Nails Inc. Kensington Cavair Topcoat -- REVIEWED

So, I've been wanting to talk about this particular product for quite a while now!

I personally love painting my nails, but it can be a serious pain, I'm a perfectionist so it can take me ages to get my nails how I want them to be. (I smell like wet dog at the moment, just gave the pooch a bath and apparently we've swapped scents?!)

So I got this topcoat at the end of June and I was going to feature it in my July Favourites video, but decided I wanted to do a full review because there is so much to say about this topcoat.

So here is my completed "Pit and Peak" lowdown!

1. Nails Inc. OMP! (limited edition free gift) 2. Key Lime Barry M 3. Cool Blue Maybelline 4. Red 410C Ruby & Millie 5. Porchester Square Nails Inc.

Pits
1. This topcoat is particularly hit and miss for me. Sometimes it applies so beautifully and makes the nails look glossy and adds that sort after salon finish, other times, well it just screws up the placement of the nail polish, leaving streaks and actually making the colour go very strange, lumpy and thick so it never dries! This has happened to me on an assortment of different brands of polish, and it's so frustrating!

2. To enable you to use this topcoat correctly, you have to build up a sort of layer between the brush, topcoat and the colour. The topcoat applies very thickly, and although I don't mind that, it does mean that the product runs out very quickly.

3. To successfully lock in your manicure you have to use a huge blob of the topcoat, at first I tried to apply it as I would my regular nail polish. The problem with this is that it moves the colour, unless there is this layer. It's difficult to describe, but you don't want to touch the colour with the brush, just the topcoat. This means putting a fair size blob on the nail and then applying it with the brush. It's frustrating to me because it makes it very difficult to control where the polish is going! It took me at least four or five manicures, to work out the best way to apply it. Not very good.

4. Good luck if this gets on your skin or cuticles, because it's bloody impossible to budge! The typical angled brush in nail polish remover will not apply here, if you want it perfect be prepared to remove the whole nail and start over.

5. As with all Nails Inc. polishes, I don't like the brush.

6. I don't feel as though it does anything to prevent chipping.

Peaks
1. The drying ability of this topcoat is phenomenal! This, for me, is what's best about this topcoat. Assuming you can apply it correctly, your nails will be ready to go in under a minute! Fantastic for touching up the odd chip when you're in a hurry, or just because I don't like sitting around for 20 minutes waiting for my nails to dry.

2. It's so beautifully shiny! I love the gleamy, salon finish, see your own reflection shine, and it really does achieve that.

3. It actually helps make the polish an even and smooth consistency. If you apply a little bit too much polish, then this locks it down to the nail and dries it off, giving you a better looking manicure.

4. The rose tint of the polish honestly doesn't transfer on to your nail colour! Unlike other topcoats which are clear and can leave a slightly yellowish tint to your nail, this doesn't leave any trace at all, which I absolutely love! I think the colours look the exact same, with and without, it simply adds beautiful shine.

5. If the colour of your nail polish does transfer to the brush, then there's a very clever "thing" in the formula which means that it won't be a problem. You simply put the brush back into the bottle, shake it a little et voila, not a single trace of the colour on the brush! I don't know how they do it, but it's rather fantastic!

Overall
I do like this topcoat, and when it functions as I want it to it's the best I've ever used! It's just rather hit and miss at times. I do feel as though the more I've used it, the more I like it and would highly recommend picking it up online rather than in shops where it is much more expensive!

I've tried to make this as balanced as possible, have you tried this? Thoughts?
Xo Belley