Locked + loaded: Essie Gel Couture nail polish

ESSIE TITLE As much as I love Essie polishes, I’ve always found the wearability on them to be short. Usually when I paint my nails with a gorgeous Essie shade, it’s chipped by the next day. And I’m not talking little chips here, I mean those long peeling ones that make you angry that you even painted your nails in the first place. The colours are great but the formulations don’t have the longevity like other brands.

Well that’s all changed. Kinda…

Coming out this summer, the nail polish giant has released a 42-shade collection that are no-light-needed gel, called Gel Couture. Essie is late to the game with this release with many brands already having their own lines of at-home no-light gel polish. With that being said, I guess Essie didn’t want to rush it because their polishes are probably the best ones out there.

They come in the same Essie bottle, but with a twist (literally) and the system is like its counterparts; that is colour plus topcoat.  Since at-home gel colour uses the UV from the sun, the topcoat bottle (like others out there) is in a non-translucent white bottle to protect it from the sun’s rays. All you have to do is choose a shade, skip the base coat (as it’s built into the polish), paint a couple coats, then seal it with the topcoat.

Compare Seven day difference

Essie says that you can get two weeks wear of colour and although I only got one week, I didn’t see chips until the seven day mark, and even they weren’t even that bad.  Yes, I had perfectly manicured nails for seven days straight. Not a chip in sight. That’s unheard of. Especially for Essie polishes.

Available in four different collections (Fashion Show, embodied by brights; First Look, embodied by pastels; After Party, embodied by deeps; and Atelier, embodied by neutrals), there’s definitely a shade for everyone. I got the colour Haute to Trot, a lavender rose, at the London Drugs Fall Beauty Preview 2016 a couple weeks ago in Vancouver. I’ve heard amazing things about the line so I was super excited to give it a try, especially since my relationship with Essie seems to be hit and miss. Well, I can gladly say that the Gel Couture line is a huge hit. Probably the best at-home gel polish I’ve tried. You definitely need to experience it to believe it. Kudos Essie!

Which colour from the Essie Gel Couture line do you want to try?

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