opi top coat VS seche vite

Its official that Seche Vite is the most popular

freakin top coat out there at the moment.

Either you own it or want to own it. 

If you are into nail art that is...

But what about OPI ? 

The Start to Finish was my favorite for the longest time.

We dont have Seche Vite here but we do have OPI.

But, as soon as I bought some in NYC , I 

quickly abandoned my old OPI.

Why ?

Well, Seche Vite is a thinner formula - it dries the

polish thoroughly.It seals in the polish giving it a

glossy protected covering.

It does not dry polish as fast as people exaggerate

on youtube but it surely does set the polish 

amazingly well. 

Now, OPI top coats do not take that long to dry itself.

Much better than those cheap drug store ones.

Those take FOREVER to dry. I hate most of them ! 

But, OPI's do not really aid in the setting of the polish.

Mind you - Im talking about polishes other than OPI.

If you are using OPI Nail Polish and then a

OPI Top Coat there will be no problem

as OPI Nail Polish dries relatively fast anyway.

OPI Start to Finish is thicker than the Seche & actually

kind of 'reconstitutes' the polish in a way

(for lack of a better word) 

what the heck is the opposite of 'set'  ?   >.< 

Basically if your polish is dry to the touch and you

place OPI top coat over it it will become kind of wet again. 

If you touch something you may get smudges. 

But - this is also a plus. 

If you are doing nail art with rhinestones usually

you paint your nails, put on a top coat and then place

the stones on the wet tacky top coat.

But, seche vite is so thin and sets the polish so well 

that you dont have the time to carefully place your stones

one by one. It dries up - does not get tacky and doesnt allow

you to push the stone right down into the polish 

like you can when using an OPI top coat.

Side Note: 

I lovvve Sally Hansen Diamond Strength for a base coat

But I havent used a drug store top coat for years. 

Thats why Im comparing these 2 pricier 

ones if you were

wondering. 

I hope you get what I mean...haha.

Basically both are good for different reasons.

Overall I prefer Seche Vite but its crap for

applying rhinestones.

So, in the end I still need my OPI ! 

: ) 

Funky London Nails

Nails of the Week: Gold Fade

I absolutely love this color by Etude House

Its in the color of BR003 in the Dear Darling 

Collection. Its so cute and delicately glittery.

There are lots of other brands that look similar

though.

Using your gold shimmery polish

paint the tip of your nail. 

Get a sponge and place a line of polish on it.

If you dont have a nail art sponge simply mix

your polish with a bit of basecoat and apply.

We are just trying to create a more sheer layer

of gold.

In stippling motions apply sponge up to

1/2 the nail. 

Seche Vite brings out and captures the shine

of glitter polishes beautifully. I highly recommend

this as your top coat. 

& we're done : ) 

Simple and Sparkly !

Nail Questions ? Ask Away !

So, many people have been sending me inbox messages

to my youtube.  I answer all of them but I was thinking

sometimes other people might have the same questions. 

I used to have really horrible nails / cuticles and if you have

any questions I can offer some tips that helped me.

On Form Spring others can see the questions / answers

and it may also help them.  So feel free to ask me .. well..

anything : )  Give requests there if you wish as well. 

http://www.formspring.me/kawaiinails

Nail Dont #1

One important thing to remember is when using

 a 4 sided nail buffer or filer - try not to buff the top of your nail.

The first side of the nail buffer usually says

'Nail Edge' & thats all you should use that part for.

The other sides are less abrasive and are okay to use but be gentle.

The reason is that once that part of the nail grows out

and becomes the nail tip it will be brittle and weak because 

most of the top was buffed away.

The nail does not grow in thickness only length.

So what ever is buffed away from the top is just gone.

This is why I don't get gel nails often - because I would be 

using my natural nails, they buff away like crazy to the top

and then do all the lovely design.

But, once I removed the gel my nails looked like hell &

kept breaking until I got them to a stable point. 

Tip: When using a 4 sided buffer use each side 10 times for each nail

going in the same direction not back and forth 

P.S -  I have twitter now : www.twitter.com/xkawaiinails