The Julep brush holds a lot of polish, so it was necessary to wipe it off several times before applying it to the nail. I have a 2.5 oz bottle of OTD, so the brush is very long and hard to handle. I actually use an old Revlon topcoat bottle for OTD instead, because it is smaller and the brush is a little wider; I think it prevents the topcoat from thickening too quickly too.
Both topcoats were dry to the touch within 2 minutes. OTD seemed to cure against dents slightly faster than the Julep topcoat. The major difference between these two topcoats was in terms of shine. If you look at the pictures above, you can clearly see the window grille reflected in the nails painted with OTD, whereas you can only make out the shape of the window in the Julep coated nails.
Let me show you pictures of my nails after 4 days very tough wear (I actually broke 2 nails over the weekend). If you are sensitive to chippy nail polish, please read no further.
First, a disclaimer, that terribly chipped left middle finger was mostly the result of a silk patch falling off my nail. Overall, the two topcoats performed about equally in protecting the manicure from damage. That said, I will continue to use INM Out the Door Fast Drying Topcoat. If I need a bottle, I can just hop in the car and go to Sally's to pick one up and I love a shiny topcoat.
What is your favorite topcoat? What do you like about it?
My next manicure is China Glaze Optical Illusion. I'm wearing both topcoats again to see if there is any difference with the glitter, but I don't think I'll have anything to report on that front.
