Review: Essie Good To Go

Like many of you, I used Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat to get my nail polish to dry quickly, however recently I switched to Essie's Good To Go and am pleased with my decision. This topcoat is described as "sets nail color in seconds, perfectly polished manicure, ultimate shine". It has a built-in silicon drying agent to help your polish set in a flash. I always use a topcoat, I just don't have the patience to wait and am prone to ruining my polish if I let it air dry.

Seche Vite is a fantastic top coat, it dries within moments and gives a nice shine to your nails. I used it for over a year, but my issue with it is how thick, gloppy and gross it gets quickly. I got through half my bottle and it's disgusting and unusable. I could probably put thinner in it and fix it, or I could go out and try something new, so I did that instead.

Also, this gets a lot of talk so I will mention it here, Seche Vite has a scary warning on the back "this product contains a chemical know in the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm". The ingredients list Butyl Acetate, Toluene, Cellulose Acetate Butyrate, Isopropyl Alcohol, Trimethyl Pentanyl Dilsobutyrate, Denzophenune. Now personally I would not be wearing nail polish if I were pregnant, nevermind putting on topcoat or engaging in anything that may be harmful to the baby, but that's just me, I would be super cautious.

However, I did some research online and since Veche Vite is made in California, and the state has very strict guidelines for manufacturers, they had to put this warning on. Apparently in California, there are signs to pregnant women at gas stations, because if the fetus is exposed to gasoline it could harm it. However, no one is swimming or ingesting gasoline. And there have been no studies to show that birth defects are linked to nail polish. I believe it's Toluene that is the chemical in question here. However, as long as you aren't ingesting the topcoat and use it in a well ventilated room, you should be fine. When I purchased this product, I did notice the label and kept using it since I was not pregnant or planning on it (and still am not). Anyway, that did not really effect for reasoning for giving up Seche Vite, but I thought I would put it out there.

Essie's Good To Go to me is just as good as Seche Vite (and without a scary warning). The terrible smell is basically the same. It leaves your nails just as shiny and dry in moments as Seche Vite does. Also, while Seche Vite is difficult to find (I got mine at Sally's Beauty), Essie Good To Go is available at most drugstores. I got my Essie top coat at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada on sale for $9 (normally $12). I hope it doesn't get gloppy, but I will report back if it does.

Would I recommend this product? Essie Good To Go is a good replacement for Seche Vite Top Coat in my opinion. I have used the China Glaze Top Coat too and it's good, I don't think it dries as fast though and the Essie has a prettier bottle! I had OPI What's With The Catitude on for a week and there were no chips (only top wear) after using this topcoat over top and there was no shrinkage either.