base & top coat
Essie

Gel Couture Top Coat

Category
Base & top coat
Type
Top coat
Key specs
Air dry
Formula
—
Size
—

What users keep saying · from 13 reviews

long-lasting10glossy4quick drying3

For super shiny nails at home they love Essie Gel Couture top coat: thick, shiny, dries hard and easy to find.

“i don’t go to salons, but for getting super shiny nails at home, i love essie gel couture top coat. it’s not really gel. just normal lacquer with dumb name. but it is thick”
positiveglossy

Magnetizing a layer of Essie Gel Couture top coat over unmagnetized polish gives them a crisp magnetic effect that lasts, every time.

“I used to get frustrated with magnetics but my life changed with this method: Tools: 1) No base coat 2) Essie Gel Couture topcoat 3) Horseshoe magnet for velvet/KBS cat eye wand Method: 1)”
positive

Loves Essie Gel Couture but its top coat makes lots of bubbles in their manicures even after waiting hours.

“I love Essie gel couture but it makes so many bubbles in my manicures…. Even if I wait many hours. Maybe it’s too thick and I need to thin it!”
negative

Puts Essie Gel Couture top coat over the Sally Hansen red bottle once dry, and it has really helped their manicure longevity.

“I just started using Sally Hansen red bottle, and I love how quick it dries and the way it works with magnetics, but it just does not keep my mani for as long as”
positivelong-lasting

Uses the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri red bottle then Essie Gel Couture top coat over it, with no shrinkage and great longevity.

positivelong-lasting

Thought the Essie Gel Couture top coat was their holy grail with little shrinkage and long wear, but after months of use shrinkage crept in until fresh manicures looked two weeks old.

“Essie gel couture topcoat I thought was my holy grail. It had only about 5% shrinkage, and it lasted so long! Then after months of use, shrinkage slowly came, more & more, and it”
mixedlong-lasting

Wears Essie Gel Couture polishes with the Gel Couture top coat and gets no shrinkage; finds it shiny, durable and long-lasting.

“I wear Essie Gel Couture polishes with the Gel Couture top coat and I don't get any shrinkage. I find it to be shiny, durable and long lasting.”
positiveglossylong-lasting

Uses the Essie Gel Couture top coat over all their polishes, whatever the brand.

“Second the Essie Gel Couture as top coat. I use it with all my polishes, regardless of brand. I like China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat, which is available at WalMart in Canada.”
positive

Says the Sally Hansen top coat failed them most of the time and their personal favorite top coat is Essie Gel Couture, a gel-look lacquer rather than real gel.

“Also that top coat 9/10 did me dirty so if nothing else you try fixes it, try switching up your QDTC. My personal fav is Essie Gel Couture (in an opaque twisty bottle, not”
positive

Recommends a top coat for gloss and durability; finds the Essie Gel Couture top coat good but says it doesn't dry as hard or as quickly as Londontown's, gets cloudy and needs a touch-up layer after three days.

“the Essie gel couture one is good too just doesn’t dry quite as hard or as quickly & imo gets kinda cloudy and needs a touch up layer of top coat after 3days. The”
mixedglossy

Used Sally Hansen Hyp-Nautical and it dried fine under Essie's Gel Couture top coat.

“I've used this exact polish and it dried fine with a top coat. I used Essie's Gel Couture. I am curious what kind of colour shift you see with the polish! I'd hoped for”
positive

Uses the Essie Gel Couture top coat over Revlon polish and finds the combination lasts a good while.

“Revlon is cheap and it's my favourite drugstore formula! I like some even better than my indies 😅 - vixen is a classic and amethyst smoke is a really nice duochrome, and I find”
positivelong-lasting

Loves the Essie Gel Couture polish and says the top coat is their favorite ever.

positive

Has had good luck with Essie's Gel Couture top coat (the twisty bottle) as a drugstore top coat.

“I’ve had good luck with Sally Hansen red bottle and Essie Gel Coutour (the twisty bottle.) If you’re near an Ulta, they typically have Holo Taco and Zoya, as well.”
positive

Uses the Essie Gel Couture top coat: it dries very fast, gives a gel look, and on many nails their manicure lasts more than seven days without chipping.

“Yo uso el top coat de essie gel couture. Seca rapidísimo y además deja efecto gel en las uñas. Me duran en muchas uñas incluso más de 7 días sin descascararse”
positivequick dryinglong-lasting

Tops everything with the Essie Gel Couture top coat, which dries hard, strong and shiny; their manicure is still immaculate at day 7, and their mum gets two weeks.

“I have found that nail prep is an absolute must and I top everything with Essie gel couture (not gel, dries normally) top coat. That stuff is amazing and dries hard, strong and shiny!”
positivelong-lastingglossy

With a ridge base, two coats of polish and the Essie Gel Couture top coat their polish lasts 6–8 days; they skip quick-dry because Gel Couture dries their nails so well.

“I use a nail ridge base coat usually Barielle then any nail polish - 2 coats and then Essie gel couture top coat and my polish lasts anywhere from 6-8 days on my natural”
positivelong-lastingquick drying

Says the Essie Gel Couture top coat is the best top coat they've ever used.

positive

Likes Essie polish but hates its top coats; Gel Couture gave them the second-worst shrinkage after Seche Vite, so they use Sally Hansen Insta-Dri or CND Vinylux top coat.

“I like Essie polish a lot, but I hate their top coats. I think I’ve tried 4. Gel couture was the second worst shrinkage I’ve had, second only to Seche. I use Sally Hansen”
negative

Gets solid long wear from the Gel Couture top coat over Essie Gel Couture polishes, while Essie's non-Gel Couture polishes suck in their experience.

“I wear the Gel Couture Top Coat over Essie Gel Couture polishes and I get solid long wear out of the combo. The Essie polishes that are not Gel Couture suck, in my experience.”
positivelong-lasting

Essie Gel Couture top coat is the best they've found against constant hand sanitizer at work; it does shrink, but capping helps, and now their nails are always painted.

“Essie Gel Couture topcoat is my GOAT. It's the best topcoat I've found when it comes to standing up against the constant hand sanitizer i have to use at work. Yes, it causes shrinkage,”
positivelong-lasting

Says the Essie Gel Couture top coat causes the worst shrinkage of all the top coats they've tried, over several base coats.

negative

Gets horrific shrinkage from the Essie Gel Couture top coat, maybe worse than Seche Vite.

“Essie gel couture topcoat has horrific shrinkage, (for me) maybe worse than seche vite top coat. I do like their good to go topcoat, though. It is the first topcoat I have ever finished”
negative

Knows the Gel Couture top coat shrinks a lot but still likes it because it dries super quick and super hard; wrapping tips delays the shrinkage.

“I know Gel Couture shrinks like crazy, but I still kinda like it. It dries super quick and super hard for me, that’s all I want. I wrap my tips and that delays the”
mixedquick drying

The Gel Couture top coat was great for a while with no shrinkage, but the bottles they bought recently don't work as well.

mixed