauve-y nude.

The twisted square bottle is super easy to hold while applying - why do they make round bottles anyway?!

I tried this on both my hands and my toes. It was really easy to apply the colour coat evenly and smoothly and it only took a couple of minutes between coats to be dry enough for the next layer.

The colour is deep and quite true to the bottle and without the top coat has a nice finish, smooth and semi-sheen.

The gel top coat makes this colour shine! It's stunning! I love it! The top coat definitely adds that gel longevity and finish. As per the instructions I reapplied the top coat every couple of days to my fingernails for the duration of the trial - I'm on day 13 (I think) and they actually still look really fresh and neat!

I only used the gel top coat on my toes once, upon the initial application. The colour hasn't chipped, or disintergrated at all. I think my zombie corpse will still be rocking perfectly pedicured toe nails, 5 years into the apocalypse.

Colour me impressed!

Also - shout out to the shade namer who came up with sexy-sewing themed names! They gave me a chortle!