Top Coats

This is a list of my current top coats that I've just recently checked for usability, with the last two about to be thrown out.

(L-R) China Glaze in Matte Magic, Orly Top 2 Bottom, Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, Orly Won't Chip.

China Glaze in Matte Magic still works! I bought this during the first release when it was so amazing to have a matte polish. This is quite an old top coat and I'm amazed it still works. Below is my recent trial, sans cleaning under Orly Bonder and Wet n' Wild polish:

China Glaze Matte Magic

I love how the Matte Magic mattifies nail polish. I got a bit excited and missed some spots so I went over again after. The down side: I do get a lot of shrinkage problems with this top coat. To avoid this problem, I line the tip of the nail and it's underside separately before doing the nail itself. This trick works to keep the nail from shrinking initially but the color tends to chip off easily.

Orly Top 2 Bottom

This is the same polish with Top 2 Bottom. I really like how convenient Top 2 Bottom is, especially now that I'm more concerned with being able to finish products, especially nail polishes. It works well and relatively quickly, but tends to bubble now that this bottle is a bit old - and especially with non-Orly products. It didn't use to bubble before and it's not as bubbly as the Won't Chip so I can still live with it. Don't expect manicures to last long with this product, but it's good for short term polishes, especially with the same brand.

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat got too thick to use and I don't want to try thinning this down, so this is getting binned…

Orly Won't Chip has been in my cabinet for ages (this is the bottle I originally disliked for bubbling). I'm finally throwing this away.

I'm probably going to try to finish my remaining top coats until it's time to throw 'em in a bin before buying a new one. :(