Essie Gel Couture: The Two-Step System, Plus What To Wear With It

In 1989, the Queen's hairdresser wrote to essie asking for a shade called Ballet Slippers. He said it was the only colour Her Majesty would wear. That story comes from essie's own timeline, so take it as the brand's telling, but I love it anyway: a shade named after a dancer's shoe, requested on behalf of a queen.

That is the essie idea in one letter. Essie Weingarten started the company in 1981 and took her first twelve colours to Las Vegas, and the names of the originals, blanc, bordeaux and baby's breath, still sound like a person with a taste for words. L'Oréal USA agreed to buy the company in 2010. In 2016 essie introduced Gel Couture, which it describes as a twist on a classic. The brand's UK site says it is a two-step system, colour and then top coat, with no base coat needed and more than 52 shades. I read essie gel couture as a promise about routine, not about a lamp: two products, used together, every time.

The trick is to buy it as a pair. The Gel Couture Longwear polish is the colour, and the Gel Couture Top Coat is the part that makes it look wet and thick, and the brand says the two must be used together. Gel Setter Top Coat is the gel-like, high gloss finisher for polishes you already own. Expressie is the quick-dry one for when you have ten minutes. Then play: Nail Art Studio Jelly Gloss for a see-through, sweet finish, Glass Nails for the sheer, glassy look, Pro Effects Flash Chromes for a mirror flash, and Metallics for something sharper. Start with a Gel Couture shade close to your own skin tone.

Start with a rule about sequence: base, colour, top coat, and let each layer dry to tacky before the next one. Most chips I see are from rushing the second coat, not from the polish.

This grid is the supporting cast. Here To Stay is the long-lasting base coat, and Strong Start is the strengthening base for thin nails that have not made it to the length you want. All In One Top and Base Coat is the one to keep in a travel bag, since it does both jobs in a single bottle. On top: Stay Longer is the chip protector with some shine, No Chips Ahead is the chip-resistant one, and Good To Go is the fastest drying, which I reach for on a school run or a train.

Hard To Resist Advanced Nail Strengthener is for bare weeks between manicures. Quick-E Drying Drops are a small bottle to keep in a pocket: a drop on each nail, and less time held out in front of you like a surgeon.

A pairing I like: Strong Start on bare nails, a Gel Couture shade over it, and Gel Couture Top Coat to close. It is not the shortest routine, but it is the tidiest.

What I would skip: swapping a fast-drying top coat onto a Gel Couture colour because it is nearer to hand. The brand made these a system for a reason.

Try this before you buy any gel-look polish: put two coats on one hand's worth of nails and leave a thumb bare for comparison, then see which ones still look right by the end of the week. The bottle only tells you so much.

OPI Infinite Shine, in Nudes/Neutrals/Browns and in Pinks, is the salon name most people already know, and the two shelves here are good starting points for a sheer look. Gelcare comes with poetic names: Blush Organza is the soft, pinkish one and Chambray is the cool, denim-toned one. Manucurist Green Jelly is a see-through colour I would use over a bare nail or as an accent, and it is non-toxic by the brand's description. Nails Inc. It's Topless is a one step, gel-like manicure that suits people with no time for two bottles.

Red Carpet Manicure Glow Fest is a glow in the dark LED gel, the party one and the only one here I would treat as a novelty. Olive & June Long-Lasting is the simple, tidy formula for anyone who wants a classic pot of colour.

What I would skip: a gel-look polish with no top coat at all if you type, cook or clean. Even the one-step formulas last longer sealed.

One habit worth borrowing from manicurists: oil goes on last, once the polish is fully dry, and again at night. It keeps the nail bed soft and stops the edges of your polish from lifting.

French Girl Nail & Cuticle Oil is the pretty one for the desk drawer, and L'Occitane's Strengthening Shea Nail and Cuticle Oil is the softer, shea-based one. Olive & June Cuticle Serum is the quick, tidy step, and Révérence de Bastien's Unguent for Nails and Cuticles is the richer, balm-like finish for dry winters. Gitti Restoring Nail Serum and Gitti Exfoliating Cuticle Gel are a matched pair, one to nourish and one to clear away dead skin before a manicure. Côte Beauty Nail Strengthener Base Coat is a base for anyone who keeps nails bare.

Then the Tweezerman Rockhard Cuticle Nipper, for hangnails and nothing else. Clean it after use and it will last you years.

What I would skip: the exfoliating gel on the day of a manicure if your skin is already sore. Do it the day before, and let the skin settle.

I think Gel Couture is worth trying if you have never had a gel-look manicure and do not want a lamp in your bathroom. Take one shade and its top coat, follow the two steps and see how your week goes. Choose a colour close to your own nails first, because that is the shade that forgives a little regrowth.

If it works, you have a routine you can keep going for as long as you like, with a good story ready for the day someone asks what you are wearing. If it does not, you still have a lovely polish and a proper top coat to show for it. The Queen had her one shade. You get the whole line. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Loewe Jeans Are Denim Treated Like Couture.