17 Quicker Slicker Nail Polish

I picked up this new nail polish offering from 17 on a recent trip to Boots and was intrigued to find it claims to dry in not 60 but 50 seconds. Pffft, thought I, another one of those polishes that claims to dry quickly and you're still glued to the spot in fear of smudges 10 minutes later. You know what I mean! However, I'm a sucker for sparkle so into the basket they went (I blame the 3 for 2 offer entirely).

Later that evening I found myself in a rush to get ready to go out with no time for a proper polish so I thought I'd put that 50 second claim to the test. My internal optimist hoped maybe it might dry a bit quicker than regular polish...and goodness me didn't it just! The 50 seconds might be a slight exaggeration but this is one fast drying polish. I managed 2 coats plus drying in the time it took Mr P to shave around his Movember facial fuzz and it was dry enough not to smudge at all when I put my coat on 5 minutes later. Colour me impressed!

This polish actually doesn't get great reviews on Boots' website but it seems most of those reviewers have tried to apply it too slowly or in too thin a coat, ending up with visible brush strokes. You do need to be fairly quick and use a decent amount of polish but it comes with a wide, rounded brush so you can cover your nail neatly in 2-3 swipes. I found the depth of colour to be fine and 2 coats was perfectly sufficient for me but I must admit I find sparkly polishes can give the appearance of better coverage so I can't vouch for how good the flat colours are. Wishing Star is in fact so twinkly it practically glows and probably lends itself better to being a single coat special effect for an accent nail (unless you want seriously bling fingertips) but Navy Glint is more subtle and looks very pretty on its own. Staying power seems pretty good too - with no base or top coat and minimal nail prep my express job has lasted a couple of days before chipping.

17 Quicker Slicker polishes are £2.99 each from Boots

If I'm in a hurry again I know what I'll be reaching for! What do you do when you only have seconds to make over your fingertips?