Kiko Gel Look Topcoat

While I was in Kiko this visit I decided to try one of their topcoats to see how it fared in comparison to my current favourites.  I decided to try their Gel Look topcoat as an assistant had given me a demonstration of it on a previous visit and it seemed both fast drying and nicely shiny.

It was 4,90 euros in Spain and is available on the Kiko UK site for £4.90 - here.

Here's what Kiko have to say about it:

Ultra shine and fast-drying gel top coat.

A professional formulation to set and prolong the polish's hold, with a special "acrylic nails" effect and an extra-shine result.

Thanks to the professional flat brush, application is fast and easy.

Gel Look is formulated without adding abrasive ingredients such as Toluene, Camphor, DBP or Formaldehyde.

Hypoallergenic = formulated to ensure minimum instance of allergic reactions.
 

I was pretty impressed with how quickly the topcoat dried and it does leave a nice glossy finish on the nails, my polish lasted really well while I was wearing it too which is always a bonus, even though I was in and out of the sea and pool regularly.

The one small criticism I have of this top coat is that it seems prone to bubbling.  As you take the brush in and out of the bottle it seems to create small air bubbles in the polish which are then transferred onto your nails, although you can remove most of these by sweeping them off the nail any that remain end up leaving a little circular hole in your polish which really doesn't look good at all.

Although this didn't happen on every finger of every manicure it did happen fairly often which disappointed me a little, I was careful with application after I first noticed the issue so I don't think it's due to my technique.

It may however be due to weather, the heat in Spain seems to make polish much harder to work with - I often find colours don't apply quite so well while I'm out there as they do when I get them back to cool, damp Scotland - so I am keen to try this topcoat out now I'm back in the UK and see if the bubbles are heat related.

Overall this is not a bad topcoat at all, bubbling aside, but I'm not sure I would buy another bottle when Sally Hansen's Insta Dri is available for a similar price.