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: Forever 21 Blue Jewel

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love textured polishes. I love their ease of use and generally superior durability, so when my nail polish BFF sent me Blue Jewel, I was excited to try it out. Textured and my favorite color? Yessss! *fist pump*

Blue Jewel is one of those polishes that begs to be worn in the sun. Even though I hate that round shiny thing in the sky (it BURNS!), I had to get a shot of it in daylight so you can see how gorgeous it really is. It’s got an iridescent quality to it that just isn’t done justice otherwise. 

It went on in three coats, no problem. I just made sure to let it dry in between coats. It’s not coarse like some textured polishes at all. If you really wanted to make it shiny, you could probably do it without much trouble. I did not use any top coat with this.

Obviously you can’t stamp with this, and I don’t bother with water marbling this kind of polish.

So, how did it hold up?

This didn’t last as long as I expected. It was pretty banged up after one day, but not dramatically so.  It wouldn’t be a big deal to touch up the damage. 

 Verdict: Good

Compared to others of its kind this isn’t the best in class. However, if you like textured polishes but hate the removal this is still a good choice. I’m looking forward to getting plenty of use out of this one.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Julie G Tangerine Dream

I love textured polish so much. Yeah, I’ve said that before, I know. Bear with me. I haven’t accepted that they’re old hat. I’m hanging on until they finally go the way of magnetic and crackle polishes and become nigh impossible to find.

My nail polish BFF understands this, and sent me this gem; Tangerine Dream. This nice score was found at Rite Aid for the awesome clearance price of $1.99!

Tangerine Dream is an iridescent orange. The texture is more abrasive than average. I definitely wouldn’t wear this with pantyhose, I think they’d get shredded, reinforced toe or not. As is usually the case for textured polishes, you can’t stamp with this. I’m not into gritty water marbles, so I didn’t bother attempting that here.

I used three coats with no top coat.

So, how did it hold up?

It did very well. It went a solid three days before the tip wear was noticeable.

Verdict: Excellent

This polish is a great value and a solid performer.

I’m going to add even more incentive to look for this one; it’s a nearly exact dupe of Zoya Beatrix.

The only real difference is that Beatrix is a bit smoother. In these swatches, Beatrix is on the left, and Tangerine Dream is on the right. Can you tell them apart?

Considering Zoya’s textured polishes run $10 per bottle, and the performance of the two polishes is identical, I’d say definitely grab Tangerine Dream if you come across it!