I don’t usually mess about with my nails but I recently came across a very interesting product (to me) that prompted me to dig out my long forgotten nail polishes again. They’d been so long forgotten I’d forgotten where I put them all LOL! Yes, I’m hopeless with nails.
But when I mess about with my nails, I want it to be quick. I don’t want to sit around for ages like a tai-tai waving my hands in the air or blowing on them to make them dry more quickly. Previously, I’d use Seche Vite but then I was introduced to this interesting product from Sephora.
The product is the Sephora brand Express Drying Oil and it’s supposed to be a product for quickly drying your nail polish. In 1 minute, they claim. Yes, colour me intrigued!
I’ve never tried something like this before, other than Seche Vite, have you?
Unlike Seche Vite, which you have to paint on over your nail polish, This Sephora Express Drying Oil is very easily applied. You literally just drip on 1 drop over your nail and go on your way!
The product is easily picked up via its glass dropper and rubber stopper at the top which regulates the dispensation of the oil quite easily.
Yes, this is an oil. A clear oil and yes, it can make your fingers a wee bit oily, but it dries up quickly without too much fuss so it doesn’t bug me.
To use this is very easy.
- Paint your nails in your usual manner.
- Angle your fingers downwards by about 45°
- Pick up the Sephora Express Drying Oil in the dropper and drop 1 drop on each nail.
- Allow the oil to flow down your nail from nail bed to tip.
- Done!
I used it on my forefinger on the right which you can see looks a bit shinier than the other 2 fingers. What I did notice also is that the oil not only does dry your polish (touch dry in about 1 minute) but it also gives it a nice glossy shine.
I like how quick and easy it was to work with – how hard is it to drip a product eh? – and unlike Seche Vite, it won’t dry out or thicken. I also found that sometimes, Seche Vite, being a paint on product, can sometimes disturb my nail colour but because this using just gravity and liquid, it won’t disturb your polish at all. It also doesn’t add an extra layer of product to your nail, so you won’t get the problem of shrinkage.
All things considered, if I were into painting my nails, I’d definitely stick to using this Express Drying Oil simply because it’s just so easy and quick and effortless to get quick-dry, shiny nails 😀
In a nutshell
The Sephora Express Drying Oil is a product that is made to help polish dry more quickly. Just drop 1 drop of the oil on your freshly painted nail angled at a 45° angle and it’ll be touch-dry in about 1 minute or less. The oil also gives nail colours a nice shine and gloss. I find this much easier to use than a paint-on product as it doesn’t mess up the nail colour and there’s no shrinkage.
Pros: Affordable, Easy to use, Dries nail polish to touch dry in 1 minute or less, Gives nails a nice shine, Doesn’t mess up freshly painted nail polish, No smell
Cons: Fingers may get oily but it dries fairly quickly
Who will like this: Anyone who paints their nails often and doesn’t have the patience to wait for them to dry, Anyone who experiences shrinkage with Seche Vite
The difference between this Sephora Express Drying Oil and Seche Vite, I imagine, is that the latter is more of a top coat product, that protects your nail colour so it lasts longer. The Oil however, doesn’t perform this function as there’s no real “top coat” per se layered over. What it will do is help your nail polish dry more quickly and add shine. So which you opt for will depend on what you want. I lean to the latter simply because I don’t care to keep polish on for days at a time. If I do paint my nails, it lasts me a maximum of 2 days before I get impatient and clean the colour off so the Express Drying Oil suits me fine 🙂
Have you tried this oil? Do you use a quick-dry top coat if you paint your nails?
I have to say that I was very intrigued by this oil because I’d never come across a similar product. But then, I’m not a nail polish afficionado so maybe I’m just not very educated in this area – why not educate me? 😉
Paris B
Sephora Express Drying Oil Price: RM35/7ml Availability: Sephora stores
Oh this sounds good! The price sounds alright too! I’m so impatient with nails, I feel like I’m wasting a good part of my day just painting and waiting for my nails to dry, and even after they’re sort of dry, they’re not >:(
I wonder whether it also dries out your nails though. . .
Hmm I don’t use nail polish a lot so I really can’t tell you if it’ll dry out your nails, Applegal. For the rare times when I do paint, I like it to just work quickly so I don’t have to wait around but if you paint your nails a lot, it might be a cause for concern I’d agree. I can’t help you there I’m afraid.
OH YES! This product is amazing! Especially since I like to paint my nails before bed, this helps prevent the fabric imprints I get on my polish the morning after. 😀
You can use it in between coats of polish so it works well after topcoat too. :)b
Yay! Someone else who’s tried this product and likes it 🙂 Thanks for sharing the tip about using it after top coat too. Probably helps that dry faster too! Oh and I so get you about getting fabric prints on nails – really, it should be a trend coz it’s the easiest nail “art” to achieve LOL
There are a fair variety of these kinds of nail polish drying oils (everyone seems to make them, OPI, Sally hansen and Essie from the top of my head) but I’ve never given them a shot because I use Seche vite. I need to top coat and I find that needing to use the oil, wait for it to dry, wash off residue and top coat again to be a huge hassle that I’d rather avoid when painting my nails at 11 PM haha. I’ve also read that the oiliness of the drops make it a pain to do anything after using the drops because the oil just gets on everything you touch.
Seche also hides all the divets/ridges on my nails and poor brush work (especially on my dominant hand)! I would give this a try if I hadn’t already discovered the holy grail-ness of Seche!
As an interesting extra, Michelle of Lab Muffin did a post about how these quick dry drops work! http://www.labmuffin.com/2014/03/fact-check-friday-how-do-quick-dry.html (There is real science behind next to instant nail polish drying)!
Thanks for the link Sam! That’s interesting!
Will have to take your word for you Sam, since I’m a nail polish doofus haha 😀 I liked Seche Vite I’d agree and you’re right about how it seems to “even out” the polish even if I’ve done a bad job of it. Maybe what I should do is apply polish, apply Seche Vite then drip a drop. Double quick drying! LOL
This reminds me of the OPI Nail Drip Dry! Apparently its a favourite for those Yotube gurus that I watch. I have tried the Drip Dry, but not the Sephora one, I imagine its a cheaper version of the OPI one? These things are a blessing for those of us who are rush rush all the time, but in my opinion, like all art nail painting takes time, so I think I’ll just wait around for my nail polish to dry, and anyways, these days most polishes dry rather fast don’t they? 😀
PS: The manicure in the last pic is gorgeous! 🙂
PPS: Do I see a background change in the site? <3
Gosh Shasha, I didn’t even know other brands did this! LOL That’s how little I know about nail stuff but I’ll take your word for it. I don’t deny that painting nails is an art in itself, which is why I don’t do it. Art isn’t my forte 😉 But for those who do enjoy it then these quick dry things are probably like fast food right? 😀 I don’t see a background change – I think it’s an ad (which really shouldn’t be there! Let me check)
I use a similar product from Essence. Cheap but very hard to find! Shall try this next time when the Essence one runs out. Love the colour on your nails, a-england St George?
Spot on Christine! St. George it is – one of my favourites from the brand 🙂 Thanks for letting us know about Essence having a similar product 😀
I am hopeless with nails, too! I have tried some quick dry coats too, but I dunno I just dont find them impressive. Maybe I was expecting too much, as in, as quick as lightning! Anyway I gave up, I have nails coloured only when I have all the time for myself.
Oh this is pretty quick as lightning Liyeun 😉 Perfect for those days when you want a quick manicure but are just far too lazy to mess around too much. Or if you’re like me and don’t care about top coats and stuff coz you’d clean it off almost immediately then this is great. I don’t even paint my nails at all these days. Just not something I’m into 🙂
This sounds interesting! I’ve tried spray-on types (from Daiso, haha) to make nail polish dry faster, and been using Seche Vite for years, but i’ve never heard or tried drying oil before. One thing I’m curious about – does it have the added benefit of moisturizing the fingers/cuticles like cuticle oil?
Hey Laura, it says that it also helps nourish the cuticles so that’s an added bonus right? 🙂 I don’t wear a lot of nail polish so I didn’t test this out for long periods to see if it does do what it says but that’s what they say 🙂
Hey Paris, I have tried something like this from OPI when I get my manis done, but I don’t own a bottle! I don’t mess with my nails that often, either. I’ve tried Seche Vite, but my favorite top coat is the Dior one! I am on my third bottle (it was reformulated at the end of last year as Top Coat Abricot). It dries incredibly fast, and I like how I can use it all the way to the end with not too much of a thickening problem (used to own a bottle of OPI. Man, I think I threw half a bottle away because it required SO MUCH THINNING). I like their Gel Coat and I use it systematically on my toes, but on my nails I usually don’t have the patience. It does provide excellent wear AND shine though!
Gosh Sunny I can’t remember the last time I had a manicure! 😀 I am so bad with my nails coz I tend to forget I have polish on and then I’d go do silly things like pick at a stapler 😛 I’ve heard so much about the Dior top coat! I remember it came out last year right? And everyone was in love with it. I thought of trying it but didn’t in the end because I realised nails weren’t my forte but it’s definitely one to bear in mind for those who do paint their nails a lot I’m sure! Quick trying top coats are a God send 🙂
WAIT. We don\’t have that here T_T
I’m puzzled too Xiao! But I checked and apparently, there’s a product under the X line that might be the same? I’m not sure but it’s strange isn’t it?
I\’ve used an express dry from Salley Hansen. I don\’t have patience to sit and wait for my nails to dry.. These are saviours
I agree Hina! I think few of us have the time and luxury to wait for our nails to air dry every time we paint them 🙂
I tried something similar from Essence, but the drops slid off all over my hands and turned them into a sticky mess! Eww. They did dry the nail polish very fast though! I’ve since thrown it away, but you make me want to give this kind of product another go.
Eww that isn’t nice at all Gio! This one, being an oil and liquid does slide down to the fingers but it cleans off very easily and isn’t too thick nor too oily. If you have a chance, then check it out in store and see if you like the texture 🙂
This is awesome! I love Sephora’s in-house stuff! They’re so underrated, and no one really talks about them. I’ll be picking this up on my next trip!
I haven’t tried many Sephora in house products but I’ve read a lot of raves for many of them. I suppose they can’t be doing too badly can they? And above all, they’re affordable!
This sounds like it was made for me. I’m lazy, and I HATE waiting for my nails to dry. I haven’t been able to find the Seche Vite top coat for the life of me, so this will have to do. Though I’m not a fan of oily fingers, it is good to hear it disappears after a while.
It doesn’t get terribly oily if you use just 1 drop Joann 🙂 It doesn’t bug me but then things like this rarely do. I just like how quick it is to drop vs apply a top coat, but that said, you will still need a top coat with this one unless you aren’t fussed 🙂
Such express drying oil doesn’t work for me. My manicurist used it before on my nails but before I even step out of the shop, I already smudged it. HAHA.
Haha you must have resistant nails 😛 They’re usually touch dry after a coat/drop but it doesn’t get really dry so if you press hard on it or scrape it, it’ll still smudge.
LOL on tai-tai! HAHAHAHAHA
I used to soak my nails in cold water (actually, just normal tap water would do) for a few minutes before all these quick drying formula surfaced to the market! :p
Your green nail polish reminds me of the spicy fried seaweed snack from Tao Kae Noi brand. :p I can stuff a jumbo pack down in one go!
I’ve heard of the cold water trick! Probably the most cost effective way to dry nails quickly haha! Mmm Tao Kae Noi seaweed. Remind me not to share with you eh? 😛