essie Nail Care, 8-Free Vegan, Strong Start Base Coat, strengthening nail polish, 0.46 fl oz

This gives a really nice glossy look to your nails and it also helps make them stronger. I have really sensitive and weak nail Ed’s so this is a perfect nail polish. Your nails will look clean and polished.

Never disappoints. I use this top coat over all my different polish brands to extend the life of my manicure. The top coat lets the color of your polish shine through. my tips: I have one bottle for top coating over dark colors and one for light colors just to make sure there is true color through the top coat. Remember to wear gloves when you do the dishes, even this hard working top coat is no match for a night's worth of pots and pans.

Love the very shinny protective layer this gives my home manicure. Seems to help my polish last a bit longer too.

I was initially really frustrated with this polish: I was expecting two coats to give me a beautiful, subtle lavender sheen that stuck around for a week, maybe, before I needed to put on another coat. What I got is no change in color and almost all the polish chipping off in 2-3 days. But... and this is why I still give a 4 star review... my nails are INCREDIBLY weak and easy to break, and after a week they suddenly aren't. They feel stronger at the tips. I smashed my finger into something while mowing the lawn earlier today and barely chipped a nail - I was expecting the entire end to have broken off. So maybe this isn't as aestheticly pleasing as I hoped, but I am going to keep using it. I would love a little more color but I value having nails period over that!

As a big fan of Essie products, I purchased Essie's Gel Setter top coat in 2015; when I initially tried it, I didn't love it, and didn't think it was any better than others (Essie's Good to Go top coat has always been a favorite). I've kept it with my nail polish supplies, however, and have tried it periodically. Fast forward to late September 2017, when two minor changes to my nail polish routine have COMPLETELY changed my mind about this top coat, which is rapidly becoming my new favorite! With this new routine, I find that I can regularly get a full 7-10 days out of my manicure with no (or nearly no) chipping; this is especially true if I reapply the top coat 4-5 days after my initial manicure. It really does do a great job of mimicking a shiny salon gel manicure, without the damage and removal hassle that can come with gel polishes. So what's my routine? 1. After my cuticles are pushed back/trimmed (I love the CND CuticleAway Gel for this) and my nails are filed/buffed, I wash my hands thoroughly with soap and water, scrubbing with a nail brush. 2. After drying my hands, I use acetone or alcohol to clean my nails, ensuring that there's no soap or lotion residue on the nail surface. 3. I apply one quick coat of OPI's Bond Aid to my clean natural nails; this dries almost instantly, and is a huge help with polish adhesion. 4. I apply one coat of Essie's Grow Stronger Base Coat to my nails, and let dry for about a minute. This is the first of the two changes I made recently, and changing to this base coat has made a world of difference in terms of preventing chips. 5. I apply two coats of regular Essie polish (in whatever color suits my mood - generally, it's Mademoiselle if I'm going light, or Wicked or Carry On if I want a darker color). I wait about 30 seconds between coats. 6. I finish my manicure with one coat of Essie Gel-Setter Top Coat. 7. I then let my nails air dry - NOT UNDER A DRYER - for about 15 minutes. This is the second change I made to my routine. If my nails are not dry by this time, I then use a standard nail dryer fan (with UV lamp) for regular polish (not a gel dryer) to finish drying my nails. This gives the polish layers some time to cure, and ensures that bubbles don't form. I've attached a picture of my most recent regular manicure (I am wearing Essie's Mademoiselle) using the routine described above, taken after four days of wear. I have not reapplied the top coat. It's maintained its super shiny finish, and so far, I have no chips or lifting - and I've been using my keyboard constantly, and have done dishes and used antibacterial wipes and other cleaning products on various surfaces (with no gloves). Hope this is helpful! I paid FULL price for this product, and have not been given any discounts or incentives in exchange for leaving my review.

I’ve been using this for as long as I can remember - and I always recommend this to others, this strengthen my nails and I love the hint of pink! I add 2 base coats before I paint my nails. I also sometimes just wear this on its own for a bit. It’s my #1 base coat.

I like that this polish work as both a base and top coat. I love that Essie is vegan and 8 free as well. It’s affordable compared to other companies that sell vegan ‘X amount free’ nail polishes and products. This bottle while last me a long time so that’s awesome! It gives your nails a shiny top coat and would even work on its own without a polish to give your natural nails a bit of a shine. I do have to say that I hate the way it smells. It filled the whole room the instant the cap came off. I am extremely sensitive to smells so the experience was a bit over stimulating. I even wear a mask while painting my nails to try and avoid the smells but this polish permeated everything. Once the cap was back on, the scent calmed down. So thankfully only one coat is needed before and after the color polish. Edit: It’s been over a week since I painted my toes and there is no chipping. They still look great and are holding up nicely. I painted my finger nails 3 days ago and 2 of my nails have chipped badly and a third has just started chipping. I updated my rating to a 3 star due to this. The polish works great for toes but not so great for fingers

I love this brand and once I heard about this product, I had to have it. My cuticles typically stick to my nails so using this oil helps prevent that. I love how easy it is to use and it has a nice and light scent. I don’t forget to use it before bed like I would with similar products that used a brush instead of the roll-on.