Ciaté Speed Dry Top Coat Review (+ Lightning Nail Art)

So the other day my Mummy came home with a little present for me in the shape of Ciaté's Speed Dry top coat from TK Maxx (I'll be doing a whole entire post about my bargain beauty buying in a week or two so you can learn my secrets LOL) and of course I wanted to see how it measured up to my usual Seche Vite or Instadri so I though I'd try it out with some nail art made with other Ciaté polishes I have.  I don't have many (which is a shame) but the two shades I do have complement each other really well so it worked out great.  Pop on under the cut to see more photos and read about how I found this top coat :-)

Ciaté Cream Soda and Loop the Loop

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So the top coat is obviously billed as a fast drying top coat, to compete with the likes of Seche Vite and Instadri.  When I used the top coat, I was really surprised by how quickly it did dry, within 5 minutes and it did give a good gloss to the overall manicure.  It's a thinner formula than either Seche Vite or Instadri so I found that my nail art did drag a little bit so be careful of that.

For the nail art, I looked at the grey and lemon shades and immediately saw this design.  It's a little rough around the edges but I like to see it as abstract LOL!  Loop the Loop is a little thin so that's why I used white underneath to add a little bit of definition underneath.  I used my standard nail art brush for this look and it took a little bit of time but I really do like the look of it.

With an RRP of more than Seche Vite and Instadri, Ciaté Speed Dry promises to be a cracking alternative top coat, does it live up to the price point?  Yes and no.  It really does dry your polish extremely fast gives a great shine without the compromise of shrinking your nail art that can sometimes happen with Seche Vite.  On the downside, there is a little bit of drag because the formula is a lot thinner than my other top coats so I'd probably use this for plain nails on the go or for nail art that's dried for an hour or two.  The next day there were no pillow marks or smudges so it firmly stays in place.

I (or rather my Mummy) picked this up for £3.99 in TK Maxx so for that price, it's definitely worth picking up and it might become a repurchase as well!  What do you think of more 'premium' top coats, are they worth the money?  Let me know in the comments below and be sure to follow, like and subscribe by the sites below, until next time :D

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