nails: China Glaze Fast Track
More holiday season nails! Only a little more subdued than the last so as to be almost work appropriate...
Base: China Glaze Fast Track (Capitol Colours Collection) x2 coats
Top: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat x1 coat
In lamp light. This is also my first use of a fast dry top coat! (After so many years of nail painting... yes, this is very late to the game.) I'm liking it a lot. So this will be two reviews in one.
Firstly, my photo doesn't really capture the colour of Fast Track properly and the lighting is very yellow. While there is a lot of gold shimmer, you're not seeing here the subtle mix of colours from the muted beige base to the lime and orange flecks in amidst the gold. SO PRETTY. This is a semi-sheer polish that builds up very smoothly and would probably be fully opaque with 3 coats. It reminds me a little of Nerd Lacquer Entirely Unlike Tea but with a gold twist, and without the chunky glitter. Also, I'm not sure why it's called Capitol Colours/Colors in different promotional pictures, even though China Glaze is an American company and would presumably stick to US spelling.
I'm also impressed by the Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat. Granted, I haven't tried the cult favourite Seche Vite, but I was put off it for a long time because of the complaints about shrinkage and tip-wear is the main source of chipping for me. Anyway. The reviews for Sally Hansen were very good so I gave it a try. And it's been good so far (1 hour into wear time... so this post may be updated in a few days). I can't compare how fast it dries but it's fast enough, gives the nails a resin-like coated feeling and is fairly resistant to bumps and smudges in the early stages of waiting for polish to dry.
Moral of the story: A sophisticated, muted gold look.
EDIT: As for the longevity of the top coat, it's been 9 days and still going strong. No chipping AT ALL. It's fabulous.
Base: China Glaze Fast Track (Capitol Colours Collection) x2 coats
Top: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat x1 coat
In lamp light. This is also my first use of a fast dry top coat! (After so many years of nail painting... yes, this is very late to the game.) I'm liking it a lot. So this will be two reviews in one.
Firstly, my photo doesn't really capture the colour of Fast Track properly and the lighting is very yellow. While there is a lot of gold shimmer, you're not seeing here the subtle mix of colours from the muted beige base to the lime and orange flecks in amidst the gold. SO PRETTY. This is a semi-sheer polish that builds up very smoothly and would probably be fully opaque with 3 coats. It reminds me a little of Nerd Lacquer Entirely Unlike Tea but with a gold twist, and without the chunky glitter. Also, I'm not sure why it's called Capitol Colours/Colors in different promotional pictures, even though China Glaze is an American company and would presumably stick to US spelling.
I'm also impressed by the Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat. Granted, I haven't tried the cult favourite Seche Vite, but I was put off it for a long time because of the complaints about shrinkage and tip-wear is the main source of chipping for me. Anyway. The reviews for Sally Hansen were very good so I gave it a try. And it's been good so far (1 hour into wear time... so this post may be updated in a few days). I can't compare how fast it dries but it's fast enough, gives the nails a resin-like coated feeling and is fairly resistant to bumps and smudges in the early stages of waiting for polish to dry.
Moral of the story: A sophisticated, muted gold look.
EDIT: As for the longevity of the top coat, it's been 9 days and still going strong. No chipping AT ALL. It's fabulous.