Naturally Clean by Essie

Naturally Clean is Essie's go at remover. I was quite excited to get such a large bottle as a freebie *glare at OPI* and the packaging looks nice and fresh.

THE SMELL:

To me it smells like typical hand soap. It is a nice change as most removers can have quite a strong smell to them. This scent is pleasant to work with.

THE FEEL:

Naturally Clean kind of feels like an acetone-free remover to me. It does remove polish quickly but not much of it. I also managed to still have a tiny bit of polish and base coat left around my cuticles after I had finished. I didn't really like that as then I have to go back and scrub them with more remover to get a completely clean nail.

THE PRICE:

I found it at Radius pharmacy initially and they didn't have a price on them because they were free but I did find it at Smith & Caughys and it was $15. Zoya's is about $18 if I remember correctly and the large refill $40. No idea what OPIs is priced at, I do remember being shocked at the price awhile ago though.

IS IT WORTH IT?

I think there will always be people who like different things, I still prefer Zoya but others may love this one. The smell is really nice and soft but I feel like it doesn't quite get my nails as clean as Zoya's Remove. I will probably use this one as my 'travel remover' as it is quite a nice little size and won't be overly upset if anything happened to it.

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Essie Top Coat "Everyday" Review

Well, I thought it was about time that I posted a review on this one.

I received it free when I purchased two Essies, when they were just released not too long ago in New Zealand.

I thought "Wow! Great! A new treatment to try", sadly I have only had mediocre/crap results from Essie's "Everyday" Top Coat.

The reason I type everyday like "Everyday" is because that is what Essie has on the box. I don't really understand what an everyday top coat is? Do you have to apply it every day? That could get annoying especially with the results I have been getting...

THE FIRST TIME

The first time I used this as my top coat was with Orly's Top 2 Bottom as the base, 3 coats of Essie Chinchilly and then one coat of this top coat.

I finished this manicure hours before I went to bed. I maybe started it at 8pm and went to bed around 12 or 1am. When I woke up there were bubbles on some fingers and not others, tremendous sheet marks/dents/you name it. I was so disappointed. I mean, how long does a top coat need to dry? 5+ hours? 

I thought it might have been the Orly base coat.

THE SECOND TIME

The second time I gave it a test run was 3 days ago. I still have that manicure on.

I used Orly Top 2 Bottom as the base once again, 2 coats of Essie Sexy Divide and one coat of this so called everyday top coat.

Drying time seemed to not take as long, but then again I did my manicure in the morning, not before bed. (I wonder if that makes a significant difference?). Well, it worked a little better this time. Although Sexy Divide is a dark colour so I can't see exactly how many bubbles there are but I can see the shape of them when I look super close at my nails in the light. 

One thing though that annoyed me was denting. I could dent these babies for two days straight. 

VERDICT

Am I doing something wrong here? The box only says to apply over last coat of my Essie polish. When I was choosing which treatment to recieve free at the chemist, I made sure there weren't drying drops or something to go with it like the Zoya system (unless we just don't have them here), nope nothing to aid the drying.

I'm sorry Essie, but if I have to buy an Essie basecoat just to make this crap work, I won't be using it or buying it. 

To me, you shouldn't have to go through that much effort of trying to figure out how to make the top coat work to its full potential. I mean Orly's Top 2 Bottom has been working miracles since first use, with every brand (sorry I can't stop raving about this stuff).

I'm sorry this is such a negative review but I think I will stick with my Seche Vite or Orly Top 2 Bottom for now. But of course I will keep reviewing this one and others :D

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Orly Top 2 Bottom

I've been using this as my base coat and my top coat for my manicure since I got it last week and I can't believe how great it is!

My manicures have been lasting 3 days. I've never had that before! They would probably last longer I just get tired of looking at the same thing on my nails for 3 days :) I will have to give it a trial!

AS A BASECOAT

No staining or yellowing nails so far. No chips or peeling.

AS A TOP COAT

Works really well with Orly polishes, dries them as if I used Seche Vite. But with other brands like Essie, it doesn't quite dry it as quick. But I did an Essie manicure tonight and used Top 2 Bottom as my base and Seche for the top coat and it's dried quickly.

OVERALL

I think I will have to buy a full size bottle of this stuff. I'm just blown away. I usually don't care for the mini treatments in packs but I am so glad I got to try this! 

Definitely reccomend :)

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