Monday, July 2, 2012

Review: INM Out the Door Top Coat

I found out about INM’s Out the Door, after using their silver holographic top coat, called Northern Lights, which dries to touch in 45 seconds (so, the bottle claims, but I didn’t test this, but it dries fast).  I was impressed with Northern Lights so I started looking at what else INM manufactures.  Since then, Out the Door is one of my go-to top coats.  I am almost done with a second bottle, so I think I can do a fair review.

What I like:

·         Big 3 free.

·         Low odor.

·         Dries fast, 1-2 minutes to touch, 5 minutes go about your business.  (Light duty that is, don't go scrubbing pot and pans in the sink, you'll need to wait a least three hours for that).

·         Delivers high gloss shine.

·         Decent smudge fixer.

·         No shrinkage.

What I don’t like:

·         Not the best leveler, it’s not bad, there are just slightly better top coats for glitters.  (China Glaze Fast Forward top coat, and Seche Vite are better/smoother for glitters).

·         Halfway the formula gets a bit thick and the rim of the bottle gets a bit crusty.  I add thinner to it and then add fresh top coat to top off the bottle. The brush doesn’t seem to pick up much top coat once it is half empty.  I also take time to clean the rim so that the top goes back on nicely.

·         The label goes all the way around I have a hard time seeing how much polish I have and how far down the brush is going when I’m dipping into the bottle.

Cost and availability

·         About $5 a bottle, at Sally’s and CVS pharmacy. 

·         Out the Door is inexpensive and easy to find, at least where I am.  Big refill bottles are available too.  I think those are $10.  

When do I reach for Out the Door?

·         Especially, over any jelly polish, due to the advantage of no shrinkage.

·         Over any polish, except glitters and flakies.

·         Over any nail art.  (Apply via floating technique to prevent smudges.  Which means apply with a big dollop and try not to let the brush touch the nail/paint, just kind of pushing the large drop over the nail.) 

Overall, there is a lot to like about Out the Door.  The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, and the disadvantages are not really that bad, they really trivial.  I highly recommend, without hesitation INM’s Out the Door.

This is a continuing segment of top coat reviews.  To start at the beginning (China Glaze's Fast Forward review), click here for this post. 

Coming up, I’ll review Revlon’s Quick Dry top coat.




4 comments:

  1. Thank you so much! I've been trying to find good, quick-drying top coats and your top coat reviews are great!

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  2. Replies
    1. Shrinkage means that as the top coat dries it starts pulling the paint away from the tips and cuticles. Kind of like reducing the surface area of where the paint was, shrinks.... there's a picture of it in the first post, China Glaze's FF top coat review. Hope that helps. Thanks for asking, Kumi!

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