Nail Polish Stress Test: Pacifica Abalone

Recently, a friend of mine came across a brand of polish I’d never heard of called Pacifica. She ordered one called Abalone, and asked me if I wanted to take it for a test drive. Would I? Heck yeah!

The interesting thing about this brand is that it’s 7 Free.  According to Ulta’s website, that means it’s formulated without parabens, phthalates (dibutyl phthalate), toluene, xylene, camphor, formaldehyde, resin, and animals. The less bad stuff in there, the better, right?

Abalone is a gray based polish with duochrome iridescent shimmer. It’s one of those fun polishes that looks different depending on what kind of light hits it from which angle. It shifts between pink, green, blue and purple. It reminds me of Sally Hansen’s Silver Scallop without the big honking pieces of glitter.  Application was a breeze. The formula was nice and smooth, if a bit sheer, but I got full coverage in three coats. I used my usual coat layer of Seche Vite on top.

This polish can water marble, but it’s sheer enough that I don’t know that it’s worth it. Stamping wise, it can work. However, when I stamped it over white, it mostly just looked gray. Now to me, the whole point of using a polish like this in nail art is to be able to get a shimmery design. So, I tried it over black. I got shimmer, but it was subtle. I’d probably pass on stamping with it and reach for something else instead.

So, how did it hold up?

It did great! It lasted a solid three days before I felt it needed to come off. A person on Team Office Job could easily get a full week out of this.

Verdict: Excellent

It’s always nice to discover a new to me brand of polish that turns out to be worthwhile. I’m looking forward to trying out more from them. I ended up ordering my own bottle of Abalone after I returned the one I borrowed from my friend. As of this writing, you can order it from Ulta for $6.75.

Nail Polish Stress Test: L’Oreal Too Dimensional?

The other day I was cruising through Rite Aid looking for new polishes, when the L’Oreal display caught my eye. It had several items, including nail polish on 50% off clearance. I bought a couple including today’s test subject, Too Dimensional? Was that a good idea? Let’s find out!

Too Dimensional? is a hard polish to describe. It looks significantly different depending on the lighting. It’s a textured polish that seems to have duochrome properties. It can look more purple or gray depending on the light. It has iridescent shimmer and purple hex glitters mixed in to make it even more interesting.  I never got tired of looking at this one.

Here it is in LED light.

Here it is in sunlight.

And here it is in the indirect light I usually use.

This was easy to apply and I had full coverage in three coats. I let each layer dry completely before I added the next one. I did not use any top coat. The texture was somewhat abrasive but not distractingly so, and that always wears down a bit as soon as I start living life.

As a textured polish, it can’t be used to stamp or water marble. I bet it’d be fun to use with nail vinyls though!

So, how did it hold up?

It did pretty well. It made it two days before it was time to take it off.

Verdict: Good

This was a good find. I love textured polishes and unexpectedly finding this one makes me happy. You should pick this one up if you come across it. 

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sinful Colors Sugar High

Two things I absolutely love to see in polish are the color blue, and texture. That means today’s subject, Sinful Colors Sugar High should be perfect, right? Let’s find out!

Sugar High is a gorgeous royal blue textured polish from Sinful Colors’ limited edition Sugar Crushin’ collection. This is the color of joy.  Even better, it has a duochrome shimmer that shifts between blue and pink. I’ve never seen that done before, and I love, love, love it. Unlike its sister Sweeten The Teal, this polish is more on the sheer side. As a result, the color isn’t as deep on the nail as it is in the bottle. The texture isn’t overly abrasive and isn’t distracting as this kind of polish can be. I used three coats with no top coat.

As a textured polish, it won’t stamp. As for water marbling…well, this is the reason I don’t consider doing it with this kind of polish.

So, how did it hold up?

Sadly, it was a done deal after the first day.

Verdict: Loser Polish

While I’m sad this isn’t a repeat of Sweeten The Teal’s success, it’s still one of the prettiest polishes I’ve acquired in some time. I plan to keep on wearing this one; I’ll just stick to doing that on weekends. I picked this up at Walgreen’s for $1.99.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sinful Colors Sweeten The Teal

I’ve loved textured polishes from the day they first came out. However, I’ve been wanting a nice bright green one, and up to this point, I haven’t been able to find any. Then last weekend, I saw a new display of Sinful Colors polishes at Walgreens. I snagged a few new limited edition polishes, including today’s test subject: Sweeten The Teal.

Sweeten The Teal is from Sinful Colors’ limited edition Sugar Crushin’ collection. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a textured polish, but it was so pretty I didn’t care. I was thrilled when I discovered it was! This polish is a lovely teal green, with a duochrome shimmer that shifts between green and gold.  As I type this, it’s currently Green Nail Polish Season, so it definitely got noticed at work. It’s quite sparkly when it dries. Application was a bit messy as the formula was on the thin side, plus not realizing it was textured, I was too heavy handed at first. Light coats are the way to go here. It has a sandy finish but it isn’t overly abrasive. I used three coats, and no top coat.

As this is a textured polish I did not try to water marble with it, and it definitely can’t be used for stamping.

So, how did it hold up?

It was awesome! It made it four days before it started to look beat up. It wore down pretty evenly, and even though it lost sparkle, I was able to revive it with a fresh coat on top for the weekend.

Verdict: Outstanding

This is the green textured polish I’ve been dreaming of! I’m delighted it held up so well too! If you love textured polishes or green, you need this one! It’s a fantastic value for $1.99!

Nail Polish Stress Test: Orly Color Blast Mistress Of All Evil

I have not had a lot of luck with Color Blast polishes so far. However, I find I can get the Disney polishes from Walgreen's for $1.59 pretty consistently if I’m patient. I don't mind buying potential loser polish at that price. This time my patience has been rewarded with today’s test subject: Mistress Of All Evil from the Disney Villains 2015 collection.

I discovered is that this polish appears to be a relabeled Rainbow Color Flip from their core collection. Another Color Blast I reviewed a while back, Frozen, is a relabeled Sky Blue Color Flip.

Here’s my Disney Polishes.

Here’s the Core Polishes.

If I were a completist, this would aggravate me, but since the only place near me that sells the core Color Blasts is Kohl’s, and they never do polish sales, I’m more than happy with my Walgreen’s clearance finds.

Mistress Of All Evil is a dark gray jelly base with duochrome shimmer. Indoors I mostly saw pink, but outside the color shift really shows, with shifts to orange, yellow, pink and green. I really love polishes like this! I used three coats with one coat of Seche Vite on top.

Sadly I couldn’t get this one to stamp or water marble. It’s just too sheer.

So, how did it hold up?

This one actually made it two whole days! That’s darn good for this brand!

Verdict: Good

Hooray! Another decent Color Blast polish! I haven’t tried enough of them to make a solid judgement, but I’m starting to think that the non crème polishes are the way to go.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Color Club Sorry, Not Sorry

I’ve been having a lot of fun reviewing Color Club’s Oil Slick collection. I’ve been gradually working on completing the set every time Color Club has a sale. So far I've reviewed Burnt Out, Cash Only, It's Raining Men, and We'll Never Be Royals. Next up is Sorry, Not Sorry.

Sorry, Not Sorry is a duochrome that shifts between pastel pink, peach and gold. I actually managed to get a good shot of the color shift on my nails without a fuss this time!  I’d say this is the most conservative polish of the collection, yet it’s still fun to look at. It looked mostly peach to me indoors. Outdoors the color shift was more pronounced. I think this would look great with a tan. The formula was nice and smooth. Only two coats were needed to get full coverage. I used my usual coat of Seche Vite on top.

This polish stamped and water marbled beautifully. I mattified it so it’d be easier to see here.

So, how did it hold up?

Fantastic! It made it a solid three days before I needed to take it off.

Verdict: Excellent

I think everyone needs a bottle of this polish. This is good for any occasion, and I love the fact that it’s nail art friendly. I’m totally not sorry I bought this, and you won’t be either! It's available from Color Club's website.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Color Club We’ll Never Be Royals

I’m gradually test driving all the polishes from Color Club’s Oil Slick collection. So far I’ve tried Burnt Out, It’s Raining Men, and Cash Only. Today’s subject is We’ll Never Be Royals. How will this one stack up next to the others? Let’s find out!

We’ll Never Be Royals is a gorgeous duochrome which shifts from a metallic red, to pink, to a deep magenta with a strong purple flash. The color shift is very noticeable. This is one of those polishes where it’s fun to walk around and see the colors change.

The formula is on the thick side and went on smoothly. I only needed two coats, to which I added my usual coat of Seche Vite on top. I was a little worried when I put it on, as the application reminded me an awful lot of my experience with It’s Raining Men, which turned out to be party polish. 

I didn’t have any luck water marbling with this polish, but it stamps very nicely. The stamping does retain some shimmer. I can see me doing some nice Valentine’s Day nail art with this one.

So, how did it hold up?

Not well. It had substantial tip wear in just one day.

Verdict: Party Polish

 I love the color shift, and I’m totally doing nail art with it, but its poor durability is a major disappointment.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Color Club Cash Only

I’ve been super curious about Color Club’s Oil Slick collection. So far, I’ve tried Burnt Out, which was excellent, and It’s Raining Men, which was party polish.  Next up is Cash Only.

Cash Only is a duochrome with a lot of color shift to it. This one shifts between a cool brown, gold, silver and green. I saw the brown shift the most. I would almost call this one a neutral. I’ve never seen a polish quite like this one, that’s for sure.

The formula is a bit thicker than average, but goes on smoothly. I used two coats with my usual layer of Seche Vite on top.

This polish is great for stamping. It looks absolutely amazing on black! Even better, it water marbles!

So, how did it hold up?

It did great! It went a solid three days before I needed to take it off.

Verdict: Excellent

Cash Only is definitely a worthwhile addition to anyone’s polish collection. I’m especially happy that it stamps so well. It’s not every day I come across a duochrome polish that does!

Nail Polish Stress Test: Color Club It’s Raining Men

As you may have noticed, blue is my very favorite color, with purple being a fairly close second. When I saw It’s Raining Men from Color Club’s Oil Slick collection, and they just happened to have a 30% off sale at the same time, I decided I’d give it a go.

It’s Raining Men is a blue jelly with a strong blue shimmer. It occasionally shifts to purple, but not often. Sometimes the shift looks pink, and I’m sad to say it doesn’t look as pretty as I’d hoped. Most of the time, it looks like the dark blue polish with blue flash every collection has. I used two coats here, with my usual layer of Seche Vite on top.

This polish will stamp, although it’s a bit…smudgey. Interestingly enough, the shimmer does show a bit in the design. A tiny bit. It didn’t work for water marbling.

So, how did it hold up?

Not well at all. It was a one day affair.

Verdict: Party Polish

I was really disappointed in this polish. After the awesomeness that was Burnt Out, I was expecting more of the same great color shift and durability. I don’t think you really need this one.

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: 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.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sally Hansen Silver Scallop

I try to buy nail polish on sale as much as I possibly can. However, every now and then I’ll come across something that catches my eye in the store. The thought of someone else buying my polish before I can get it on sale will bother me; at that point, I’ll just go for it. That’s the story behind my buying today’s subject: Silver Scallop.

Silver Scallop is from Sally Hansen’s Pearl Crush line. The collection as a whole is pretty, but this one really stands out on the display. It’s a gray tinted base with duochrome shimmer that changes from pink to green. It also has big iridescent hex glitter and glitter shards in it.

Application is…challenging. The instructions on the bottle say to dab on one coat, wait a minute, then dab on a second coat. That makes sense in that the big honking pieces of glitter clearly aren’t coming out of that bottle without a fight. However, when I followed the instructions, I ended up with a total of three pieces of glitter on my nails, and a mani full of air bubbles.

I decided to try applying it using the traditional method. I got maybe six pieces of glitter, and the polish looked good, so I rolled with it. I used three coats, plus my usual layer of Seche Vite.

The glitter itself is fascinating. It doesn’t look like it should, but it does lay flat on the nail. Depending on how the light hits, it can either look awesome like water droplets, or super trashy.

Silver Scallop definitely won’t stamp or water marble. It’d be easy to blame it on the glitter, but the reality is it’s just too sheer.

So, how did it hold up?

It did great! Totally didn’t expect that. It lasted three days, and even then, I had to look for the damage. The color made chips hard to spot, which is always a good thing! I lost most of the glitter while I was at work, which didn’t particularly bother me.

Just for fun, I tried sponging it on to see if I could get more glitter that way. My conclusion? Don’t bother. This also makes the finish look awful, and in my opinion, more glitter doesn’t help here.

Verdict: Excellent

I didn’t expect this polish to last as long as it did! The problem here is with the glitter. Maybe if they’d used the same type but smaller, it would have worked out better. Maybe they’re going with the idea that you don’t get a fistful of pearls out of an oyster, so you get the proportionate amount of glitter here? I couldn’t tell you. I kinda wish they had the glitter in its own clear base.

With that said, even if the concept has flaws, the polish is sound.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Orly Color Blast Frozen

A couple months ago, I reviewed Snow Queen, a polish from the Color Blast Frozen collection. I wasn’t really happy with it, although it is good for nail art. If you follow my Instagram feed, you may have seen pics I took of other Color Blast polishes that left me seriously not trusting the brand. However, on a recent trip to Walgreen’s, I saw the Frozen collection was on clearance for $3.59. Oh what the heck, one more bottle for science!

Frozen has a blue base with a duochrome shimmer. The shimmer is beautiful, shifting from green to aqua, to purple depending on the light. It reminds me quite a bit of mother of pearl. It practically looks luminous on!

As much as I like this, I do wonder about the name. This doesn't make me think of the movie, or anything icy at all. Oh well, if I ever start my own polish line, I'll make sure the names are relevant to the polish.

This polish is on the sheer side. It doesn't show in my pics, but I could see nail line even after using three coats. I added my usual coat of Seche Vite on top.

It’s worth noting that because of the sheer aspect of this polish, it’s not good for stamping or water marbling.

So, how did it hold up?

It went a good two days before the damage was noticeable.Something about the texture of it made me think it was going to be brittle. I wasn't too far off in that it chipped in odd places. With that said, it definitely surpassed my expectations.

Verdict: Good

This is more like it! I would have been sad if this had ended up as loser polish. It’s good to know this product line may have decent polishes in it, but I’m still wary. I still think the price is too high. However, if I can find more Color Blast bargains, I’ll try some more!