essie gel couture rock the runway Review

essie gel couture rock the runway swatch

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rock the runway 270 is one of essie’s best selling gel couture colors. gel couture is essie’s long wear nail polish line that consists of a two part system - a color and top coat.

rock the runway is a bright, warm-toned red jelly sheer nail polish, very similar to OPI’s Art Walk in Suzi’s Shoes. You get even, medium coverage in two coats.

The steps to apply this, and all essie gel couture polishes, are:

1. Clean and prep the nail bed

2. Apply two coats of the gel couture color, giving each coat 5-10 minutes to dry in between coats

3. Apply one coat of the gel couture top coat, wait 5-10 minutes for it to dry

4. Clean up, admire your work of art and you’re done!

There is no base coat with this line, which adds simplicity to the manicure process. 

To get the longest wear from base coat-free systems like gel couture, make sure the nail bed is oil-free, dry and clean of all debris before you add the first coat of color.

After cleaning your nails, wipe the nail bed with one final swipe of 100% pure acetone (like Onyx Professional Remover) or alcohol to make sure the nail bed is clean and dry. The cleaner and drier the nail bed is, the greater adherence you’ll get. Let’s look at some essie gel couture rock the runway swatches:

essie gel couture rock the runway swatch

essie gel couture rock the runway swatch

essie gel couture rock the runway swatch

essie gel couture rock the runway swatch

How long does essie gel couture last?

essie does not list a gel couture long wear time guarantee on their FAQ page or gel couture sales page.

However on Ulta’s sales page, the gel couture promise is:

“gel like finish + longwear for up to 14 days* no chipping, no UV lamp needed, no harsh removal *reapplication of top coat at day 7”

In our experience, you can get at least a week's worth (7 days) of color out of one rock the runway manicure with light maintenance. If needed, you may have to touch up the tip wear and refresh the top coat 1-2 times throughout the weartime.

In the color swatches above, the tips were touched up with color and the gel couture top coat was reapplied on days 3 and 6.

By the end of day 7, it was simply time to switch up the color. The tips still had light wear on the edges, but there was no major chipping or peeling, and the color was mostly still intact.

This wear is impressive, especially given that many regular wear nail polishes today provide only 4 days of wear, at best.

To end, rock the runway is a bright, vibrant red with a reliable amount of weartime. 

You could realistically apply it at the start of a week and it could last you until the end of the week. In the swatches above, the color was applied on a Thursday (shown) and removed that following Thursday.

It’s sheer enough to give the color some depth, but full enough coverage that you still feel like you’re wearing a bold color - and it lasts at least a week with light maintenance.

Get essie gel couture rock the runway at Ulta HERE Get essie gel couture rock the runway and top coat set at Ulta HERE

Depending on the usage of your nails and what you are doing with your hands while wearing this color, your results may vary.

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