Nail Polish Stress Test: e.l.f. Fire Coral, Misty Haze, and Midnight Mystery

e.l.f. is another brand I see around a lot, but have never tried. I came across a set in T.J.Maxx I liked for $3. I can justify $1 a bottle, so I pulled the trigger and bought it. This set contained Fire Coral, Misty Haze and Midnight Mystery.

Fire Coral is a darker orange creme.  Misty Haze is a gray creme, and Midnight Mystery is a silver glitter topper.

The bottles annoy me. Most polishes with this design have a removable cover over the cap. Not these! Maybe it's so you can tell if anyone tampered with it before you buy it? More importantly, the brushes are chintzy. The brush in Fire Coral was not securely attached to the inside of the cap. I fully expect it to fall out at some point, likely when I’m wearing something it’ll clash with the most.

The polish itself went on okay. It was a little streaky at first, but it looked fine after two coats each for Misty Haze and Fire Coral. Midnight Mystery was another story. The glitter itself is pretty, but it’s also shy and doesn’t want to leave its bottle home. I ended up using two coats of Fire Coral and Misty Haze with two coats of Midnight Mystery on top, with a coat of Seche Vite. Because reasons.

 Cheap bottles and glitter issues aside, how did it do? 

Quite well! It held up great at work. This was after a full day. It performed better than LAColors Animate did, which I did not expect. Since it went on in two coats, I decided to see how it would do with nail art. It did water marble, although it did take a couple tries to dial it in, and stamped just fine.

Fire Coral and Misty Haze Verdict: Good

In spite of the poor quality bottles, the polish within did quite well, turning out to be both versatile and durable.

Midnight Mystery Verdict: Loser polish

I know there are ways to get more glitter out of the bottle. I would accept this if we were talking large or unusual shaped pieces, but when it comes to the standard kind, I shouldn’t have to. This is a bottle of fail.