One product doing two jobs
Fresh concrete needs to stay wet to reach its full strength. Water leaving the slab too fast weakens the surface and invites cracking, so something has to hold moisture in during those first days. That is the curing half of the job.
A cure and seal product does that and, once the slab has hydrated enough, leaves a thin film on top that sheds water and resists light staining. It goes on with a sprayer shortly after final finishing, on the same trip, rather than as a separate visit weeks later.
The same coating that holds water in early is what leaves the film behind later, so there is no separate application for the seal half of the job. One pass, applied once, does both.
Cure and seal against curing, then sealing separately
On plain gray flatwork with no color to protect, one pass of cure and seal is often enough, and it saves a second visit. There is nothing riding on that surface film except the concrete's own gray, so a coating that fades over a season or two is not costing you much.
Stamped and colored work is a different case. There the color lives in the top layer of the slab, and the sealer is what protects it and keeps it looking wet and rich instead of chalky. That work gets a curing compound early, whose only job is holding water in, and then a dedicated sealer later, once the slab has fully cured, chosen and applied on its own schedule rather than bundled into the initial pour.
Where cure and seal falls short on decorative work
An early cure and seal pass is not a substitute for the ongoing reseal a stamped slab needs. Sealer on colored concrete is a consumable, and it wears off over time in sun and traffic, so it comes back around every few years for as long as you own the slab.
Timing also matters more than people expect. Sealing moisture into a surface that has not finished curing or is not fully dry causes a milky, cloudy look under the coating. That is one reason a recoat on decorative work waits for a clean, dry slab rather than getting rushed.
Does a plain driveway need it at all?
Not necessarily. Sealing on plain concrete is optional, and we will tell you honestly whether your slab needs it. A cure and seal pass at the time of the pour is a low cost way to get some early protection without adding a separate step, but it is not required, and a slab that never gets it again after that first coat is still a perfectly normal driveway.
Glossy or matte is a later decision, not this one
A cure and seal coating on plain concrete is not usually chosen for its sheen, since the point is protection, not appearance. Once you are into a dedicated sealer on stamped or colored work, glossy versus matte becomes its own real decision, made separately when that later sealer goes on.