Nails Inc Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat Review
 Twitter followers may remember my overzealous tweets about the Nails Inc. Kensington Caviar 45 Second Speedy Dry Top Coat (that’s a mouthful) while I was in Vegas for Cosmoprof. You can’t give a girl like me a product with such significant claims like a 45 second dry time and expect me to wait to try it out.I was very skeptical of this whole “45 Second” thing but they aren’t kidding. Even over multiple layers of polish, I’ll explain that in a second, it dried my CND layering project to the touch in under a minute. Crazy, right? Now I could just say it dries in 45 seconds and expect you to believe me but wouldn’t it be better if I showed you?I put the Kensington Caviar Top Coat to the test for all of you. Not only did it get my standard 5 Day Wear Test but I also shot a VIDEO to show you how fast it really dries. See the results after the jump! |
So here’s a little backstory on my Vegas manicure. You see I was so rushed in getting ready to leave that I did a horrid job on my nails. Smart move when I’m going to see leaders in the nail industry, no? Here I planned to be all trendy and wear a matte mani but in the wee hours of the morning I did such a bad job applying the matte top coat that you could see glossy edges peeking out around my cuticles. So rather than start over, I slapped a layer of glossy top coat over it and called it a day.
Of course, the two top coats didn’t play well together so after two days I had chipping to the point that I couldn’t deal. Rather than waste money on a bottle of polish remover at the gift shop, I added even more layers when I put a couple of the new CND polishes on to cover the mess. Considering all that, I honestly wasn’t expecting much when I put the Nails Inc. top coat on so you can imagine my surprise when my tips were dry to the touch in under a minute and TOTALLY dry in a few minutes. Like I passed out not long after and not a sheet mark was to be found.
So to show you how fast it works, I shot a short video. I’m not really a video tutorial kind of girl but I thought this would be fun. Check it out!
And here’s the final results. You can see the tiny air bubble on my index finger so you know there’s no retouching here. There’s not a fingerprint or wrinkle to be seen. Just pure glossy goodness.
Remember my CND manicure from last week? I used this top coat over it so I could give it a full 5 day test and as you can see, there’s very little tip wear and no chipping. That makes it a WINNER in my book.
The next logical question is where do you get this fabulous product? Well, right now Nails Inc doesn’t have US distributorship. That’s why they were at CosmoProf. So let’s cross our fingers that it finds a home here very very soon. I found a couple sites that carry the line who ship to the US but the costs are VERY high.
Sephora carries Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat at Sephora.com for $15 in the US.
So, who’s tried the Kensington Caviar Top Coat? Thoughts?
Lisa N.
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Oooooohhh!! Being a mom of a toddler and an infant, this is what I need!!! Seche Vite has been an awesome find, but this Kensington Caviar stuff seems even better! I hope it crosses the pond soon!
im from the uk and absolutely love this polish! nails inc is amazing
(the photo you posted at the top is the caviar base coat btw)
I have it in my collection, only realised I had a couple of weeks back lol. I will try it out and let ya know how it goes =).
Ava – you and me both! And I hope that like Illamasqua, the US prices are better than the UK conversion rate.
Anon – Thanks! They have the wrong image on their site and that's what I used. I changed it.
Redz2486 – Oh please do. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thats amazing! You should do more videos
I use this top and base coat regularly and although it dries Nails Inc polishes at top speed it doesn't always dry every brand of polish this quick (sometimes up to a couple of minutes which is still good!) but it is a great hardwearing top coat which I love….and it's not thick and gloopy it's very easy to apply.
Twenty bucks for topcoat? Matches well with twenty bucks for CND polishes.
FWIW, for the video you might demo that the color polish actually is wet when you start–either show the color going on or show that the color still dents to touch.
That is amazing! Thanks for doing the video demo too. It was interesting to see the Nails Inc topcoat in action. I really want to try this topcoat with the Konad! While I love my CND Air Dry, this looks like it would certainly win for dry time. Nails Inc seems to have set a new standard here.
Awesome! I'm going to have to give that a try! It takes forever for my nails to dry and I'm forever wrecking my polish – but this product looks great!
I'm definetely getting this topcoat with my next purchize at lookfantastic.com! Thanks fo the review
Oh gosh, I need this! I end up making sure I'm not going to bed within a couple hours whenever I do my nails, because I have woken up to sheet imprints after using Vite the night before.
wow i need a fast top coat asap! is it really pink like that or is it just lighting? what if you want to use it on a light color like yellow or white?
ps. i didn't realize your nails were so long! they look short in the swatches. either way i like them
Ooohhh, I want this. I can honestly say that it is my inability to wait for my nails to dry that ruins my mani the most. I just can't seem to keep my hands still for that long! Thanks for the great product review.
Thanks for the video demo. The extra work you did is great. I also want to say that I appreciate that you do such a great job on your nails in your blog in general. I have come across some other ones and the paint job looks like a child did it. Keep up the great work!
Sounds great! My question is: Is it compatible with polishes such as Zoya? I know that Seche Vite is not and I'm looking for a quick-dry top coat that is.
great post as always! Nails inc is a very expensive brand so the prices you found weren't that bad. I think a bottle of Nails Inc polish retails in Ireland for 16euro. I tend to buy OPI or china Glaze as it much cheaper and buy the odd bottle of Nails Inc on a special occasion. They are always bang on trend with catwalk inspired colours. My latest buy is called The Thames (a perfect creme grey) and South Molton Street is hands down the best suit all natural pink I can find. I saw this website which seems to stock the products at good prices (cheaper than retail) and the p&p to the US seems good too. I have never used this website so i cant vouch for the service. Also, check out the Leighton Denny polishes on the same website – he also does great catwalk inspired colours Hope it helps x
ps: i am dying to see the China Glaze glitter and the OPI suede collections swatched!
I seriously love this stuff. After seeing the warning labels on Seche Vite I decided to skip it. All the other fast drying top coats are only so lala.
At first I bought the wrong top coat, so make sure when you buy this that you have the right one. The other one seriously sucks.
I have used this with Zoya and MAC polished and they work fine. No shrinkage, nothing. But I need to be careful I do not get bubbles (although they may not be the top coats fault).
Up to now this is seriously gorgeous stuff, love it!
Hi, Yep, tried it, love it and ordering my second bottle, Nails Inc have has some good offers on their website recently for polishes (I’m not affiliated in any way) so it’s been a good way for me to experiment with their colours as they usually retail for
So, I’m a little confused. Do they carry this at CosmoProf (we have them in Canada)?
Unfortunately it didn’t work for me. I have the worst drying time on the whole planet (just like Shattered said) – I plan my mani 4-5 hours before going to bed. Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat takes about 1 hour or more to dry 2 coats of colored polish (applied with base coat under). I tried it both with Nail INK or other polishes like OPI, MAC, China Glaze. ANd I#m sure that I have the right and legit top coat.
I love my Kensington top coat. As a busy mum of twin girls aged three, the only available time slot for doing my nails is just before bed time. Before I was left with sheet marks, now I can sleep the night away and wake up with perfect nails
I have tried it with OPI, Chanel, butter London, Nails Inc., RBL, Lenny Deighton, Illamasqua, Essie – and I haven’t had any significant drying issue with any of these brands.
That’s incredible. I don’t know how many times I’ve thought my nails were dry and given myself big smudges. Thanks for the tip
I’d definitely like to try this but only if I could use a tester first to see how it worked.
Sephora in the USA now carries these products.