Essie gel.setter Top Coat Review

I've been giving my nails a little break with gels and decided to do a review of Essie's newest top coat called gel.setter. I bought it a month or 2 ago and didn't use it "seriously" until now.  I say "seriously" because I used it before but quickly swiped it on my nails on a whim. I actually sat down after I put my son to bed to do it this time.

I put one coat of Essie's Butler Please (search here) and then one coat of gel.setter and let it dry like I would any other top coat. Normally I put 2 coats of nail polish on but after 1 coat of this color, the coverage was good and I didn't want it to look too thick. Here are the week-long (+1 day) results.

Day 1 : July 21

Day 6: July 27
Some minimal chipping and signs of growth

Day 8: July 29
My nails don't look like they had 8 days of a gel manicure but it's definitely better than a regular top coat. 

Conclusion: F-YEAH!

For around $10 a bottle this top coat goes on really smooth (not thick at all) and dries quickly without lamps. After 8 days I still have a somewhat respectable paint job left on my nails and it only took about 15 minutes to do. Removal is easy and I didn't have to trek to the nail salon.