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Essie has launched a new range of gel nail polish — Essie Gel Couture — and I love Essie so I wanted to give it a try. These gel polishes don’t need a UV or LED lamp to set the color and they’re supposed to last up to 14 days. With so many pretty colors to choose from, I decided to try it out and see how these gel nails hold up.
Essie Gel Couture First Impressions
The Bottle
First off, these gel couture bottles look like the traditional Essie bottles with their white tops, but the glass bottle has a twist. I like the look of them and the weight; they feel like a luxury nail polish.
The Wand and Brush
The wand of the brush is twisted as well in order to prevent too much polish from pooling down onto your nail during application. I noticed that the brush is wider than their regular nail polishes too and it’s slightly curved around the edges which is nice for application.
Application
To apply, you don’t need to scuff up your nails like with a traditional gel system. This is amazing because I always hated doing that with my Sephora Gel Shine set. Just use some nail polish remover and get your nails good and clean before applying the Essie Gel Couture polish. The gel polish “has a built-in base coat” so you don’t need to apply a base coat before the polish. I like the consistency of the gel polish; it’s a little thick but smooth to apply. It dries really fast which is huge for me because I always seem to mess up my nails while they’re wet. I applied two coats and then the clear top coat.
Top Coat and Removal
The top coat also dried quickly and brought so much shine to my color. I seriously love this so much so far. I wore the Take Me To Thread color for about a week before I saw a noticeable about of chipping and then applied Make The Cut today. Removal was super easy too with just regular nail polish remover. I hated having to soak my “real” gel nails and then use a cuticle stick to scrape off the old polish; what a hassle. This, so far, has been way easier.
I love the color range and the formula. So far my first impressions are:
- Great gel-like shine and wear
- Removes easily with normal nail polish remover
- Nice color selection
- Formula is easy to apply; needs two coats
- Both color and top coat dry fast
- Nice wide brush for easy application
- Not sure if it would last 14 days; noticed some chipping after 7 days with Take Me To Thread
- Love that you don’t need a UV or LED lamp to set.
