Top coat on press-ons?

Okay I know this is a gel-x community but my questions feel gel-x adjacent.

I’ve been on a gel-x journey and it takes me 3+ hours for a mediocre set. I’m tired of this sh*t, grandpa. 😮‍💨 So I’m playing around with the idea of going back to press on’s, been researching higher quality ones etc. I cannot STAND a flimsy press-on.

I’ve seen Static, Glamnetic & BTArtbox having good reviews. I saw a Reddit post about having to top coat your BTArtbox sets.

Are we supposed to base/coat top coat over all press-ons? Are there certain brands, or or types that require top coat? How on EARTH would I have known that if I didn’t stumble across that Reddit?

Additionally, I’m tired of the run-off of polish at my cuticle. How do I get that to not happen? My Beetles jelly polish ends up being streaky and I have to do a million coats. Is there an easy trick to fix that that doesn’t require wiping between every coat?