If you know me even in the slightest (or have seen the complete and utter joy radiating from every orifice of my being when throwing away certain products in my "Empties" videos) then you know I'm all about using up my beauty products to the very last drop. I spend far too much on frivolous makeup purchases (leading to twenty shades of the same eyeshadows, five different foundations I 'need' to test out and try for myself, etc.) to just toss them aside, much less away, if I don't like a couple of their quirks. Heck, even if I loathe the product's every attribute (need I remind you of my experience with a certain foundation?) I'll use it up because darn it all to hell if I'm going to let something I spent an hour's worth of sweat, tears, and other leaking bodily fluids working retail for go to complete waste.
Enter the Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat; the exception, the UFO spotting, the rule when it comes to me being unable to use up a beauty product.
I tried so hard to use up this top coat, really I did. But nearly halfway through the bottle and I just can't do it anymore… I can't handle chips and desert-esque cracks showing up in my nail polish the day after I paint them. Especially not from a brand that I typically trust in terms of all things nail polish. Truly, Revlon is probably one of my favorite brands for nail care (and probably my top favorite from the drugstore) so having such an intense hatred for one of their products comes close to killing me in more sadistic ways than one.
However, just like my hips, the photos below just don't lie (I really hope you caught that reference…):
These pictures were after only two days, TWO DAYS, of wear, neither of which were spent doing heavy labor. I know it's all due to the top coat because the polishes I'm using under it are nothing short of spectacular (the one above being the beautiful polish from this post). I'm so gutted you guys… but I just can't keep on keepin' on with the Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat. It may live up to claims of drying super fast (truly, it's solid after a minute or two), has never caused problems with bubbling (I'm assuming because of its watery consistency), and looks great for the first 24 hours but after that… well… you can see the pictures above; it's just not pretty. Not practical. Not worth ruining plenty a pretty other polish.
In other, better, news: if you didn't already see in my blog's sidebar or hear me say it in my last video, I got an instagram account the other week! You all seemed really gung-ho about me getting one so I hope you enjoy the Galileo-centric posts to come over there. Feel free to follow if you'd like!
Anyways, have you tried the Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat?
Love it? Hate it?
What's your favorite top coat?
Do share!!
xoxo - Cassie
Have you tried the sally Hansen Insta dri topcoat yet? It's my go-to for plain manicures (it tends to make nail art run which is a shame) It dries quickly, it stays glossy and I get a good wear out of it before I change my polish. I don't think it's all that expensive either.
ReplyDeleteI have tried it out but because of the smudging of the nail art I just can't love it… I don't find that it wears well on me at all (maybe only two or three days and I can see wear) wahhhh :( Thanks for the recommendation though! I know a lot of people swear by it.
DeleteUgh! Ugh! Don't feel bad about throwing this piece of **** in the bin. I've never seen anything like it, thank you SO much for this post... I'm in the market for a new top coat and I'm usually drawn to Revlon because it's cheap and cheerful. And again...UGH!
ReplyDeleteHahah thanks girl I'm glad you back me on throwing this in the trash! It really was a big UGH and made me all sorts of sad so I'm glad I could save you from experiencing that same sorrow!
DeleteNo, I haven't tried this top coat, I use Sally Hansen's quick dry top coat (red bottle) .. and I fed your fish ;-P
ReplyDeleteMonica, www.pear-shaped-gal.com
Thank you Monica, I'm glad to know my fish are well fed haha!
DeleteI would have trashed it as well. Thanks so much for the heads up! I will not be tempted to try this.
ReplyDeleteLately I've been having great success with NYC in a minute quick dry in Grand Central Station. I can get at least 5 days before I start to get minimal wear--which for me is a miracle.
You are very welcome mooosley I'm glad to provide the heads up on this garbage!! And UGH I went to get that top coat the other day because someone else had recommended it as well (not to mention I love NYC polishes) and I grabbed the wrong one (the Long Wear version)… can't say I'm too pleased with it. Thank goodness it was cheap! I'll have to grab the one you ACTUALLY recommended next time haha :)
DeleteBlar! I haven't seen cracking like that in quite some time, yeesh D: I use Orly Sec n' Dry, and I really like it. You may wanna try this one with polishes that are 3 or 4 free formulas (not having DBP, Formaldehyde, Toluene, and/or camphor). I've heard mixing 3/4 free formulas with ones that aren't can lead to bad manicures bc the formulas don't mesh well.
ReplyDeleteblushingbiddies.com
Oh crazy I didn't realize that!! Thanks for letting me know and also for the Orly suggestion ^__^
DeleteOMG this is horrible.. never seen back cracks in nail polish before. If your looking at good top coat, Sally Hensen got a great one, it's called Mega shine it's silver with a blue top. It's wonderful it's the only one I use, keeps my nails and toes perfect for 10 days before i start to see worn down look
ReplyDeleteIsn't it horrendous????? And yeah I feel like I've heard good things about that silver Sally Hansen top coat… I may try it out next time especially if you can get 10 days out of it? Dang!! That's awesome :)
DeleteDon't feel bad about throwing that out. It looks awful!
ReplyDeleteI swear by my Seche Vite top coat. It's super shiny, dries within 5 minutes, and the best part is it lasts literally up to two weeks with no chips! I can use cheap $1 polish and Seche Vite sticks that stuff to my nails like glue for at least 10 days. I don't even see tip wear until about a week. It's absolutely amazing! It does get gloopy and thick once you use most of it up, but they make a fairly cheap thinner for it. Plus, sometimes Sally's does deals where if you buy a bottle, you get a polish free!
YES I had a bottle of Seche Vite for awhile some time ago and remember loving every minute of it (until it got gloopy of course). I'll have to keep an eye open for that deal you mentioned though, that would be awesome! :D
DeleteActually I've never had any luck with the standard Revlon polish. The Top Speed, Colorstay, newest scented line w/ ball cap, everything else except the reg kind in that style bottle works for me. Still on the hunt for a HG base and top, nothing has lasted me longer than 3 days w/out chips. Ps- Shakira, Shakira! ;)
ReplyDeleteHaha yayyyy I'm glad you caught the reference!! Made me smile :) We'll have to keep hunting for that HG top coat… you know I'll let you know as soon as I find it (if I ever do)!!
DeleteI just ordered the Deborah Lippmann gel lab mini set. I'm hoping it will be good-(fingers crossed). I'll let you know. Right now I really like the Sally Hansen quick dry in the red bottle, but I know how you feel about that one ;)
ReplyDeleteI'll keep my fingers crossed for you Alicia and I'm excited to know what you think of it!! And haha yayyyy someone remembered my feelings on the Sally Hansen quick dry XD
DeleteWow, that is some undeniable proof right there! Shakira inference and all :p That really is such a bummer since you wouldn't expect a Revlon nail product to downright be failtastic. I have never been particularly tempted by this top coat but I just assumed it did the job. I have heard really good things about the top coat from the Colorstay range though :) And yay for Instagram!
ReplyDeleteHahahah glad you caught that ;) And yeah I was absolutely appalled with this top coat… really a shame, especially coming from Revlon like you said. The ColorStay top coat they make really is good though! I've tried it before and liked it for the most part :)
DeleteI hate this top coat for normal nail products however. if i have really thick nail art or a glitter nail polish that just won't dry (especially if it is a gluggy cheap one) this top coat is perfect for that. don't give up hope. try it over a glitter. it makes glitter polishes dry much quicker! but yeah over normal thin polish your manicure goes all weird and chips super quick if you use it. this is my holy grail top coat for thick manicures only. i'm still looking for a normal top coat that i like for thin manicures lol
ReplyDeleteUGHHHHH I wish I had held out… I definitely brought out the trash the same day I wrote this so this bottle of polish is long gone T__T I'll have to keep that in mind for the future though, thank you for letting me know!
DeleteThe Sally Hansen mega shine that's silver with a blue lid is awful. I heard great things about it but it cracked something awful all over my nail polish and ruined my mani. Twice as many cracks as with the Revlon. I'm going to try the NYC topcoat.
ReplyDelete