Nail Polish Stress Test: CND Vinylux Black Pool

CND is a new to me brand that a friend and coworker of mine discovered at Ulta. As a fellow lacquerista, she was curious about it, so she picked up Black Pool. She was nice enough to offer me the chance to try it out too, and that’s an offer I can’t refuse!

Black Pool is from CND’s Weekly Polish line. It promises seven days of wear. That puts it in the wannabe gel category as far as I’m concerned.  As the name implies it’s a black crème. The first thing I noticed when I opened the bottle is that it’s got a pretty strong smell to it. Anyone who is sensitive to stinky things should consider themselves warned. It’s not the worst thing ever, but it’s definitely a thing.

Application was pretty nice. It went on in two easy coats. That’s nice to see in a black polish. I used one coat of the Weekly Top Coat to seal the deal. That’s where things got tricky. I found I needed to use a pretty heavy coat or it would drag some of the color off, which it did in places. Yet, if I used too much, which I did on my other hand, I got air bubbles that stuck out quite a bit.

Water marbling with this polish did not go well. It spread okay, but when I tried to do the actual marbling it got goopy and stringy. Stamping didn’t go much better. It can potentially work, but I had a lot of trouble picking up the image on the stamper. I’d say this one is not good for nail art.

So, how did it hold up?

It made it two days, which is well short of the week it promises, but pretty good for this type of polish, especially considering it’s black.

Verdict: Good

Based on how expensive it is, I wouldn’t get this unless you’re on Team Office Job. Otherwise I’d say it’s another polish that doesn’t stand up to the retail or warehouse world. This was $10.50 at Ulta. The Weekly Top Coat goes for the same price. 

Nail Polish Stress Test: Claire’s Spring Fever

If you’ve ever stopped in a Claire’s, you may have noticed their layered polishes. If you did, I bet you wondered “what does that look like on?”  Let’s find out together!

I chose Spring Fever, a nice combination of pastel pink, blue and lavender cremes. The pink and blue make me think of Pantone’s 2016 colors of the year. I figured I’d go with colors that would go well with each other. 

Application was interesting. The polish came out predominantly pink, with a few faint blue streaks.  I didn’t see any lavender until I’d almost finished the last coat on my right hand. I’d consider the formula to be on the thicker side. It took three coats to get full coverage. I used my standard coat of Seche Vite on top. All in all this didn’t look like I’d used some groovy polish. It was more like I’d painted my nails with a brush contaminated with a different color. I’m assuming the streaks would look more colorful and pronounced over time, but you only get one chance to make a first impression. This did not impress.

Spring Fever didn’t do well water marbling. I suspect the thicker formula that allows it to stay layered in the bottle is the reason. It was just too goopy to work, but it came close! Stamping didn’t fare much better. It didn’t do well with fine lines and details. Even the designs that did stamp okay were ruined as soon as I applied top coat. That’s a major bummer.

So, how did it hold up?

Better than I expected. It lasted a solid two days before I decided it had to come off.

Verdict: Good

I’m not crazy about how this polish looks by itself. I guess if you wasted some or just kept on using it, you’d get more interesting results eventually. I think this would best be used as a backdrop for nail art. It usually sells for $4.50. If you’re really curious about this one, hold out for a good sale first.

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; 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.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Claire’s Frosted Metal Blue

Ever buy a bottle of nail polish you thought looked cool but wasn’t what you expected when you put it on? That’s the story behind today’s test subject, Claire’s Frosted Metal Blue.

In the bottle, it looks like what it says on the bottle; a frosted metallic light steel blue polish, albeit one that needs to be shaken up a little. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to have glitter inside! If you read my review of Sea Temptress a while back, you’ll know I am not a fan of this kind of thing, so I wasn’t very happy to discover this. You can see the glitter in my bottle shot below, but at normal not magnified viewing range, it’s not obvious there’s stuff in there.  

Nonetheless, I foraged on. I will say this polish was easy to apply. The formula was on the thicker side, which was more like paint than lacquer. There’s micro glitter and bar glitter inside that gives more of a lumpy effect rather than frosty.  I used two coats and no top coat. Drying time was very short. This would be a good polish to put on if you wanted to do your nails just before heading out.

With all that glitter, there was no way this was going to be any good for water marbling or stamping. That’s a real bummer because I really wanted to try doing some nail art with it. I doubt one could even stamp on it!

So, my complaining aside, how did it hold up?

Not well. One day did it in. However, it’d be easy enough to put another coat on top to extend its wear.

Verdict: Loser Polish

As long as I’m griping, I’m also going to note that Claire’s really, really needs to do a better job of labeling their polishes in general.  *cough*ombre top coat*cough* If I’d known what was in that bottle, I never would have purchased it. At least it’s not terribly expensive. It normally goes for $4.50, but they run sales often enough that there’s no reason to pay full price for this. And you shouldn’t.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Wet N’ Wild Pretty Peas

I consider wannabe gels to be polishes that claim to wear at least a week, but rarely survive one day on me. I know it’s possible to have this type of polish perform well, so I keep trying them. Therefore, today’s subject is Wet N’ Wild Pretty Peas.

Pretty Peas is from their new 1 Step Wonder Gel collection. It’s a nice frying pan pastel green creme.

See?

The label on the bottle does accurately represent the color of the polish, which is a nice change. The formula was a bit of a pain. It was very easy to get too much polish on the brush. I had to do over my first couple of nails because I sloshed too much on them. Streakiness was an issue as well. I ended up using three thin coats and no top coat. I felt it could have used one because I didn’t think it was all that shiny.

This took a long time to dry, upwards of half an hour. Clearly I’m spoiled on quick dry top coats, but traditional polish doesn’t take that long! It also has a fairly strong smell. I didn’t find it overly bothersome, but it’s enough that I feel it’s worth mentioning.

Pretty Peas is too sheer to stamp with. Water marbling was interesting. I attempted it with traditional polish, but was too goopy. It also left a film on top of the water that was hard to get rid of. I’m not sure if this was a result of two formulas not getting along, or because of Wet N’ Wild’s formula. I think it’s sheer enough to make it not worth it.

So, how did it hold up?

It didn’t go well. I wrecked it in one day.

Verdict:  Loser Polish

I have a feeling this one is better suited to Team Office Job. At $4.99 a bottle (which you shouldn’t be paying because Wet N’ Wild goes on sale at least once a month) the price is very reasonable for this type of polish. However, between the tricky formula, long drying time, and uselessness in nail art, I can’t recommend it.

Top Coat Stress Test: Claire’s Holographic Top Coat

I’ve tried a fair amount of Claire’s nail polishes at this point. The results have been consistently disappointing.  I keep purchasing them because they keep tempting me with interesting looking polishes, and having good sales on them. So, today’s test subject is their Holographic Top Coat.

This looks like their version of the well regarded Northern Lights top coat, which I have yet to try. The gimmick here is there’s fine holographic glitter in a clear base that all completely sinks to the bottom of the bottle. You need to shake it up before you apply it.

The formula is very watery. I felt almost like I’d bought a snow globe in a nail polish bottle! I put one modest coat over my beloved Ulta Blue Holiday. I wasn’t really happy with how it applied. As I put it on, it actually messed up my polish a little. This top coat seemed to drag the polish off my nails.  Even though I had three coats on, and it was completely dry before I put the holo top coat on, it ended up making my mani look patchy. I know it’s hard to see because it’s shiny, but trust me; this didn’t look so great in person. It’s most noticeable on my pinky. This is not something I would use over nail art; it’d get ruined for sure. On the positive side, the glitter distribution was evenly scattered and added a nice sparkle.

So, how did it perform?

A good hour after I’d put it on, when pretty much anything should be completely good to go, I got a fingerprint mark on one of my nails. I fixed that, thought I was all set. Within an hour of starting work the next day, I had catastrophic polish failure. It was like this top coat never really “cured”, and scraped off as I was working.

Verdict: Loser Polish

Wow. I have never seen a top coat act like this before! I don’t know what is up with this one, but the results speak for themselves. Save your $5.50 and do not buy this! Buy a proper snow globe instead.

Top Coat Stress Test: Claire’s Ombre Top Coat

Claire’s is an interesting place to shop for nail polish. From what I can tell, they’re one of the few brick and mortar places I check that put out some fairly innovative polishes. They’re the first place I ever encountered thermal and solar polishes. The quality of their polishes can be hit or miss, but I’ve bought enough hits over the year to justify buying more for science. Good sales don’t hurt either. That’s how I ended up picking up their Ombre Top Coat.

It’s not completely clear (no pun intended) how this is supposed to work. I asked the associate on duty, who genuinely had no idea either. There are no instructions on the bottle to provide guidance. She thought it was supposed to change like a thermal polish once it was applied based on the sticker on the cap.

That's a reasonable guess. However, it turns out this is a sheer white polish that’s meant to be layered to create an ombre effect.

I got out my bottle of Ulta Blue Holiday, my go to polish for testing out top coats. I used two coats of Blue Holiday, and then applied three coats of Ombre Top Coat.

Here’s what it looked like after I tried making an ombre mani.

It took me three tries to get these mediocre results. I started out with two coats of Blue Holiday, then layered three coats of Ombre Top Coat over that. The polish really doesn't really start building up until at least the second coat, and the glossiness of the finish makes it ever harder to see. I had hoped the darker polish would make the effect more pronounced, but no such luck. 

This is not a fast dry top coat, so it took ages for it to dry. I’m so spoiled on using Seche Vite on everything that I forgot I actually had to wait with this one. Whoops! I also found I needed to let each coat dry before I applied the next one. This stuff definitely requires patience. It does look nice and shiny though.

So, how did it hold up?

It did pretty well; it made it two days before the chips started. When it did, it actually started happening near my cuticles instead of at the tips of my nails.  

Being as this is a top coat, and a sheer one at that, it's useless for stamping and water marbling. I tried using it with nail vinyls to see if I could get the ombre effect to be more pronounced. Nope! The only thing that was more distinct was how hard this polish fails. If I used more than one coat, it built up too much and pooled in the vinyl and by my cuticle. Air bubbles, yay! No nice clean lines either. 

 

Verdict: Loser Polish

If I were to rate this strictly on the basis of durability, this would be Good. However, I don’t recommend buying it, especially at its full price of $5.50. If you want to do an ombre effect mani, I would say either use a regular sheer polish that has a use on its own, or go with three shades of the same color. This top coat requires too many layers to do its one job, and by that point it’s just not practical. Pass on this one. 

Nail Polish Stress Test: CVS Pop-Arazzi Lovely In Lilac

Earlier this year I reviewed a couple of CVS’ Pop-Arazzi polishes. They were Good.  Since it’s been a while, I thought I’d try another one that’s been in my stash of untested polishes; Lovely In Lilac.

This one does what it says on the bottle. It’s a lovely shade of lilac. It has a slight shimmer to it in the bottle, but the reality is that this is a crème polish.

Pop-Arazzi polishes have something of a reputation for being foul smelling. It definitely smells stronger than most polishes. If you’re sensitive to this kind of thing, it’s worth being aware of, but I found it to be well within my tolerance level. I’ve dealt with worse for sure.

I used three coats here, with one coat of Seche Vite on top. The formula was nice and smooth. It was a bit streaky but it went away with that third coat. I have to say, I really liked how this looked when I was done. My collection doesn’t have a lot of pastels, so I was hoping this one would do well.

Sadly, it’s too sheer to be of any use in water marbling or stamping.

So, how well did it hold up?

Unfortunately, it didn’t do well at all. It was game over after one day. Normally I get better wear out of lighter colors, but that definitely didn’t happen here. I also got a surprisingly large amount of chipping on my thumb for some weird reason. That's unusual for me.

Verdict: Loser Polish

Lovely In Lilac doesn’t wear well, stamp, or water marble.  It’s a crying shame because it’s such a great color. At $2.99 (which no one should pay for this brand ever), it’s just not worth it. Hopefully I can find something better in the same color.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Republic Nail Gel Effect Coral

My 50^th review! Whoohoo!

The most popular review I’ve written since I started blogging here is the one I did for Republic Nail Gel Effect Monaco. It was loser polish. Polishes from this brand have been showing up off and on at TJ Maxx since then. This made me start to wonder. Did I get a dud bottle? Maybe I should have done a better job applying it? I can’t believe a company could continue to make a polish that bad and stay in business! I was curious enough to go into the breach one more time, so I bought another set.

My initial impression is still the same; I just don’t trust a product when the manufacturer can’t put an actual product photo on the packaging. It’s also worth noting the pic on the box wasn’t exactly color accurate either. This coral is definitely more pink looking in reality than it looks on the box.

You’re supposed to use one coat of the colored part, wait six minutes, apply the top coat, wait six minutes, done. Guess what? I ran into the same application problems. This stuff looks streaky as all get out. It seems like that’s just how this product rolls. I stuck to one coat. As badly as I wanted to add a second one, I decided to adhere to the directions. Things started going uphill when I tried to apply the topcoat. It was really stringy and goopy. 

 I had to redo a couple nails, but I managed to get a somewhat decent job done. Well, make that barely passable.

I didn’t even try to stamp or water marble with this. I mean, if I can barely get it on my nails, there’s no way it’s going to be good for anything fancy!

So, how did it hold up?

The damage wasn’t quite as severe as before, but it still only lasted a day. I even got big ol’ chips on my right thumb in places it shouldn’t even chip just like last time.

Verdict: Loser Polish

I think it’s safe to say this brand is to be avoided. Did I mention this stuff actually went up in price? It’s now $4.99. There is absolutely no reason to buy this polish whatsovever.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Claire’s Color of the Year

Let me admit this up front: I’m not a trendy person. When I picked up Color of the Year from Claire’s, it was because it was on sale for $2 down from $5.50, and a color I didn’t already have, Marsala. I’d completely forgotten that it’s Pantone’s color of the year for 2015.

Pantone defines Marsala as “a naturally robust and earthy wine red”. Yep, that description works for me!  According to the cap, this polish is supposed to have a “gel effect”.  I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, and neither did the store associates when I asked them. I noticed the formula is very similar to Revlon’s All In from their Gel Envy line. It’s thicker and seems to have a powdery texture to it that makes it easier to apply neatly. When it dried, it looked slightly glossier than their average polish, but in the absence of any other instructions, I applied one coat of Seche Vite on top of it anyway.

Color of the Year can potentially stamp, but you have to work really fast. The color....urgh..... Instead of a "naturally robust and earthy wine red", it came out as an ugly bright rust red that doesn't look pretty. Assuming you're happy with how your design came out, odds are good it'll get trashed when you try to put top coat on. This happened to me multiple times with different top coats. It's just not worth the hassle. 

Trying to water marble with this polish will break your heart. Initially I thought it was going to work great, but it shriveled afterwards. A lot. The first time I tried it, I thought I'd dinged it without noticing. Nope! I had the same results the second time. I don't know if it's because the formula was incompatible with the other polish I used, but it was bizarre. The pigment also bled like crazy. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd used it with a contrasting color!

It held up about as well as the average wannabe gel polish, taking on major tip wear over the course of one day.

Verdict: Loser Polish

I’m inclined to be kinder to this polish because of the price. At $2, my expectations are far lower than they would be for $8 polish. Nobody said anything about this polish being longer wearing, which is a consideration. Still, this got beat up pretty quickly, and it's useless for nail art.  There are better quality polishes available in this color, so I’d pass on this one.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Zoya Posh

Matte polishes are pretty, but they’re known to not last as long as traditional polish. I tend to not buy them unless they legitimately interest me. Zoya Posh is something I probably wouldn’t buy on my own. As luck would have it, I got a bottle in a shipping mistake I was allowed to keep. Woohoo!

Posh is a lovely shade of wine red, with a red shimmer. It almost seems to glow on the nail. I used two coats with no top coat.

It doesn’t stamp or water marble. You also can’t stamp on it either. Something about the matte finish prevents the design from sticking. I suppose if you put a top coat on first it might work, but that seems beside the point.  

Does this one perform better than others of its kind?

Sadly no, although I was really hoping it would. After one day of work, it was obviously chipped.

Verdict: Party Polish

This is another great polish for special occasions that doesn’t hold up to everyday life.

Nail Polish Stress Test: China Glaze I Love Your Guts

I like China Glaze’s core polishes. I’ve found them to be reliable across the board. Their gimmicky polishes? Not so much. I have one of them to test out today; I Love Your Guts from their Apocalypse of Color collection. I picked this one up during my last trip to Sally Beauty Supply. They put their Halloween displays on a rear facing end cap in the middle of the store, which was weird. I almost missed it!

This is actually an iridescent matte polish with black glitter in it.  It’s much prettier on than it is in the bottle. I found two heavier coats were enough for full coverage. It dried very quickly too. 

So, how did it last? Well, it didn’t. It was pretty much wrecked after one day at work, and it wasn’t even that busy! Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised. Matte polish is less durable than traditional polish. Some companies will even go so far as to put disclaimers on their displays or websites to make that clear. 

Verdict: Party Polish

This polish is too pretty not to use, but it’s not going to hold up unless you’re just going to sit there and look gorgeous. I can’t recommend getting it otherwise.