I tested them so you don’t have to! Using (thumb to pinky): * Glisten & Glow fast-drying top coat * CND Super Shiney top coat * OPI plumping top coat [pr] * OPI top coat * OPI Nature Strong top coat [pr] ➡️Highlights: - You can use any of these top coats with any nail lacquer (i.e., You can use CND over a Nature Strong color polish and can use Nature Strong top coat over an Essie color polish.) - Glisten & Glow, CND, and OPI Plumping keep more of a shine over time - Glisten & Glow, OPI Plumping, and OPI Nature Strong have a thicker/stronger formula (feels like a thicker layer over your nail) - Dry time from fastest to slowest: Glisten & Glow > OPI Nature Strong/OPI Pumping (tied) > CND > OPI Top Coat During the week I wore this, I washed dishes (without gloves), packed, cooked, and spent a ton of time scratching doggies. I did not use a base coat. I repeat: I. Did. Not. Use. A. Base. Coat. I use a base coat 50% of the time anyway. A thing to note: I rarely get chips in my nail polish and I have never broken a nail. The most I get is tip wear, as you can tell. I don’t cap the free edge/ends of my nail with polish or top coat because I don’t personally see a difference in wear on my nails. Because of that, I can’t speak to the protection any of these top coats may offer to those who are prone to chips/breaks. If you’re looking for an accessible top coat that is thick/strong and dries pretty quickly, OPI’s Nature Strong or Plumping might be for you. The Plumping, I think, is meant to mimic a gel-type look, but Nature Strong and Glisten & Glow give the same effect—except Glisten & Glow is only available online. !!️ Because these 3 have a thick formula, if you don’t carefully paint the entire nail, it will look like the top coat has “shrunk” when it dries. There is no actual shrinkage; the top coat is just so thick that it doesn’t slide down the sides of your nails like thinner formulas would. !!️ If you want something that is shiny, dries relatively quickly, is easier to control (no pressure to paint quickly before it dries or to paint perfectly to avoid “shrinkage look”), and can take a bit of a beating, CND is for you.