Essence Gel Look Plumping Top Coat, $3.95

This one goes out to anyone who’s ever attempted a DIY nail job, and officially given-up on life after all their hard work was squashed and smudged while slipping into a pair of jeans or falling asleep with hands under the sheets.

If (like us), it doesn’t seem to matter how hard you try, or how long you wait, let us tell you – this top coat is going to change your life.

After a little tip-off from our nail artist on set today, we decided we just had to shoot it. Like, immediately. It’s literally the best damn top coat you can get, and it also happens to be one of the cheapest. That’s what we call winning.

Get this – it has a ‘self-levelling’ technology (yeah, we’d never heard of that either) that makes sure it doesn’t sink into the ridges in your nails or slide-on down into the cuticle. The gel-like formula goes-on quite thick, but it kind of smooths everything out… Like the ‘flatten image tool’ in Photoshop, as our nail artist put it.

Once it dries, it gives your nails that shellac-like shine that actually lasts longer than 24 hours (and we didn’t even think was possible sans salon).

All we have to say is thank god we found it.

Us = 1, wet nails = 0.

By Carmen Hamilton.