Nail Polish Stress Test: Republic Nail Gel Effect Coral

My 50^th review! Whoohoo!

The most popular review I’ve written since I started blogging here is the one I did for Republic Nail Gel Effect Monaco. It was loser polish. Polishes from this brand have been showing up off and on at TJ Maxx since then. This made me start to wonder. Did I get a dud bottle? Maybe I should have done a better job applying it? I can’t believe a company could continue to make a polish that bad and stay in business! I was curious enough to go into the breach one more time, so I bought another set.

My initial impression is still the same; I just don’t trust a product when the manufacturer can’t put an actual product photo on the packaging. It’s also worth noting the pic on the box wasn’t exactly color accurate either. This coral is definitely more pink looking in reality than it looks on the box.

You’re supposed to use one coat of the colored part, wait six minutes, apply the top coat, wait six minutes, done. Guess what? I ran into the same application problems. This stuff looks streaky as all get out. It seems like that’s just how this product rolls. I stuck to one coat. As badly as I wanted to add a second one, I decided to adhere to the directions. Things started going uphill when I tried to apply the topcoat. It was really stringy and goopy. 

 I had to redo a couple nails, but I managed to get a somewhat decent job done. Well, make that barely passable.

I didn’t even try to stamp or water marble with this. I mean, if I can barely get it on my nails, there’s no way it’s going to be good for anything fancy!

So, how did it hold up?

The damage wasn’t quite as severe as before, but it still only lasted a day. I even got big ol’ chips on my right thumb in places it shouldn’t even chip just like last time.

Verdict: Loser Polish

I think it’s safe to say this brand is to be avoided. Did I mention this stuff actually went up in price? It’s now $4.99. There is absolutely no reason to buy this polish whatsovever.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Color Club Burnt Out

Color Club has been producing “microbatches” of limited series polishes. What does that mean? From what I can tell, it means the only place they can be purchased is on Color Club’s website, and good luck getting it on sale.

I’ve been ogling their latest microbatch, the Oil Slick collection. I wasn’t sure about spending $10 on it though, especially since the description and product photo seemed to be ambiguous. Then just in time for Independence Day, there was a 25% off sale. Gimme!

Burnt Out is a fascinating duochrome polish. It has more color shift to it than one usually sees in this type of polish. I saw it shift from a rose red, to copper, to green to gold, not unlike the colors of fall leaves. This is definitely a polish that will attract attention. A couple random ladies actually asked me where I got this one from! Driving while wearing this polish is risky. The urge to admire the color shift as the light changes is nearly irresistible

Application was a breeze. I got full coverage in only two coats! One coat of Seche Vite on top and I was good to go.

Burnt Out stamps beautifully and will also water marble……as long as you do it over black polish. I tried it on a bunch of different colors, maroon, beige, dark brown,  white, hunter green….the polish just didn’t stand out enough in my eyes, unless it was on black. The fact that it stamped on anything was pretty impressive though. In my experience duochromes generally aren’t good for that.

So how did it hold up?

Beautifully! It lasted a solid three days before I felt like it needed to come off.

Verdict: Excellent

If you like duochromes, fall colors, or polish that will attract attention, you need Burnt Out. Even though it’s challenging to use in nail art, it’s got plenty going for it on its own. I know I need to buy more from this series the next time a good sale opportunity comes up!  

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sinful Colors V.I.Peach

One of the major gaps in my polish collection is yellow. More specifically, I need a good pastel yellow. There aren’t many of those out there, so when I saw V.I.Peach, I snapped it up right away.

V.I.Peach is a pastel yellow “demi-matte” polish from Sinful Colors’ Class Act collection. The first thing I thought when I looked at the name is that they might have mixed up the labels during production. I don’t associate peach with pastel yellow. Checking the Sinful Colors website, it turns out they really meant to do that. This is supposed to be a “Spanish Peach” color. Googling “Spanish Peach” did not convince me, but hey, when I start my own polish company, I can use whatever color names I want. The color makes me think of the yellow chalk my teachers used to hate using in school.

This polish went on in three coats. The demi-matte finish winds up being what I would call an eggshell finish. It’s not glossy, but it’s not fully matte either. I did not use any top coat with this one.

It will water marble okay. Stamping…..I tried using a bunch of different plates with it, hoping I’d get a decent amount of opacity, and with it, a chalkboard look. Didn’t happen. It does work, and depending on what you’re trying to do, it might work for you. However, in my opinion,  this polish really isn’t ideal for stamping. I used a matte top coat on two of my nails, and a glossy one on the others to try and get different looks

So, how did it hold up? It did well considering I didn’t use a top coat, and the finish. It went two days before it was done in. It chipped strangely; I got more damage closer to my cuticles than the tips of my nails.

Verdict: Good

This did better than I expected given the circumstances. I like the fact that you can make it go all the way glossy or matte with the right top coat. For $2, this is an easy purchase to make, although ideally, you should wait for Walgreen’s to put it on sale for $.99.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Claire’s Color of the Year

Let me admit this up front: I’m not a trendy person. When I picked up Color of the Year from Claire’s, it was because it was on sale for $2 down from $5.50, and a color I didn’t already have, Marsala. I’d completely forgotten that it’s Pantone’s color of the year for 2015.

Pantone defines Marsala as “a naturally robust and earthy wine red”. Yep, that description works for me!  According to the cap, this polish is supposed to have a “gel effect”.  I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, and neither did the store associates when I asked them. I noticed the formula is very similar to Revlon’s All In from their Gel Envy line. It’s thicker and seems to have a powdery texture to it that makes it easier to apply neatly. When it dried, it looked slightly glossier than their average polish, but in the absence of any other instructions, I applied one coat of Seche Vite on top of it anyway.

Color of the Year can potentially stamp, but you have to work really fast. The color....urgh..... Instead of a "naturally robust and earthy wine red", it came out as an ugly bright rust red that doesn't look pretty. Assuming you're happy with how your design came out, odds are good it'll get trashed when you try to put top coat on. This happened to me multiple times with different top coats. It's just not worth the hassle. 

Trying to water marble with this polish will break your heart. Initially I thought it was going to work great, but it shriveled afterwards. A lot. The first time I tried it, I thought I'd dinged it without noticing. Nope! I had the same results the second time. I don't know if it's because the formula was incompatible with the other polish I used, but it was bizarre. The pigment also bled like crazy. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd used it with a contrasting color!

It held up about as well as the average wannabe gel polish, taking on major tip wear over the course of one day.

Verdict: Loser Polish

I’m inclined to be kinder to this polish because of the price. At $2, my expectations are far lower than they would be for $8 polish. Nobody said anything about this polish being longer wearing, which is a consideration. Still, this got beat up pretty quickly, and it's useless for nail art.  There are better quality polishes available in this color, so I’d pass on this one.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Cinapro Sweet Tooth

Here’s a polish I’ve had my eye on for a year; Sweet Tooth, from Cinapro’s Nail Sugar collection. The problem is, it rarely goes on sale, the store display is absurd (the bottles are displayed upside down), and the polishes were sometimes separated or gunky. Still, I really wanted this polish, so I waited for an opportunity. Finally, Sally’s Beauty Supply added them to a Buy Two Get One Free sale. It was time to strike!

Sweet Tooth has large and small blue glitters in a duochrome base that shifts mostly between blue and purple. The color shift is bright and vibrant. It’s really easy to get distracted by how beautiful this polish is!

It also has a light built into the cap for some weird reason. If I’m experiencing a power outage, I guess this is the polish they want me to reach for? Except I’d have to find it in the dark in the first place…..

Light or no light, application was easy, although I used four thin coats to get opacity. I used one coat of Seche Vite on top. I didn’t find it to be rough or bumpy afterwards, something I could see happening with a polish containing that much glitter.

As you might expect, this polish can’t be used for water marbling or stamping. If only!  I bet it would look amazing layered with other polishes though.

So, how did it hold up?

It did well. It made it two days before the damage showed.

Verdict: Good

I’m glad this lasted as long as it did. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go considering the problems I’ve seen with it. I strongly recommend that if you decide to buy this, be sure to check and be sure it’s not gloopy or separated first.