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: A England Hurt No Living Thing

A England has been on my list of brands I want to try ever since I first saw one in action. A good friend of mine knows this, so when she bought one for herself, she asked me if I wanted to borrow it. I of course said yes! That polish is today’s test subject; Hurt No Living Thing.

Hurt No Living Thing is a sheer grey polish with pink shimmer that can look purplish depending on the light. My friend and I were actually surprised by how sheer this was. She ordered hers from Color4Nails, and on their site, the polish looks opaque. Heck, it looks opaque in the bottle! The formula was really nice. It went on smoothly, and was nice and glossy on its own. However, even after four coats it was clear (no pun intended) this was meant to be a top coat. I am not a fan of visible nail line, but I decided I was going to do the full test drive anyways, so I put a coat of Seche Vite on top and let it ride.

Hurt No Living Thing is far too sheer to stamp. Water marbling isn’t a good idea either. It technically did work but the other polish bled into it like crazy, so unless that’s the effect you’re going for, don’t bother. I didn’t think to try this at the time, but I bet this would be great to use in French manicures.

So, how did it hold up?

I was impressed. It lasted a full three days before I spotted any chips.

Verdict: Excellent

Being as this is the same friend who got me hooked on Sparitual polishes, I’d say she knows how to pick ‘em.  If you’re into sheer polishes or want something nice to layer with, definitely snag one.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Dance Legend Albatross

I love stars. Really love them. I may actually take my love of them a bit far. I say that, because when I found out Dance Legend was coming out with their Indistar collection, I got a little….excited. I ordered mine from Llarowe just before they cut back to only selling their own brand. A lot of new polishes tended to sell out on launch day there, so by excited I mean OMG DON’T LET THEM SELL OUT BEFORE I GET HOME FROM WORK!!!!! Thankfully, that didn’t happen.  I was able to snag the ones I really wanted, including today’s test subject, Albatross.

Albatross is a sheer light gray polish with lots of holographic goodies. It’s got holo stars, small glitters, microglitter, and sequins. There’s silver microglitter in there too. I felt like it looked more white than gray when I put it on. I used three easy coats, with one coat of Seche Vite on top. The stars and sequins you see here are what I got without deliberately fishing anything out of the bottle or moving stuff around. Overall, I’m pleased with how that worked out although the three sequins on my index finger look a bit odd.

Even though this is without a doubt a sheer polish, it did a good job of hiding visible nail lines. Normally I don’t like that, but it definitely worked for me in this case. This polish looks magical!

My nails have a good amount of curve to them, so this can lead to stars easily getting knocked off or being scratchy. My one layer of top coat largely took care of that. I’m sure an extra coat would address it for sure. The sequins are fairly thick, but they were pretty secure on my nails without me doing anything special to keep them there. I suspect the hole in the center may have something to do with it.

It should come as no surprise that this polish is not suitable for stamping or water marbling.

So, how did it hold up?

It made it a solid two days before it took noticeable damage. It's not easy to see, but I lost a couple sequins, and when they came off, they took a fair amount of polish with them. There was some lifting near my cuticles too. I have a feeling this may be the type of polish that might pop off too much is used at once.

Verdict: Good

I believe people who don’t work in warehouses will be able to get more wear out of this polish than I did. Good thing too, at $9 a bottle, I want it to stay on my nails! I’m glad it did so well considering how easily I can potentially catch the big stuff on things. Even if you’re not into sheer polishes, this would work well as a top coat. If you love starry things like I do, you should pick up a bottle of Albatross if you get the chance.

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 L’Oreal Masked Affair

This polish is from L’Oreal’s Dark Sides of Grey collection, which is currently available in stores as of this writing. I’d looked straight at Masked Affair in Rite Aid and completely ignored it. It looked like Yet Another Gray Polish and sailed completely under my radar. However, it was brought to my attention that it was more than it seemed, so I went back and bought it.

 Masked Affair is a silver polish with holographic effect. This one can’t truly be appreciated until you actually put it on. I swear it looks great everywhere except in the store! I used three coats, with my usual layer of Seche Vite on top. I love how this looks. 

It doesn’t water marble, but this one is good for stamping. I used it on the accent nail on my ring finger here. 

Looks aren’t everything though. How did it hold up?

It did great! It lasted a solid three days before the damage was noticeable. This is the type where damage doesn’t show as much as it could because of its color. I absolutely love that.

Verdict: Excellent

If you see this one, grab it! It’s durable, has a great holo effect, and stamps. It’s a worthy addition to everyone’s polish collection.

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.