Nail Polish Stress Test: Walgreen’s $2 Beauty Bin Four Pack

As I continue on my journey to find out which polishes are worth buying, and which are not, I’ve learned that some cheap polishes are excellent. That’s enough to encourage me to buy more brands I’m not familiar with in the hope of finding more good bargains. That brings me to today’s subject; a four pack of no name polishes I found in the beauty bin in the back of my local Walgreen’s. Was this a good purchase? Let’s find out!

 

There were a couple varieties to choose from. I went with a set with orange, pink, blue and green polishes. The first thing I noticed once I hacked the package open was the caps. They looked as if they were missing something. I guess I'm just used to solid black or white ones. 

 

The second thing I noticed is that these polishes smell bad. I mean really bad. It was as if they’d gone rancid or something. I was seriously regretting attempting this test in mid-winter. Being able to open a window would have been really nice right about then! Breathing shallow, I foraged on ahead.

These polishes applied okay, the pink polish was a bit thicker than the others. All of them took three coats for full coverage. That terrible stink didn’t ever really go away, even several hours after it dried and a coat of Seche Vite on top! At least they did dry quickly.

Did the wear justify the smell?

Simply put, no. One day of work and it was the end of the road for this mani! Amazingly enough, none of the polishes stained.

Water marbling was a complete fail. Even if it did work, I’d recommend against it because of the stench factor! As for stamping, it’s doable, but difficult. These polishes dry pretty quickly. I had trouble with finer lines and details drying out before I could transfer it to my nail. It’s not worth the struggle. 

Verdict: Loser Polish

Anyone would be within their rights to give up on this set based on the smell alone. Its overall poor performance insures it’s not worth even the $2 I spent on it. The only use it might have is as a diet aid. That stink is definitely an appetite killer.