Hi everyone! I’ve been having troubles lately with quick dry top coats just not working out – Digital Nails Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That was my main squeeze, which stopped working; then Darling Diva Polish PETC became my love and it stopped working for me. I thought I’d do a little QDTC challenge between 4 brands: Dreamland Lacquer, KBShimmer, Paint Box Polish, and Top Shelf Lacquer. I’ll show you the results after 5 days of wear in just a moment but let’s talk about ship times, then application, then wear time.
Keep in mind that every person’s body chemistry is different, and your mileage may vary – this is only a reporting of how these top coats worked with me.
Ship Times
Dreamland: Ordered on a Saturday, received the following Saturday
KBShimmer: Ordered on a Sunday, received on Thursday
Paint Box Polish: Ordered on a Saturday, received on Thursday; my order also included a mani bomb, which was a nice touch
Top Shelf Lacquer: (Older order but I’m sure I received my order within 3 days of purchase.)
Application
I used each top coat over a layered manicure: 2 coats of China Glaze Midtown Magic, 1 layer of Baroness X Opulent Oddity, 1 layer of Baroness X Dulcinea.
1 minute test
Dreamland: No fingerprint left
KBShimmer: Fingerprint left
Paint Box Polish: Fingerprint left
Top Shelf Lacquer: Fingerprint left
5 minute test
Dreamland: Bumpable
KBShimmer: No fingerprint left, bumpable
Paint Box Polish: No fingerprint left, bumpable
Top Shelf Lacquer: Faint fingerprint left, bumpable
10 minute test
Dreamland: Bumpable
KBShimmer: Bumpable
Paint Box Polish: Not as bumpable
Top Shelf Lacquer: Bumpable
20 minute test
Dreamland: Not as bumpable
KBShimmer: Not as bumpable
Paint Box Polish: Same as 10 minute
Top Shelf Lacquer: Same as 10 minute
60 minute test
Dreamland: Still dent-able but would feel comfortable getting ready for the day
KBShimmer: Still dent-able but better than the Dreamland
Paint Box Polish: Still dent-able
Top Shelf Lacquer: Still fairly bumpable, would not feel comfortable getting ready for the day
5 day wear
At the end of 5 days (which is pretty much my limit for a mani!), I took a picture of each nail. My left hand index finger (Dreamland) chipped first in the 5 days, I think because there was glitter right at the edge that lifted. My right hand middle finger (KBShimmer) chipped the next day. At the end of 5 days, each finger had tip wear but there were no additional chips.
Dreamland:
KBShimmer:
Paint Box Polish:
Top Shelf Lacquer:
In terms of which top coat actually performed under the category of “quick dry” best, I’d have to give that to Dreamland; worst was Top Shelf Lacquer. In terms of which top coat had the best shine & not as much tip wear at the end of 5 days, I’d give that to Top Shelf Lacquer.
The differences though between how each top coat performed was so minimal that I think a customer purchasing any of these would be happy.
If you’ve had any experiences with these top coats, I’d love for you to comment with your experience!
This was a very helpful post on some quick dry top coats.
Thank you for the review, I need a new top coat. Do you know offhand which might be 3-or-more-FREE products? I try to stick with those.
Top Shelf is 5 free. I was just talking via Facebook with the owner who confirmed it is.
Thanks for letting me know!
Very detailed review! I actually don’t use any indie top coats if you can believe that. My go to has always been Girl on the Run by Pure Ice.
Haven’t used any of those, but I have used/tested quite a few. As of what I have noticed my index finger and middle finger seem to get more tip wear than any other finger, it doesn’t matter which top coat I use, tip wear pattern is always the same. I think it’s cause we use those fingers more than any other, hence it might actually not be from glitter being at the edge of the nail.
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