going to make it last.
Sadly Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat devotees have all experienced the inevitable phenomenon. After about six months, the clear nail polish that was once a reliable way to goof-proof an at-home mani-pedi turns into a thick and ornery formula. Acknowledging the tragic flaw in their premiere product, the brand created Seche Restore thinner to come to its rescue. The renewing drops are added to a bottle of viscous lacquer to return it to a more cooperative state.
I’ve been lucky to have success restoring nail polishes in the past, but I’d been hesitant to tamper with my Seche because of its amazing ability to dry my manicures to a smooth, hard finish in no time. Seche is the kind of chemical compound I don’t want to start playing Dexter’s Laboratory with at home. Risk ruining perfection? No thanks. Especially with its sometimes hefty price tag.
But where other beauty mavens have gone, many will follow. When my good friend and Keep Your Nail Game Fresh blog founder Khalei Fogle told me about these drops and was willing to share, I was psyched to test them on my two (yes two) bottles of Seche Vite that were stuck in suspended animation.
The older bottle of the top coat didn’t take to the thinner so well. I haven’t actually tried to doll up my digits with it yet, because it doesn’t seem worthwhile. I’ll have to save it for a manicure I’m only feeling mediocre about and don’t mind gambling with. The drops really turned back the hands of time for the newer bottle though, which is about a year old. The stringy and sticky consistency is gone, and I haven’t sacrificed the drying speed. Message boards say to try it on other nail polishes outside of the Seche line, but I’ve collected a lot of low/no chemical formulas and worry about how the thinner might react with three, four, or five-free formulas, like Zoya. What’s your go-to non-toxic topcoat, and how does it hold up compared to Seche Vite? What’s your favorite trick for restoring polishes past their prime?–Casandra Armour
