Battle of the Top Coats: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat vs. Sally HansenInsta-Dri Top Coat!

I'm very into doing my nails, and I don't think i'm ever not wearing nail varnish. However one of my biggest pet peeves is chipped nail varnish (well on myself anyway). On top of that, another pet peeve is when I do my nails and then they smudge...I hate smudges! Who has the time to just sit around, hands held out in a really weird position, waiting for their nails to dry? Not me (I might be a bit impatient).

So when I heard Lily Pebbles talking about how good the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat is, I jumped at the chance to buy it when I saw it in Sally's over the summer. It's safe to say that I fell in love with it from the first time I used it, it was dry to the touch within 2 minutes (although I wouldn't recommend you go around doing everything you can to see if it's dry because let's face it...it's going to smudge).

Overall it was very good, it did what it said on the tin bottle, and it left my nails with a very glossy finish. I somehow had this idea in my head that it was going to work miracles and give me a week of perfect, un-chipped nail varnish, but alas,  I was mistaken and most of the time that I did wear it, the varnish chipped after 3 or 4 days.
It did wear well and I loved the almost gel-like finish, however I should point out that once I got about halfway through the bottle, a few days after i'd applied it, it looked almost as if it was shrinking on my nails and it started to become very visible over darker coloured polish. As well as this, it became gloopy very quickly and I was struggling to apply it towards the last 1/4 of the bottle. So for a £9 top coat, I have to say that I expected more, and a longer lasting polish...

I then decided to try out the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti- Chip Top Coat which, in my opinion,(i'm going to say it now because, like I said I am impatient) is 100x better than the Seche Vite one, and is slightly cheaper retailing at £5.99. I've always been impressed with Sally Hansen products, especially, the base and top coats and so I wasn't surprised at how well this works!

I'm not going to say much about this because it does exactly what it says: it dries in 60 seconds and leaves a gorgeous glossy finish...and the best part about it is that it lasts for about 6 days!! I like how the consistency is much thinner than the Seche one so it is actually easier to apply.
As well as this it makes my nails feel quite strong and durable (through the wear and tear of everyday life) and so far I don't have anything to complain about. Apparently you're meant to re-apply your top coat every few days (who has time for this stuff?!) but I genuinely think that you will get bored of your nail varnish colour before it has even chipped with this top coat on. This product contains 13.3ml compared to Seche Vite's 14ml (minor details...minor details...) but I don't think this makes much of a difference as it is slightly cheaper.

The Sally Hansen top coat on top of essie's 'twin sweater set'-
i've had this on for 5 days and haven't had to touch up.
(sorry i don't have a picture with the Seche Vite, but the finish is almost identical)

Although I did enjoy the Seche Vite one, and it isn't a bad top coat at all, I definitely recommend the Sally Hansen one (as well as their other products) and will certainly be repurchasing it, sorry Seche!

Let us know if you have tried any of these, or any other good top coats!

S xx