Product Review: Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish
I consider myself a fairly low maintenance woman. I get my haircut on a semi-regular basis and visit the dentist twice a year, but other than that, I don’t have any regularly scheduled appointments. If I’m on vacation I will occasionally get a massage, but I never have anyone do my nails.
I’ve been doing my own pedicures for over twenty years but my fingernails, not so much. Polish lasts about 2 hours on them, if I’m lucky… so it’s not worth the effort.
I take Biotin every day plus lots of calcium, but it’s not helped my nails. They’re just soft and weak.
I’ve never tried salon gel nails because I don’t want to expose my hands to the ultraviolet light used to set the product. Sure I could buy protective fingerless gloves but I also don’t want the gel sanded off, for touch ups.
I don’t expect to ever grow long, graceful fingernails, but it’s nice to wear a lovely pale color and expect it to stay on for more than an hour. 
Last year I tried Sally Hanson Gel home version. It sounded like a great idea but the polish lasted less than 48 hours. Not a win to me.
Last month I spotted Essie Gel Couture at Target. It comes in many beautiful colors and is simple to apply. Two coats of color followed by their clear top coat.
No light, no special anything. Imagine my shock when it lasted 4 1/2 days! That’s worth it to me and so I bought a fabulous red for my toes. It removes with ordinary polish remover and a cotton ball.
If you have halfway decent nails you could probably get a week or more out of this nail polish. Give it a try and let me know what you think? You can find it at Target, CVS, Macy’s, Ulta, Nordstrom and many other places.
Thanks for reading and have a great day.
Thank you for suggesting these polishes! I’m not the biggest of Essie, I just found the polishes too thin and too sheer and to easy to mess up. I’m more of an OPI fan. But your post made me try the Essie gel polish and top coat (I bought the shade “Good Nightie” which is a nude-pink with a bit of shimmer) and it was SO easy to apply, dried fast, and lasted ALL WEEK with no chipping or peeling and no wear on the edges, even though I type all day on the computer. I’m convinced! I would never have tried it if I hadn’t read your post. Essie should thank you!
I’m glad you like it too!
I have been going to the salon since the early 80’s, which is my only consistent pamper-me ritual. I love nail Polish and have many bottles that I need to discard. Great review and have fun with the new colors.
I also have dry, weak nails. My go-to polish is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Shall We Dance. I did regular manicures when I was working, and this would last a whole week. Now that I’m retired, I’ve gotten lazy about my manicures!
My manicures are few and far between and always done at home, but it is nice to have pretty polish on sometimes.