lacquered up // julep's new top coat

I've become a big skeptic for various nail products (and all beauty products, for that matter) that claim to do amazing things like, for example, dry my nail polish in a matter of minutes within possibility of smudging or chipping.

Julep has challenged the skeptic in me with their new Freedom Top Coat: this light-curing polymer top coat FINALLY gives you access to the shine of a gel manicure without having to go to the salon or pay $100+ for your own at-home version.  I brushed it on like a regular top coat and admired my nails under a regular floor lamp lightbulb for a few minutes.  I mean, we're talking ambient light here.  All I had to do was sit and watch the end of the Super Bowl while my nails dried in about three minutes.

Now, disclaimer: I JUST applied this top coat a few hours ago and have yet to experience its long-term effectiveness.  But for its quickie dry-time alone, I'm already hooked.

Here's the low-down, straight from Julep:

• Polymer force field protects nail color from chips, dings, and dullness twice as long as regular top coats
• Quick-dry formula cures under regular light in three to five minutes (depending on brightness and proximity to light source); no UV light required
• For best results, cure under a 60-watt light bulb for two minutes and re-apply every two to three days
• Remove with ANY polish remover, including gentle, non-acetone formulas
• Dark sealed bottle keeps light-curing formula safe and pliable
• 4-Free formula contains no formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene or DBP

If you're a Julep Maven, you got one of these bad boys in your February Maven box (along with the Oxygen Nail Treatment, which I have yet to try...); otherwise, it's currently only available for pre-order.  Honestly, I strongly recommend signing up to be a Julep Maven; I always get way more than my money's worth out of my monthly Maven subscription.  Take February, for example: I got two nail lacquers, plus the Freedom Top Coat and Oxygen Nail Treatment, and a handy-dandy eyelash curler (they always throw in a fun, random bonus item like that!).  That's a $64 value, not including the eyelash curler, for $19.99, plus you get amazing discounts on everything else in the Julep shop.  AND they always have a fun monthly theme; in January, it was all about the winter neons; February's theme is "Get on the A-List," and the colors are named after Hollywood A-listers (get it?!) like Julianne Moore and Marion Cotillard.

Anyway.  Back to my original point: get the Freedom Top Coat.  You won't be sorry.  I'm genuinely impressed and I may never use another top coat ever again.

Do you have a favorite nail care product?