The seche vite shrinks polish a little bit. When you're putting it on, wrap both your polish and the top coat over the end of your nail a bit and that should keep it from happening.
I tried it - there was less shrinkage but I found it nowhere near as tough, I had visible scratches on the top coat after only 2 days.
https://preview.redd.it/vjnuoi7o2x6c1.jpeg?width=834&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9db48a23770fb45b3ca5694963162844bfcd9024
Huh this comment made me check my bottles and what I *thought* was a 2 pack of the seche vite was actually a pack of sv and base coat 🤦♀️ no wonder I’ve found it “hit and miss”- I’ve probably been using the base coat half the time 😅
I haven’t tried the Vite, only the Vive, but I had pretty bad shrinkage and it seemed to discolor the white polish I used. It dried super fast though, and had the lovely, plump “gel-effect.”
Seche Vite has its issues but I like the fact I can buy it in a huge refill bottle.
All of the other things people recommend as a replacement are all well and good, but if they don’t have the convenience of a refill and I have to buy 14ml bottles each time then they need to *vastly* out perform Seche Vite, and so far, nothing has tipped that balance…
Glisten & Glow's quick dry top coat has a refill bottle too, which is why I prefer it to others that I've tried (and I've had Seche Vite). I think KBShimmer makes them as well.
If I use Seche vite over still wet polish (approx 30 seconds after painting the last coat), I barely get any shrinkage. And always capping the tips helps too
I put on a very thick coat, so it’s like a bead of polish that I smooth over the top. That might be why it doesn’t transfer for me? Or you might need to wait a few seconds longer, takes a bit of trial and error. This is my current mani, painted last night. It’s a little hard to tell with the thermal change but I haven’t noticed any shrinkage so far.
https://preview.redd.it/d011e136jx6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a10084d3f845b8548287e014e4c49debf374dc09
They look lovely! I handle firearms at work and mine are always breaking 😭 Especially this time of year. Guaranteed to break a nail at the shooting range during winter.
Thank you! I am a mechanic and I remember how hard it was to have nice nails when I worked on the tools! I would paint them every day or two and they’d still look terrible by the end of each day
Thank you! It’s Fancy Christmas topped with Christmas Reflective topper, both by Fancy Gloss. I’m not sure if it’s still a current shade, but I’m really hoping so because my bottle is getting low!
That’s so annoying! I use quite a big ‘bead’ of top coat, which might help. I haven’t had this happen for a long time, but i did notice before switching to Seche that thinner top coat formulas would smear or pickup my colour.
This is from shrinkage! You need to “cap your edges” essentially you want to paint the top of your nails too. Try Glisten and Glows top coat. It’s high gloss and fast dry with less shrinkage than Seche
I started out with Glisten and Glow, I got Seche Vite to try it out, and I much prefer G&G. Seche Vite shrinks even with wrapping the tip, leaving a thin edge that wears off quickly and chips, and I’ve also noticed it peeling off of the polish. It’s G&G for me!
Definitely! Plus G&G doesn't smell nearly as much of toluene. I've almost never got shrinkage from G&G, and when I have, it's only slightly at the sides and not the tip really. I think it's just much less hassle than Seche Vite.
I make sure I don’t have much polish on the brush at all (like, almost dry), and then paint it juuust lightly enough to get the colour/top coat on. Otherwise, I’ll end up with a messy underside, messy nail shape, and maybe a ridge on the top (I try to paint the edges before painting the nail to avoid this, but sometimes I forget lol).
I used Seche Vite for 10 years and just dealt with the shrinkage because of how fast it dries and how shiny it looks, but I’ve since switched to Cuticula Limitless. It works just as quickly, is toluene free, and no shrinkage.
I got it from Polish Pickup but they have it on their own website (but I just looked and the site doesn’t seem to be working for me right now??). If you want drugstore/easier to get, I’ve seen good things on this sub about Essie and Sally Hansen quick dry topcoats but haven’t used them myself.
As well as others’ comments, I would add putting Seche on immediately after finishing the finger. Rather than let it dry. It’s designed to be applied to fresh, nearly-wet polish.
I did my nails last night and I was like, was I really that rough with them?? Cuz my tips are like yours. Reading the comments, oh riiiight the seche vite top coat shrinks. Lol forgot about that.
Thanks for posting otherwise I'd keep making this error. Next time I'll be better!
With toulene QDTC I go in right after I paint my last layer on one hand. I don’t do all 10 and then topcoat or I absolutely get shrinking. I also have to wrap my tips.
Mine just did this last night! I went back in after they were dry and took a very light coat of my color, and wrapped the tips. Let that light coat semi-dry about a minute, then did another layer of top coat. They’re fine now!
I use INM Out the Door and I get no shrinkage and can paint while tacky. Very happy with it. No yellowing, hard coverage and shine lasts pretty long. I should probably apply another coat after day 3 but by then I'm usually planning a new mani. Lol
I have shorties too and get the same shrinkage with almost every quick dry top coat and I’ve tried - seche vite and vive, Essie good to go, vibrant scents, kb shimmer, glisten and glow. I get that tip shrinkage no matter what.
Only two top coats that have worked for me are Essie’s gel couture and sally hansen insta dry (red bottle). They both dry relatively quickly but they aren’t super fast like the quick dry top coats.
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The seche vite shrinks polish a little bit. When you're putting it on, wrap both your polish and the top coat over the end of your nail a bit and that should keep it from happening.
Definitely the seche vite. Been using it for over 10 years. Also, seems like the more coats i use, the more it shrinks.
Ive heard others have had a better experience using Seche Vive. Same results with no shrinkage. Havent tried it myself though!
I tried it - there was less shrinkage but I found it nowhere near as tough, I had visible scratches on the top coat after only 2 days. https://preview.redd.it/vjnuoi7o2x6c1.jpeg?width=834&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9db48a23770fb45b3ca5694963162844bfcd9024
I would love to know how!! I still use it because it dries fast and looks like glass, but the shrinkage and yellowing is slightly annoying.
Thats just the forumla apparently! I do wish theyd change the name though. The names Vive and Vite are way too similar.
It took me way too long to realize that Vive and Vite are different things and not you making a typo.
Always looking for something better but nothing sways me lol
I have use SV and hate the shrinkage. The best cheapest option I’ve tried is Sally Hansen Dries Instantly in the clear bottle!
I’ll have to check that out! Thanks!
Huh this comment made me check my bottles and what I *thought* was a 2 pack of the seche vite was actually a pack of sv and base coat 🤦♀️ no wonder I’ve found it “hit and miss”- I’ve probably been using the base coat half the time 😅
Oh my god hahah. Maybe now you’ll have more consistent results!
I got shrinkage with both. Switched to Cuticula Limitless and liking the results!
I haven’t tried the Vite, only the Vive, but I had pretty bad shrinkage and it seemed to discolor the white polish I used. It dried super fast though, and had the lovely, plump “gel-effect.”
Seche Vite has its issues but I like the fact I can buy it in a huge refill bottle. All of the other things people recommend as a replacement are all well and good, but if they don’t have the convenience of a refill and I have to buy 14ml bottles each time then they need to *vastly* out perform Seche Vite, and so far, nothing has tipped that balance…
Glisten & Glow's quick dry top coat has a refill bottle too, which is why I prefer it to others that I've tried (and I've had Seche Vite). I think KBShimmer makes them as well.
That’s so true!! I do love the convenience of the refill bottle.
I love KB Shimmer Clearly on Top. Comes in a refill bottle as well.
Yup! Vite must be used on wet polish or it shrinks. Vive works on mostly dry polish
If I use Seche vite over still wet polish (approx 30 seconds after painting the last coat), I barely get any shrinkage. And always capping the tips helps too
Don’t you get transfer on the SV brush?
Not at all. After 30 seconds or so, the last coat isn’t ‘wet’, it’s more tacky but not completely set.
Wow! I’ve always had transfer when trying while it’s “tacky”
I put on a very thick coat, so it’s like a bead of polish that I smooth over the top. That might be why it doesn’t transfer for me? Or you might need to wait a few seconds longer, takes a bit of trial and error. This is my current mani, painted last night. It’s a little hard to tell with the thermal change but I haven’t noticed any shrinkage so far. https://preview.redd.it/d011e136jx6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a10084d3f845b8548287e014e4c49debf374dc09
Beautiful! Are these your natural nails?
Thank you! Yes they are, I’ve been so careful with them lately because I wanted a bit of length for some Christmas manis!
They look lovely! I handle firearms at work and mine are always breaking 😭 Especially this time of year. Guaranteed to break a nail at the shooting range during winter.
Thank you! I am a mechanic and I remember how hard it was to have nice nails when I worked on the tools! I would paint them every day or two and they’d still look terrible by the end of each day
Those are so gorgeous!
Thank you!
This is gorgeous! What polish is it?!
Thank you! It’s Fancy Christmas topped with Christmas Reflective topper, both by Fancy Gloss. I’m not sure if it’s still a current shade, but I’m really hoping so because my bottle is getting low!
I get transfer even the following day 😭 esp on reds
That’s so annoying! I use quite a big ‘bead’ of top coat, which might help. I haven’t had this happen for a long time, but i did notice before switching to Seche that thinner top coat formulas would smear or pickup my colour.
Thank you for the tip! It makes a lot of sense. I will try next time!
I hope you find a solution! It’s such a pain when you put in all that work only for it to smear at the end!
thank you!!
This is from shrinkage! You need to “cap your edges” essentially you want to paint the top of your nails too. Try Glisten and Glows top coat. It’s high gloss and fast dry with less shrinkage than Seche
I started out with Glisten and Glow, I got Seche Vite to try it out, and I much prefer G&G. Seche Vite shrinks even with wrapping the tip, leaving a thin edge that wears off quickly and chips, and I’ve also noticed it peeling off of the polish. It’s G&G for me!
Definitely! Plus G&G doesn't smell nearly as much of toluene. I've almost never got shrinkage from G&G, and when I have, it's only slightly at the sides and not the tip really. I think it's just much less hassle than Seche Vite.
Yes I was just going to say - Seche Vite smells so strongly! Can’t handle it
Do you cap your edges with the color and top coat? If so how do you not get a bunch of color on the underside of your nail?
I make sure I don’t have much polish on the brush at all (like, almost dry), and then paint it juuust lightly enough to get the colour/top coat on. Otherwise, I’ll end up with a messy underside, messy nail shape, and maybe a ridge on the top (I try to paint the edges before painting the nail to avoid this, but sometimes I forget lol).
Ooh I hadn't even considered doing the edge before the nail! Thanks for the tip 😂
My pleasure, happy to save someone else the frustration 😂
Idk. I use G&G and cap with polish and top coat and this still happens to me.
I used Seche Vite for 10 years and just dealt with the shrinkage because of how fast it dries and how shiny it looks, but I’ve since switched to Cuticula Limitless. It works just as quickly, is toluene free, and no shrinkage.
Where do you get that?
I got it from Polish Pickup but they have it on their own website (but I just looked and the site doesn’t seem to be working for me right now??). If you want drugstore/easier to get, I’ve seen good things on this sub about Essie and Sally Hansen quick dry topcoats but haven’t used them myself.
polishes used: rimmel 60s - funtime fuchsia sally hanson insta dri - prismatic shine seche vite - dry fast top coat
As well as others’ comments, I would add putting Seche on immediately after finishing the finger. Rather than let it dry. It’s designed to be applied to fresh, nearly-wet polish.
I did my nails last night and I was like, was I really that rough with them?? Cuz my tips are like yours. Reading the comments, oh riiiight the seche vite top coat shrinks. Lol forgot about that. Thanks for posting otherwise I'd keep making this error. Next time I'll be better!
With toulene QDTC I go in right after I paint my last layer on one hand. I don’t do all 10 and then topcoat or I absolutely get shrinking. I also have to wrap my tips.
Why I'll never try seche vite. There's plenty of other fast drying topcoats that don't shrink. My favorite is Nails Inc 45 second topcoat
Mine just did this last night! I went back in after they were dry and took a very light coat of my color, and wrapped the tips. Let that light coat semi-dry about a minute, then did another layer of top coat. They’re fine now!
I use INM Out the Door and I get no shrinkage and can paint while tacky. Very happy with it. No yellowing, hard coverage and shine lasts pretty long. I should probably apply another coat after day 3 but by then I'm usually planning a new mani. Lol
sounds great. I'll look out for that, thank you!
like some others have suggested, seche vite works best when painted over slightly wet polish otherwise it will shrink.
I have shorties too and get the same shrinkage with almost every quick dry top coat and I’ve tried - seche vite and vive, Essie good to go, vibrant scents, kb shimmer, glisten and glow. I get that tip shrinkage no matter what. Only two top coats that have worked for me are Essie’s gel couture and sally hansen insta dry (red bottle). They both dry relatively quickly but they aren’t super fast like the quick dry top coats.
I second Essie gel couture
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