Review: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

Whatever did I do before the days of quick dry top coat? Oh yeah, I basically never painted my nails. That's what I did. This is the second part of my adventure in quick-dry-land, with the first part being a bottle of the OPI Rapidry (review here). I know, I know, I still somehow haven't purchased a bottle of the legendary Seche Vite, but when I opened my Rapidry one day to find that it had turned into a hard, sticky lump, this was the only thing I could get my hands on in my local Boots.

And it certainly wasn't too shabby a purchase! As far as being quick drying goes, this top coat definitely does the job. Give it ten minutes tops and my nail polish has gone rock solid, so I no longer have to sit on the sofa in T-Rex pose. Unlike my previous purchase, it also doesn't drag the polish underneath - as long as the surface is kinda dry, you're good to go. After all, having to wait for your nail polish to completely dry before applying a quick dry top coat kinda defeats the purpose.

As for the top coat preventing chips I do admit that I've seen some improvements compared to not wearing any top coat at all, though they're not overly breathtaking. All it takes is still one slightly longer shower and my polish will have dents and flakes coming off. Thankfully, however, (unlike the OPI polish), it doesn't do that horrible thing where a top coat clings to your nail polish and everything comes off in just one huge, massive flake.

As far as the brush goes, I wouldn't mind it being a little shorter and wider for easier application, but that's just me being fussy over a minor detail.

I think as far as adventures in quick dry land go, this is definitely an improvement and has led to a lot more nail polish application than previously. I'd be happy to recommend this to anyone who likes to paint their nails and doesn't enjoy faffing about while it's drying (so, erm, everyone who likes to paint their nails then). Perhaps one day I will get my hands on some Seche Vite and then I'll be able to tell you how these two stack up against each other, but until then I'm happy with my bottle of Insta-Dri!

Monthly Favourites: March 2014

1) Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

I don't know how I used to paint my nails without a quick dry topcoat - oh yeah, I didn't, cause I never had the patience to wait around for hours waiting for it to dry. After my OPI Rapidry turned into a thick, gloopy mess it was time to get a new one and this topcoat by Sally Hansen turns out to be a lot better than the OPI one. Nails are dry within about 10 minutes and rather than make the polish peel off like the OPI topcoat does, I feel like my polish lasts longer with it rather than without. Now with this in my stash I'm happy to paint my nails all the time!

2) Percy & Reed Dry Conditioner

The lid of this product keeps falling off, so I eventually just gave up and got rid of it altogether. Packaging fail aside, this is exactly what it claims to be - basically softness in a can when you don't feel like getting under the shower to wash your hair. It works great after a spritz of dry shampoo when you get that feeling that your hair's got a tad too much texture. You can read a bit more of what I thought of it in this post here.

3) Melvita Rose Extraordinary Water

This is only a little sample, but I've been loving using this on a daily basis. I've been using it in place of a serum and just tapping it into my face with my fingers - and as soon as I do it's like my skin sighs a huge sigh of relief. It's extremely moisturising without being sticky or greasy. I'm guessing it's the hyaluronic acid in it that's doing all the miracles, but no matter what it is, I can see myself purchasing the full size as soon as my sample runs out.

4) Rimmel Colour Rush Balm

I've got two of these at the moment and you may have heard me go on about them on my blog before. The colour pay-off of these lip crayons is just spot on and it leaves a lovely stain on the lips that lasts for hours, even through eating and drinking. What I also really like about these is that the colours are glossy and balmy, but don't contain any glitter unlike similar products from other brands. The packaging could be a touch better, as the writing wears off really quickly, but apart from that these are pretty much the perfect lip product.

5) Murad Pore & Line Minimizing Hydrator

Even though I've been using this product for months it's never made it into my favourites. It's a bit of a quiet, modest worker in that you don't notice what good it's doing to your skin until you stop using it for a few days. It's hydrating, but feels incredibly light and layers well with any other skincare product I might throw at it. While it's not exactly on the cheap end of the spectrum a little goes a long way. I've been using this particular tube for about six months and I'm not even halfway through it yet. Click here to read a full review.

OPI RapiDry Review

This was an "on-a-whim" purchase. Originally I wanted to buy a bottle of Seche Vite, but I would have had to order that online, whereas OPI's version was right there in a shop, stood in front of my nose, just waiting to be taken to a better home where it would get all the love it deserves.

Hier handelt es sich um einen Spontaneinkauf. Eigentlich wollte ich ja eine Flasche Seche Vite, aber die hätte ich im Internet bestellen müssen. Im Gegezug dazu stand die OPI Version schön in einem Geschäft, gleich vor meiner Nase, und wartete darauf in ein liebevolles Zuhause mitgenommen zu werden.

 

OPI RapiDry is a top coat which is supposed to dramatically shorten the drying time of any nail polish it is applied over. Now, I'm a serial complainer about how much time you have to set aside for applying nail polish - it's impossible for me to sit still for two hours without fiddling about with my hands and causing chips and smudge marks on wet nail polish.

OPI RapiDry ist ein Überlack, der die Trockenzeit von Lacken, über die er aufgetragen wird, dramatisch verkürzen soll. Ich beschwere mich ja gerne schon mal drüber, wie zeitaufwendig Nägel lackieren sein kann - für mich ist es unmöglich, zwei Stunden lang still dazusitzen ohne mit den Händen rumzufummeln und somit Schäden am Lack zu verursachen.

 

We shall start with the positives: It works. It genuinely works! You do need to wait about 10 minutes for the top layer of your nail polish to dry, or otherwise you're gonna drag it around with the RapiDry brush and cause streaks. Alternatively, if you're really impatient (like me) you can just dot on huge blobs of the top coat and avoid the streaking issue that way. If you opt for the latter it will take about 15 minutes till your nail polish is rock hard. Feel free to do whatever you want with your hands, without having to worry about ruining all your hard work.
When I first used this I was so excited I couldn't stop telling everyone about it. Why on earth has nobody told me about this before?? Think of all that time I've wasted with my hands flapping about like a T-Rex, too scared to touch anything! Think of all the agony when I really, really wanted a piece of chocolate but was too afraid to get any because my nail polish was drying! Those times are gone! Forever!

Beginnen wir mit dem Positiven: Es funktioniert. Es funktioniert wirklich! Man sollte etwa 10 Minuten warten, bis die oberste Lackschicht angetrocknet ist, sonst zieht man mit dem Bürstchen am Lack und verursacht Streifen. Solltet ihr jedoch wirklich ungeduldig sein (wie ich), könnt ihr auch dicke Klekser auf den Nagel geben und somit das Streifenproblem umgehen. Solltet ihr die letztere Methode wählen, dauert es etwa 15 Minuten bis der Lack steinhart ist. Man kann machen, was man möchte, ohne all die harte Arbeit zu ruinieren.
Als ich den Topcoat das erste Mal benutzt habe, war ich so begeistert, dass ich nicht aufhören konnte, davon zu schwärmen. Warum hat mir bislang niemand hiervon erzählt?? Denkt an all die Zeit, die ich verschwendet habe mit meinen T-Rex-ähnlichen Hängeärmchen, weil ich so viel Angst hatte, etwas zu berühren! Denkt an all den Schmerz, als ich richtig, richtig Lust auf Schokolade hatte, mir aber keine holen konnte, weil mein Nagellack trocknete! Diese Zeiten sind vorbei! Für immer!

 

Well, if you've watched Some Like It Hot, you'll know that "Nobody's Perfect". RapiDry isn't perfect, either. For a start, it's a little stinker. Think really bad nail polish smell that gives people headaches and mulitply it by ten. I could actually still smell it on my nails a whole day after applying it, so make sure you open a window before you use it or apply it somewhere with lots of fresh air.
Secondly, it doesn't get on with all of my nail polishes. I wasn't too sure at first, but after using it a couple of times I realised that it causes some polishes to chip faster, rather than prolong wear time like a top coat should. My nail polish always cracks about 4mm down from the tip and eventually flakes off, about a day or two after application. This doesn't happen with every nail polish (so far, Model's Own did the best in surviving a coat of RapiDry), but I still feel this is a major set back, as I don't particularly feel like buying myself a new nail polish collection, just cause RapiDry doesn't like some of them. You gain some, you lose some - application becomes much easier and faster, but in return you have to reapply nail polish much more often. For me, I'm going to carry on using it, but probably won't repurchase and try a bottle of Seche Vite next, even if I do have to place an online order for it.

Wer "Manche mögen's heiß" gesehen hat, der weiß: "Niemand ist vollkommen". Auch RapiDry nicht. Zum einen ist er ein kleiner Stinker. Denkt an richtig üblen, kopfschmerz-erregenden Nagellackgeruch und verzehnfacht ihn, dann seid ihr da. Ich konnte ihn einen ganzen Tag nach dem Auftrag immer noch riechen, also sollte man darauf achten, ein Fenster zu öffnen oder ihn überhaupt an einem gut belüfteten Ort zu benutzen.
Zum anderen verträgt er sich nicht mit all meinen Lacken. Erst war ich nicht ganz sicher, doch nach mehrmaligem Auftragen habe ich festgestellt, dass manche Lacke durch ihn schneller abblättern. Dabei sollte ein Topcoat doch eigentlich die Tragezeit verlängern. Mein Lack bekommt erst etwa 4mm von der Spitze entfernt einen Riss und dann blättert alles innerhalb von einem bis zwei Tagen ab. Das passiert nicht mit jeder Marke (bislang überlebte Model's Own die Behandlung mit RapiDry noch am längsten), doch trotzdem ist das für mich ein großes Manko. Mir ist nicht unbedingt danach, meine gesamte Nagellacksammlung zu ersetzen, nur weil RapiDry nicht alle Marken mag. "You gain some, you lose some" - der Auftrag wird zwar viel einfacher und schneller, dafür muss man auch viel öfter neu lackieren. Ich persönlich werde ihn zwar bestimmt zu Ende benutzen, doch statt ihn nachzukaufen probiere ich nächstes Mal doch lieber den Seche Vite, auch wenn ich ihn online bestellen muss.