I've never experienced any issues with topping off my 18650 and similar cells. One of the biggest things is not to use a fast-charger. Might be annoying waiting 5 hours to charge up one 18650, but patience is worth it. Last thing you want is an 18650 becoming the world's greatest hand-warmer the instant you take it off of a charger.
Yeah, I think some people get too anal about managing their cells to perfection, including myself sometimes. Though, I'm trying to be less strict about it, and just charge and use most of the time. I usually try to charge at 1 amp, because I'm not in a big hurry. A lot of chargers now seem to default to 2 amps, which is okay for high-drain cells, but it's still a little more stressful than 1 amp.
If I notice the voltage on the charger is up to about 4.1v, I'll often pull the cells off early. That's about a 90% charge, which is fine for most of my use. Lately, though, I'm usually letting it go to the full 4.2v. Again, trying to be less anal. Most of my cells will probably tire out from age, before they wear out from cycle counts.
Note that charger specs are usually 4.20v +/- 0.05v. That means that some chargers might charge your cells up to 4.25v, which IMO is putting more stress on them than you probably want. You'll get about 5% more capacity out of them, but probably lose 25% of the cycles.
As a rough rule, you can charge up to 4.3v, and lose half your cycles for a 10% gain in capacity. Or, charge to 4.1v, and double the number of cycles, for a loss of 10% capacity.