Review of Nicole by OPI Top Coats & Treatments for 2014

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to share with you my thoughts on the Nicole by OPI Top Coats and cuticle oil released at the beginning of this year. I wanted to give them a thorough test so I tried them out while swatching and creating nail art with the Nicole by OPI 2014 Nail Lacquers.

3-IN-1 Base, Top Coat & Strengthener
This is an all in one wonder and can be used as either a base coat, top coat or both. I used it as a base coat while swatching the 2014 Nicole by OPI shades and as a top coat for nail art created with those shades. I really like this product a lot. It dries quickly as a base coat and surprisingly fast as a top coat as well. Although obviously it is not as fast as the Quick Dry Top Coat, it was quicker than I expected. It is also thinner than the Quick Dry Top Coat and easy to work with. I could easily use it to seal in nail art without smudging the design as long as I didn't let the brush scrape on the design. For that reason, I used it as a layer between nail art and both the Quick Dry Top Coat for a glossy finish or the Matte Top Coat for a matted look.

It did a great job keeping my nails from getting stained as well. While swatching, Teal Me Something New stained my cuticles, however, the nails barely stained and I suspect the staining would have been much worse if it wasn't for this 3-IN-1 as a base.

I cannot comment on the nail strengthening properties of this as my nails are relatively strong already and I did not notice much difference when using this.

Quick Dry Top Coat
This top coat does exactly what it promises. It dries on the surface very quickly and then dries the rest of the way through. I tested it with all of the new 2014 NOPI shades. Consistency wise, it is a bit thicker than the a 3-IN-1 Top Coat, very similar to Seche Vite. On a few occasions (because I'm a complete klutz), I accidentally bumped my nail less then a minute after applying the top coat and was expecting to find a ruined manicure, but was happily surprised to see it still in tact. On close inspection, I did notice that it left some very subtle brush strokes mostly next to the cuticles. Thick layers did have a tendency to bubble and it tended to smear my nail art if I tried to use a thinner than usual layer. Overall, I think this is a nice quick drying top coat, great for using over a base polish. I didn't notice any shrinkage with this top coat...

Matte Top Coat
A very nice matte top coat. It dries quickly to a soft matte finish. I find it comparable to the Essie Matte About You top coat in how quickly it dries and the finish it provides.

As typical for matte top coats that I have tried in the past, it does smudge stamping and nail art. That slipped my mind when I was doing this diamond nail art, which is why you see the smudged red on the index finger. For the remainder of the nails, I used a layer of the 3-IN-1 then used the Matte Top Coat to keep them nice and crisp...

Similarly for this doodle nail art, I used a layer of 3-IN-1 before applying the Matte Top Coat and had no problems with smudging of the stamping, just perfectly soft matted nails...

Oil to Go
A small tube containing 7.5mL (0.25 Fl. Oz.) of cuticle oil. It features a brush tip similar to a cuticle pen for easy application. Simply gently squeeze the tube until a drop appears at the tip of the brush and then use the brush to apply along the cuticles. The brush is very soft and nice. It has a pleasant scent and does not leave the fingers feeling greasy.

My tube appears to be defective as you can see in the shot above, so I have been hesitant to toss it in my purse for the fear that it might tear. I have been using this a lot at home and plan to get another one to use on the go :)

I hope you find this review helpful!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Top Coats and Treatments were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **