Seche Vite vs. Essie Good To Go

About a month ago, a friend of mine and I were talking about top coats and she told me how much she loved Essie Good To Go, so I naturally had to try it out. I've been using it in comparison to Seche Vite for a little over a week now and here are my findings!

 

Seche Vite, I swear by it. 

 

Essie Good To Go, a new love of mine.

In terms of formula, Seche Vite starts out a nice texture but then tends to get pretty thick after it's opened, and when that happens there is more of a chance the polish getting bubbly. Last time I used it, my thumb was so bubbly I could not take it. I haven't had anything like this happen with G2G as of yet. It hasn't gotten any thicker than when I opened the bottle, but I'll be monitoring that since it's a new bottle.

In terms of dry time, they are both quick dry top coat so they dry super fast. After dry, they are both super glossy and create a hard protective layer. You don't have to wait for your polish o be dry to add a top coat, but it does take a little longer to dry that way, I like to let my polish at least set before adding a top coat, to speed it up. I didn't find a difference in dry time when base polish was wet vs dry.

Both build up around the neck of the bottle, but Seche gets thick and makes it a little difficult to fully close the bottle sometimes, while G2G is thinner and the polish chips off the neck. 

In terms of discoloration, I haven't had any problems with either top coat discoloring polishes. Usually top coats intensify the color and make it brighter and glossier. Occasionally white polish can get a little discolored over time, even with a top coat, I've had this happen with Seche but it's not that drastic or noticeable. I've tested both on white and there was no immediate discoloration, but I assume that's just the nature of white polish.. just like white clothes lol But I'm still testing this out.

Until next time,

The Wicked

Manglaze Matte-astrophe vs. Essie Wickedly Matte

I've been putting off this comparison/ keep forgetting that I have to do it. hah. So, here it is finally! The matte top coat comparison!

Index- Manglaze

Middle- Essie

Ring- Manglaze

Pinky- Essie

I did one coat of each matte top coat over my previous one coat of Zoya Anja (which I think looks awesome matte!). The finish is the same and the application is also the same. Each dried very quickly and lasted the same. I had it on for two days and neither wore off or anything. Overall, I didn't find any major differences at all. The only difference is where you can buy them and the price. So, if you like the matte finish, either of these will work for you. I might have to do a longer testing period to see if one wears off.

Until next time,

The Wicked

Manglaze Top Coats!!

Finally! Yesterday I received my Manglaze top coats!! Woohoo!! 

This is Hot Mess, it's their bling top coat. Its completely matte, but has a TON of glitter. It's kind of amazing. I wanted to show you all the  awesome art work (even though it's a little hard to see) that goes onto every bottle, these are even numbered! I felt special. 

This is Matte-Astrophe, the regular matte top coat. It's really awesome, literally takes a second to 

matte-ifiy everything.

Here I wanted to compare Matte-Astrophe, Hot Mess and the regular polish that I used. 

Left to right:

1 coat Nicole by OPI Razzle Dazzle and a coat of Hot Mess

2 coats Milani Charmed 

2 coats Milani Charmed and a coat of Matte-Astrophe

(same as above)

I used Milani Charmed that came out a while ago for their halloween collection. It was a bunch of black based polishes with different glitters. There was blue and red and purple, but this one has silver glitter.

The top coats are amazing, it only takes a few seconds for everything to become matte. The application is super smooth, even smoother than some matte polishes. Manglaze has really perfected their craft. It's impressive. They are totally worth it, especially if you like matte polishes, I say its better to get a matte top coat than a matte polish. With a top coat you can make ANY polish matte.. endless possibilities!! I love it. Awesome. I'll definitely have more swatches to show you soon!

Until next time,

The Wicked

The Base Coat/ Top Coat Dilemma

Two of the most confusing things about nail care are top coats and base coats. So I thought I would shed some light on the subject.

Base coats are usually used to strengthen nails and protect them from the actual polish.

This is the base coat that I use. It's Rejuvacote by Duri and its awesome! It strengthens nails and helps them grow. It dries very quickly and is just overall great. It really works wonders if you have brittle nails or need to repair your nails after having tips or gels. I swear by it. It can also be used as a top coat.

Top coats are used to help the finished manicure set, along with protecting it from dulling or chipping

 This is the god-given Seche Vite. It's a fast drying top coat, and when I say fast I mean FAST! (Seche Vite is french for "dry quickly") It literally take about 7 seconds to dry. This stuff is a terrific top coat and I suggest it to everyone. And I have found that is does help prevent chipping.

This is Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength No Chip top coat. It says that it prevents chipping, and I have seen it go both ways. Sometimes it did prevent chipping, while other times not so much. It also doesn't dry as fast as some others, which it probably because it's actually supposed to be a "no chip nail color". Obviously, it's clear so there is no color. That kind of baffles me. But I guess it has the same drying time as regular polishes because its made to be a nail color (without the color).

There are also some really good OPI top coats. I haven't tried any of them, but I've heard good things. They are called Nail Envy and they have a special formula for every time of nails. From brittle to thin to sensitive along with one for regular maintenance, original and a matte top coat. (I'll probably be trying the matte!) They can also be used as base coats.

I hope this helped answer some questions, and if anyone has any other questions feel free to post them or send us an email!

Until next time,

The Wicked