Review: Live Love Polish, Seche Coral, & Seche Vite

(Press sample)

Hello!

I have a different type of review for you today...Live Love Polish, an online polish boutique, contacted me to see if I'd be willing to review Seche Vite alone with one of Seche's color polishes, not for Seche per se, but as two of the products their shop offers. So my review is going to have three parts: a review of Seche Vite, one of Seche Coral (the color they sent me) and one of the shop itself.

Live Love Polish won my heart when I found out they carry cruelty-free brands only, from all over the world. I'm impressed by the selection of brands and types they carry, from China Glaze to Colores de Carol, with polishes across the range of standard cremes to specialty polishes like glitters, duochromes, and holos (sigh). They also carry nail care and nail art supplies as well.

Their site is visually pleasant and their interface is very user-friendly--they even tell you when stock is low on a polish, so you know if you need to grab it right NAO or if you can wait a week until payday. Also, the polish descriptions use universal symbols that show which polishes are also vegan-friendly, in addition to being cruelty-free. :)

And: they ship INTERNATIONALLY. For US orders, any order over $20 ship free, and orders under that amount ship for $5 (has anybody ever ordered less than $20 of polish at a time??). For international orders, shipping is a little more but not much. There are some exceptions/limitations, so check that out.


I have to mention quickly how much I loved the way they wrapped the polish; I love touches like this that make opening your nail mail that much more special:

Live Love Polish packaging :)

Seche Vite and Seche Coral

On to the polish! I received Seche Coral to test out, a pink-leaning coral creme polish that flirts with the line of neon:

Seche Coral

Seche Coral

I'm wearing two coats here, with topcoat. The polish itself had a good consistency, but I had a little difficulty with application; there was some patchiness even after two coats. This was certainly not the hardest creme I've ever applied, by far--but it wasn't the easiest either, and you will want to pay attention to make sure it all comes out smooth and sweet.

The polish appears a bit more pink inside; the coral comes out more in the daylight. The color is vibrant; it's not quite neon, so you won't get in trouble at work, but it's not far from it if you're looking for something to bring bright to your day.

I also reviewed Seche Vite, Seche's fast-acting topcoat. Now, there's no secret around these parts that I'm a big fan of Seche Vite, that it's my Holy Grail topcoat. However, you never know, maybe the formula is different now, so I duly tested out the bottle they sent me to make sure nothing has changed since I bought my industrial-sized refill bottle.

I used Seche Vite for the above manicure, and over some nail stamping, and nope, nothing's changed. It's still amazing and is still my ultimate HG. So now I will endeavor to explain to you why, and share some tricks I have for eliminating some of the issues nay-sayers have with it.

• I can apply Seche Vite thirty seconds after I've applied my polish, no pulling, no lines, no problem.

• After 1 minute, I can touch things without worrying about smudges. Or dings.

• After 5 minutes, I don't have to worry about even dents or sheet marks. 

• After 10 minutes, I can even stamp on it, pressing hard with my stamper, and don't have to worry about any rippling. 

• Seche Vite makes even the grittiest polish or glitter shiny and beautiful, with a surface like glass. I haven't found any other topcoat that gorgeous shine.

• Seche Vite causes nearly no smudging over stamping or other nail art, and what smudging it does cause can be avoided (see below). 

All of these things are absolutely critical for me as a nail blogger who has to fit in swatching and nail art between the other things I have to do during my day (you know, work, cooking, cleaning, that stuff). I don't have ages to wait around for everything to dry, while not being able to use my hands. And I think that's true even of people who aren't blogging, but who are just trying to get through their day with the least amount of wasted time as possible.

"But Michelle!" I hear you saying. "There are problems with Seche Vite!"

1) "Seche Vite causes shrinkage!": Not if you have the inside scoop. The trick is understanding why it happens; Seche Vite causes shrinkage if you have too much polish that hasn't fully dried under the topcoat, because the Seche can't penetrate it all equally. For example, if you put on three coats of polish one after the other and then apply Seche Vite, you're gonna get shrinkage. If you put on a glob of polish because you're doing nail art and you're layering, you're gonna get shrinkage. One coat of polish, even two, can be topped with Seche without a problem (unless they're super thick). But if you need more coats of polish and don't want to wait in between them, here's what you do. Apply 1-2 coats of polish, and wait a full minute. Apply a coat of Seche Vite. Wait until this is fully dry, 5-10 minutes. Then, apply your next 1-2 coats, wait a full minute, and put on another coat of Seche Vite. In another 5-10 minutes, your polish will be dry, and you shouldn't have any shrinkage. The longer you wait between steps, the less likely you will be to have shrinkage. And this is still far faster than waiting between coats and using any other type of topcoat.

2) "Seche Vite smudges nail art!": If you're doing free-hand or the like with nail polish or acrylics, give it at least a full minute to dry before applying your Seche. If you're stamping and using a polish that has a high tendency to smudge with any topcoat (like Konad), wait at least 2-3 minutes. When I use Konad Black or White, I wait a full five minutes before applying topcoat, and have found that even that isn't enough unless I'm using Seche--other topcoats will still smudge it even then. And of course, with any topcoat, try to only brush over any given area once.

3) "Seche Vite is not big-five free!": Yup, that one is true, and I don't have a way around it. Personally, it doesn't worry me much. I don't bite my nails and I rarely eat with my fingers, so I think the risk is minimal regardless. Plus, most of my polish is big-five free, so my percentage of those chemicals is much lower, anyway.

At the end of the day, I've tried every other topcoat that has been recommended to me, and Seche Vite wins the race for me, every time. :)

I hope this has been helpful! Don't forget to check out Live Love Polish: great selection, competitive prices, and a top-notch shipping policy. You can also find them on Facebook and on Instagram @live.love.polish.

Hope everyone's week is going well!
M.