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Friday, May 27, 2011

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.

13 comments:

  1. I'm actually a huge, huge Essie fan. It's literally the only nail polish I'll use myself. I'm currently using one of their base coats, but thanks to you I may have to check this top coat out now. I'm also on the lookout for Matte About You.

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  2. I completely agree with everything you said. I love Seche Vite and the warning doesn't bother me (and toluene is in a lot of cheaper nail polishes anyway) but I couldn't stand the hardening halfway through the bottle. I'm about a quarter through my good to go bottle and it hasn't shown any signs of thickening yet. Fingers crossed it stays that way. (:

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  3. I'll have to check out the essie top coat then :)

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  4. My Seche Vite just did the same thing. It's thick and hard to work with and I still have half a bottle to go through. I thought I may have left the cap loose, but apparently this is common. I'll definitely try Essie's Good To Go now. Thank you!

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  5. Hey, great review! I wasn't eager to test out Essie top coat myself so it's super helpful. I bought a thinner in case my SV starts getting goopy. Still love it and have a full bottle, so I'll cross the goopy road when I get to it. :)

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  6. @Jen - It is definitely common, I have read it on many blogs. It's too bad cause it's a good product but you'll never get through it all. Not a big deal to buy a new one, but kinda a pain.

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  7. MYGOD, talk about a scary warning!! I've heard a lot about Seche Vite but I have no idea where to get it here in Canada.

    I'm currently trialing Sally Hansen Insta Dry but so far, I'm disappointed, as it chips within 2 days (it's supposed to make a manicute last up to 10 days, yes, TEN!!!) despite suing it with various nail polishes, high end or not.

    Will have to take a look at that one from Essie, thanks!

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  8. I've wanted to try this.

    I currently use Essie to Dry for (and will be for a bit, I stocked up last time it was on sale) and I quite like it, but it isn't instant fast in terms of setting. The surface dries fast, but not completely.

    I have the Sally Hansen Mega Shine (I heard it was like Seche) and really like it, but I have found it is really thick too.

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  9. Thank you for doing this review, I've been debating if I should get it or not. When I do see it on sale again, I will definitely get it now!

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  10. I've found Essie to be hit and miss overall, but I'm going to try this out.

    I've never been impressed with the bottle of Seche Vite that I bought. It was thick from the beginning when I bought it, but maybe it was just a "bad" bottle, who knows. Anytime I wore red polish, it removed some of it and so now I have a bottle of Seche Vite that is very light pink.

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  11. Great review! I will have to give this essie a try!

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  12. Just bought this on sale today after reading your review---love it!! Way better than Seche Vite (my gloopy bottle only lasts a few months) in price and quality. Thank you!!!

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  13. I live in Canada and I got my Seche Vite at Winners.
    When mine starts to get thick and goopy I will def try Essie. :)

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