Help me find my nail holy grail

[taybert]

I work in healthcare so only for weekends/holidays/nights out. Would like a reliable DIY option.
Criteria:
1.Easy to apply

1. Quick drying
2. Reasonably hard wearing (I would struggle to get a week out of salon gels....)
3. Easy to remove

Currently do my own gels with sensationail but too much of a faf to do often and if I try to do it quickly they chip straight away. I’ve tried the express stuff and a one step called smart polish but they’re both a nightmare to remove.

Any ideas? I think maybe it doesn’t really exist....

I would love the answer to this. My nails chip in less time than it takes me to do them!

Essie gel couture - total game changer for me. Use with their gel setter top coat; dries super fast and looks just like gel. Bloody love the stuff. Boots often have 3 for 2.

Primark falsies and a decent glue would be solution?

Well, I have used the imPress stick on nails for a night out and they did work quite well but I wouldn’t want them on for say a week for a holiday. I’ve been looking at the Essie stuff scampies, how long do you need to leave between coats and how many coats do you need? Also, you can just remove it with normal remover can’t you?

Another Essie gel couture recci from me. Read about it on here, so I followed the crowd and it really is excellent stuff.

Ok, I’ve ordered some Essie stuff to have a go with at the weekend. Woo!

If you wanted to stick with gels you can get Sensational Transformer - I read about it on a thread in here the other day, so I haven't tried it yet but will as soon as the baby gives me a chance! You just apply normal polish and then use it as a top coat, so that's the only layer that needs curing.

If you'd rather normal polish, Seche Vite topcoat is the holy grail of fast drying top coats as far as I'm concerned, and I get the best wear out of OPI polishes.

Just one coat did it for me and yes, you can take it off it with normal remover. I'm pretty certain you won't be disappointed - I certainly think it lives up to the hype anyway.

Bluesky gel nail varnish is really good if you want to stick with gels. I'm getting a good couple of weeks and I swear I can't get that stuff off even when I want to!

Yeah I’ve tried bluesky that’s the problem though, getting it off is a nightmare! I like the idea of gels because of them being dry after curing but application is tricky and removal is worse. I’m keen to try the Essie stuff.