Nail Polish Stress Test; Nails Inc Shoreditch Lane Paint Can Polish

The Latest Big Thing in the polish world seems to be polish that comes out of a spray can. It’s supposed to be easier and faster to apply than traditional nail polish. Is it really? Let’s find out!

I chose Shoreditch Lane, which is silver. I also bought Paint Can’s Best Friend, the base/top coat that was marketed to go with it. While using their top coat isn’t mandatory, I figured I would try to give this product the best possible chance of succeeding. I was highly skeptical of this polish from the concept alone. That bottle of top coat is kinda small too. Here’s a shot of it next to a bottle of Bow polish, which has a similar shape. See what I mean?

According to the directions, you need to apply Paint Can’s Best Friend (or some other base coat or polish) to your nails first or the polish won’t adhere to them. Once that's dry, you shake the can, hold it about four inches away from your nails and spray the polish on.  You let it dry, apply Paint Can’s Best Friend (or another brand of top coat) over it, let that dry, wash off the excess and call it done.

Applying this polish wasn’t as easy for me as they made it sound. First of all, I had to protect my kitchen counter with newspaper so I didn’t cover it in spray polish. This is something I don’t have to do with traditional polish, so already I questioned whether or not this was “easier”. You absolutely, positively must do this, because it will go where you don’t want it. It even got on my fingertips somehow. I had to keep shaking the can to keep the product coming out evenly. It’s also worth noting this stuff is COLD. I wasn’t expecting that.

After you spray the polish on, you have to wait a bit for it to dry before you apply Paint Can’s Best Friend/your own top coat. That was a long couple of minutes. Because I had polish all over my fingers, I couldn’t touch anything. That was kind of a drag. I also noticed that Paint Can’s Best Friend’s brush picked up some of the polish as I used it, even though I’d made sure it was completely dry beforehand.

Washing the excess polish off afterwards was a pain. I have curvy nails, so getting the polish cleaned up took some work. I don’t think this is easier at all. I had to resort to using a cleanup brush dipped in acetone to get it all off my cuticles. I will say, it is a nice pretty shiny silver. It felt like normal polish once it was all said and done.

As you would expect, this polish is not suitable for stamping or water marbling. I did try using it with nail vinyls. It works, sort of. I noticed the color of the polish bled into the silver, and I didn’t get clean lines.

So, how did it hold up?

 

By the end of a full day of work, it was totally done in.

Verdict: Unacceptable

This is NOT easier than applying traditional nail polish. If you don’t protect your work area, it’s getting spray painted. As I noted in my Profusion nail polish review, I shouldn’t have to protect my work area just to polish my nails. How exactly am I supposed to use this on the go as Nails Inc suggests without my getting arrested for vandalism? Part of me wants to try this again with a different base/top coat. The reality is I just don't want to deal with the mess and hassle of it all over again for polish with the wear of the silver stuff they use on scratch off tickets.

It's also crazy expensive. I bought mine from Sally Beauty Supply, where I paid almost $12 for the can of polish, and about $5 for Paint Can's Best Friend. Ouch!

The excess polish didn’t “just wash off".  Again; this is easier, how?

Unlike hair spray where you have a sense of how much is left in the can, this polish is very lightweight. There’s a good chance it’s going to run out mid mani with no warning.

At the end of the day, this is a gimmicky, overpriced, waste of money. Save your money for normal polish. I know I’m bringing mine back for a refund.