Standing in line at the bank to see a teller. Downloading a new software. Boiling water for the pasta. We play the waiting game all the time. The last thing we want to do is also wait for our manicure to dry.
This is where the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat comes in. It knows you want to lock in the color right here and right now. But it’s not down and dirty – it’s clear and glossy like glass.
With the Seche Vite topcoat, dings or sheet marks on your manicure are a thing of the past. After discovering this gem years ago, it has completely changed (improved!) my polish routine, and I can’t imagine painting my nails without this stuff!
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat Pictures
This is the funnel that comes with the Professional Kit
Claims: TRUSTED
√ Fast-drying
√ Non-yellowing
√ Leaves nails silky, stronger & resistant to chipping & peeling
? Penetrates through the nail lacquer to the base coat & forms a single solid coating over the nail plate
Key Notes
- Name: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
- Sizes Available: Regular-size bottle of polish (14 mL) & Professional Kit (14 mL + 118 mL + funnel)
- What I Paid: $18.15 USD for the Seche Vite Professional Kit (from Trans Design)
- Where to Buy: Trans Design, Head2Toe, 8ty8Beauty, Sally Beauty Supply & select beauty-supply stores
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat Ingredients
Butyl Acetate, Toluene, Cellulose Acetate Butyrate, Isopropyl Alcohol, Trimethyl Pentanyl Disobutyrate & Benzophenone-1
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat Review
In the bottle, it looks like your Average Joe top coat – it’s clear, it promises to deliver shine, and it claims to dry nail polish stat. Well, guess what? It passes the polygraph test with flying colors!
When I read rave Seche Vite reviews on nail forums years ago, I wasn’t so quick to believe the hype. As usual, I needed to test-drive it for myself to determine how well it performed. To my pleasant surprise, the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat quickly became my Holy Grail Product.
I’m a nocturnal polisher – I never paint my nails in the day. Normally, I’d have to wait several hours before going to bed to avoid the dreaded sheet marks that ruin your hard work. But with the Seche Vite Dry Fast topcoat, I could literally go to bed in 30 minutes and wake up to perfectly polished tips! It’s amazing! Instead of just drying the surface of the polish (which seems to be my experience with most other quick-dry top coats), the Seche Vite fast drying topcoat dries everything rock-hard!
And ohhh, the shine! It’s glossy glassy perfection that intensifies glitters, brings matte neons to life, and generally makes any lacquer look better. Plus it seems to reinforce my nails so they feel stronger. (My nails are already strong, but with this stuff, they’re ridiculously tough!)
Of course, over time, the formula gets thick. You’ll notice that by mid-bottle, the consistency gets goopy and harder to manage. Don’t throw it out! There’s another product called Seche Restore – you need just a few drops and Seche Vite springs back to its youthful hay days. Good as new!
Application is easy, although I’ve heard some people complain about how it’s tricky. The only ‘trick’ is to get a lot of Seche Vite on your brush for each nail. It self-levels very well, so don’t worry if you accidentally put a bit too much in one section of your nail. However, if you go crazy and really put a crap ton too much, it could cause your lacquer to wrinkle.
Now for the smell – it’s terrible, but did you really expect it to smell like fresh lilac blossoms? Didn’t think so. Seche Vite top coat has a strong, chemical smell that punches you in the face. When it dries, it’s gone. But when wet, watch out…and make sure you use it in a well-ventilated room to avoid getting high.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat can cause polish shrinkage. Although they recommend you apply this to wet nails, I discourage this. Every time I’ve done this, I’ve had major polish shrinkage. The key (in my experience) is to wait about 5 minutes after you’ve painted your last coat (and make sure you wrap your tips – that is, paint the free edge of your nail, too). Then use this magical stuff. You won’t get any shrinkage this way.
Some people have said that the Seche Vite topcoat makes their nail polish just chip off in sheets. That has never happened to me, so I think maybe Seche doesn’t play well with certain base coats or colored lacquer formulas. (I’ve used Nail Tek Ridge-Filling Base Coat Foundation III and Creative Nail Design (CND) Sticky Base Coat without any problems.)
Seche isn’t Big-3-free – it actually contains Toluene. There’s controversy surrounding using non-Big-3-free formulas. If this is an issue for you, don’t use this product. (I clearly don’t care because I paint my nails and know the potential risks of using polish chemicals and breathing in the nasty fumes.) Be a smart shopper, and do your research whenever you’re in doubt.
You may remember me raving about the Nubar Diamont Seal & Shine Topcoat a while ago. It was my favorite…until they changed the formula. Now it’s watery, doesn’t dry as fast, and is too thin – I tried 3 coats of the new formula over a gritty polish and it didn’t smooth it out as much as I’d like. So now I’m back to using my first love – Seche Vite! And now I’ve learned my lesson – never stray when you’ve got it good.
Pros
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Cons
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Final Verdict: 10/10
The Seche Vite quick drying top coat is a must-try. Trust me – it will change the way you polish your nails. You’ll save time and your manicure!
Have you tried this top coat? What’s your Holy Grail fast-drying top coat?
This product was Mary’s winner for the 2010 Nailed It Award!
I saw a comment on one of your posts but can’t remember which one it was, so I figured I would come here to comment about this because people seem concerned that it’s not big-3-free. I myself use Essie’s “Good to Go” quick dry top coat. I too paint my nails before bed and always wondered how to stop the sheet marks from being on my nails in the morning. Ever since I started using Essie’s top coat I have not had the problem with the sheet marks. I have never used Seche Vite so I don’t know how it compares application/consistancy-wise, but if you’re concerned about the ingredients, definitely try Essie’s top coat! I love it and will probably use it forever
It does take a couple minutes, depending on the coat thickness, to fully dry but after the time spent painting my nails in the first place, I don’t mind waiting an extra couple minutes to let the top coat work its magic 
Hey Erica!
Good to know that the Essie top coat is working out well for you.
I’m sure that you’ve helped a lot of my readers. As for myself, I’m a die-hard Seche Vite fan! 
Hey! I was wondering if regular nail thinner works in Seche Vite?? I am not sure if I want to purchase Seche anymore after I have tried Poshe which is just as awesome as Seche Vite to me and its 3 free. Anyway I am not sure if I want to fork out money on the restore if I can’t use it on any other polish. Also I love your animated posts. Awesome!
Hey Mrs. Moore!
I’m glad you enjoy my posts, even when I’m silly!
Hmm…I’ve never tried thinning out Seche Vite with a regular thinner. Seche says that Seche Restore is the only thing that can bring Seche to its original consistency. I’m very skeptical of that, though. I have a feeling that other thinners would work just fine, but Seche obviously wants people to buy their products so they make more money. If you try it, I suggest only trying it out on a small portion (not the whole bottle) just in case.
It’s good that you enjoy using Poshe. I tried it back in 2008 and found that it was much thinner than Seche and didn’t dry as fast. I do like how it’s big-3-free, though. That’s the interesting thing about nail polish – what doesn’t work for someone works miracles for another person!
I’m happy to hear that you found a good top coat that you love using!
Anybody have any updates on whether or not regular thinner works for bringing Seche Vite back to life?
I have not checked out the ingredients of Seche Restore but will compare to other thinners and report back!
On a related note: how is thinner different than just regular ol’ nail polish remover?
Hey Vicki!
I still have only used Seche Restore. If any readers out there know, please let Vicki and everyone else know.
From what I understand: Thinner actually adds an ingredient that has evaporated from the polish (which is what makes the polish dry out). The thinner can bring the polish back to having a brand-new consistency…until that ingredient in the polish dries up. Then you can keep adding a bit of thinner to bring it back.
Nail-polish remover actually breaks down the nail polish, so even if it works in a pinch, over time, it actually ruins the polish and it may not work well anymore after that. And if you keep trying to add remover, it won’t make your polish better…just worse.
I also love SV and it has totally changed how I do my nails as well. I know it’s not big 3 free, but I’m ok with that. It does get really goopy halfway through but I do use my regular nail polish thinner and it’s worked fine. Mary’s right that some things work well for some and not others, but for me the big bottle of Beauty Secrets brand thinner (found at Sally’s) worked great. I’m about to add a little more actually cuz it’s getting goopified again. Hope this helps!
Nicole recently posted: Attempted dot ombre nail art- not quite ombre but cute!
Hey Nicole!
I’m glad that you also love Seche Vite – there are lots of people who won’t touch it because it’s not big-3-free, but it doesn’t bother me. It’s a personal choice, though.
Good to know that the Beauty Secrets thinner works to thin this and that you don’t necessarily need Seche Restore (which is what I use). Thank you for chiming in!
I’m sure that my readers find this information very useful! 
I’ve never tried it but i would not recommend it to anyone because of the toluene it contains. See for yourself how bad it is on the Cosmetic Database. I would rate this product 0/10 because of it!
Hi Stephanie! You definitely have valid concerns. I already know that it contains Toluene and the health risks involved. It’s mentioned in the post.
While I’m fine with using Seche Vite, I understand that some people don’t think the potential risk is worth glossy nails. It’s extremely important for shoppers to be smart and do their research before jumping in.
(P.S. For those who want to avoid this ingredient, make sure you check all your older bottles of polish because it was pretty commonly used. These days, more companies are excluding Toluene, but some still put it in. My advice? Always check the ingredients!)