Nail Polish Stress Test: Whim Gone Glamorous

As my search for a wannabe gel polish that doesn’t suck continues, I’ve come across a couple brands where I’ve balked at buying them. This is because in my opinion the cost is too high versus the odds of them being any good. One of those brands is the Ulta Exclusive, Whim. However, my friend came across a shade she really liked from that collection and offered to let me borrow it, along with the necessary top and base coat. I never turn down an opportunity like that, so today’s subject is Gone Glamourous.

Gone Glamorous is a dark vampy red jelly that has iridescent flecks in it. The flecks look awesome in the bottle, but once it’s on, you really can’t see them. I found the formula to be on the thin side, and while it applied okay, I had problems doing it neatly. I think this is partly because of the formula of the polish itself and partly because of the base coat, appropriately named Cover Your Bases. It’s supposed to act as a “magnet” for the polish and it certainly did that. When I went over it with Gone Glamorous, it adhered and dried very quickly.

I also found this polish was on the streaky side, so I used three coats to get full opacity. I finished off my mani with the recommended top coat, On Top Of It. I had to use a heavy coat as it dragged the color off otherwise. It dried pretty quickly. It looked pretty nice, but I really prefer the shine Seche Vite provides.

This is another polish that almost water marbles but dries too quickly to pull it off successfully. To my surprise, it stamped beautifully. It did well enough that I was able to use an image with fine lines for my ring finger accent nail. The sparkly bits didn’t interfere with stamping at all. Since I knew by this point that using On Top Of It would wreck the design, I used Seche Vite on that one nail.

So, how did it hold up?

Business as usual, it was wrecked in one day.

Verdict: Party Polish

The polish, top coat, and base coat cost $10 each. For $30, I want better results than that.This is exactly why I didn't buy them myself. However, if you came across Gone Glamorous in the clearance bin and were into nail stamping, it might be worth picking up.That's the only thing that saves Gone Glamorous from being Loser Polish.

Nail Polish Stress Test: L.A. Colors Ever After

I was cruising through Walmart the other day when I happened on a new L.A. Colors display. One of polishes stood out to me as being really pretty, so I thought I’d give it a try even though it’s a wannabe gel. That polish is today’s test subject, Ever After. Was this a good idea? Let’s find out!

Ever After is from L.A. Colors’ Color Last collection. In the bottle, it looks like a lavender polish with a really nice iridescent shimmer. Heck, the bottle design on this line has the cap matching the polish, so I was all set for a knockout mani. However, it turns out this polish is quite sheer. It still looks pretty, but not what I was hoping for. Application was easy. I used three coats hoping for opacity that never happened, and used one coat of their Crystal Top Coat as recommended.

This polish is too sheer to stamp. It can potentially water marble but it’s so sheer I don’t know that I’d bother with it.

According to the sticker on the cap, this polish is supposed to last ten days. Did it?

Of course not. This polish chipped big time on the first day. It’s easiest to see on my index finger where I have polish missing all around the edge of my nail down to the cuticle, plus big chips at tip. The same thing happened to my middle finger. I’d say this stuff is pretty brittle.

Verdict: Loser Polish

I was super disappointed this polish came out as sheer as it did. It’s shades of Hurt No Living Thing all over again, without the excellent wear time. With that said, I think this would look good layered over other polishes, and I’ll keep it around for that. Otherwise it’s another polish that makes promises of long wear that it can’t keep. You don’t need this one.  

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: Revlon Sky’s The Limit

This week’s test subject was an impulse buy. I was cruising through Rite Aid the other day when I saw they’d put a bunch of cosmetics on clearance. Of course I had to scope that out. As I did, I saw one bottle of Sky’s The Limit marked down to $4. The poor thing looked lonely so I thought I’d give it a home. Was that a good idea? Let’s find out!

Sky’s The Limit is a really pretty sky blue microglitter polish. (Okay, I say that about most blue polishes. I love the color and make no apologies for it.) Depending on the light it’s possible to see some purple glitter scattered in there too.  Application was a breeze. Three coats gave me full opacity. I like that it was thick enough to be able to apply it evenly, but not so much that it went on too thick. It’s part of Revlon’s Gel Envy line, so I used one coat of Gel Envy top coat over it. This is not a quick dry, so it needs more time to set up.

Stamping was a no go with this one. Technically it does work, but it’s so sheer you really can’t see it. It’s possible to water marble with it but it never really dried. I think it ends up being too much polish.

So, how did it hold up?

It did okay. I got two days out of it before I noticed damage. Considering this is a wannabe gel, that’s quite respectable.

Verdict: Good

Being as I already had the right top coat and I got this on clearance, I’d say this was a good pickup for me. However, I can’t recommend buying this at full price. This product still falls well short of the long wear this line promises. People on Team Office Job would get the most out of this one.

Nail Polish Stress Test: L.A. Colors Dare Devil

It seems like everyone’s getting into the wannabe gel scene these days. Today’s subject is a from  L.A. Colors new Color Craze Gel line, Dare Devil.

Dare Devil looks like a blue toned purple crème in the bottle that’s supposed to have a high shine. The reality is it’s more of a red toned purple jelly on the nails. I used two coats as per the directions. I thought it looked a bit streaky. It also wasn’t particularly shiny. I used one coat of their top coat, which did help somewhat.

This polish will stamp, but not easily. It didn’t do great with finer lines and details. Larger designs came out much better. It water marbles pretty nicely. The color did bleed somewhat, so I don’t recommend using this with contrasting colors.

So, how did it hold up?

 This only lasted one day, which seems to be par for the course when I test wannabe gels.

Verdict: Party Polish

This might be worth picking up if you’re into water marbling, or if you’re on Team Office Job. It actually performed the same as other wannabe gels I’ve tried, and this is one of the least expensive ones out there. This line of polish can be found at Family Dollar and is $2.49 a bottle.

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.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sinful Shine Royal Flush

A little while ago, I reviewed my first Sinful Shine polish, Prosecco. It ended up being the highest scoring polish I’ve ever reviewed, so the natural thing for me to do was buy a couple more when they were on a buy one get one free sale at Rite Aid, including today’s subject, Royal Flush. Is it as good as Prosecco? Let’s find out!

Royal Flush is a fuchsia purple crème. I was a little worried as I applied it. While it went on fine and all, the formula reminded me of previous wannabe gels I’ve reviewed. It had that same lacquer like texture when it dried. I used two coats here, with one coat of the Sinful Shine topcoat.

This polish will water marble. I used another Sinful Shine along with it, Diamond In The Raw, which I will be reviewing at some point in the future.

It turns out that Royal Flush also stamps, although I had some issues with that. Royal Flush is opaque enough to stamp over darker colors. However, you can see from this picture that the silver underneath makes it look different. More importantly, the top coat smudged the design somewhat. The formula has some “grip” to it when it’s applied, even when I used a fairly heavy coat to avoid that problem. I don’t want to make a judgement call based on my experience with one polish, but I’m kinda thinking this kind of polish may not be ideal for stamping.

So, how did it hold up?

It didn’t, and that makes me very sad. It was wrecked after one day.

Verdict: Party Polish

Looks like we’re back to standard wannabe gel performance. Phooey. I really wanted this to be another polish on par with Prosecco, but that definitely didn’t happen here! I’m not giving up on this product line yet though. I have three more Sinful Shines to check out. I hope they’re more like Prosecco, and less like Royal Flush. Being usable for nail art is no good if it’s not going to last. Definitely skip this one.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sinful Shine Prosecco

So over the past few months, I’ve tried various polishes I consider wannabe gels. These products claim to have extended wear and gel like shine for a fraction of the cost. So far, I have yet to find one that wasn’t loser polish. I keep hoping I’ll find one that actually works though! That brings me to today’s test subject; Prosecco from Sinful Shine.

Prosecco is a cool toned beige with golden glass flecks in it that have quite a bit of sparkle. It looks more iridescent up close. I used three coats, and the Sinful Shine topcoat you’re supposed to use with these polishes. It went on as if it were ordinary polish.

Let me be up front; this shade is not my thing. The main reason I went with Prosecco is that by the time I was aware my local Walmart finally got these polishes in, the display was pretty bombed out, and my choices were down to this, and basic colors like red and pink. I’d rather avoid reviewing the same color in twenty different brands, so Prosecco it was. Enjoy, because you won’t be seeing much of this kind of color here!

Furthermore, I’d just gotten a couple new stamping plates in the day before. Based on my track record, I figured I’d throw this on, fail it, and play with my new stuff. Did that happen?

NO! Not even close! I put this on Monday, and although it did get some tip wear, it was still looking acceptable on Friday, when I took this pic. Just to be clear about what I do to my manicures, this was on through two showers a day, washing dishes, cleaning, sticking my hands in boxes eight hours a day, and getting pretty filthy in the process, so the fact that this looked passable after all that is amazing! In fact, I kept it on through Saturday, when it finally started to chip.

Sadly this won’t stamp. Water marbling isn’t impossible. This polish takes significantly longer to dry in water for some reason, so I would recommend using the decal method if you want to do this.

Verdict: Outstanding

This is THE best polish I have reviewed so far. At $2.99 each for the polish and top coat, it’s also a fantastic value. Obviously the color hides some of the damage, but still….wow! I am totally checking out more of this line!

You know what the funniest part is to me? Sinful did not make any claims about wear time; believe me, I checked. If you see this polish, GRAB IT.  

 

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: Revlon Gel Envy All In

Ahhh, wannabe gel polishes. I want to believe in them so much, but every one I’ve tried so far has been loser polish. I keep trying them, because I keep hoping one of them will actually work! That brings me to today’s polish, All In, from Revlon’s Gel Envy line.

All In, is a dark gray base with a strong blue shimmer. It looks like it should be a duochrome, but it isn’t. I used two coats here with the Gel Envy topcoat over that. It dried fairly quickly, no issues there. If anything, I found it was easier to apply than traditional polish.

I did try stamping and watermarbling with it. Watermarbling was a fail; it dries too quickly. It’s too sheer for stamping. The results just aren’t worth it.

The really important question is how well did it hold up?

To my supreme disappointment, it didn’t. Once again, I had tip wear on the first day that can’t be ignored. *sigh* To be fair, this is the least damage one of these wannabe gel polishes has suffered on me, but this doesn't say long wearing to me.

Verdict: Loser Polish

Once again, a polish that claims to last up to seven days fails to last even one. I guess this is another one for Team Office Job. At least I didn’t pay much for it. I grabbed it during a rare 40% off Revlon sale at Rite Aid. At least that eases the pain of my disappointment. 

Nail Polish Stress Test: Everglaze Don’t Grape About It

Is it me or does it seem like extended wear polishes are cropping up everywhere? I have not had good luck with the ones I’ve tried so far, but I keep hoping one of these will actually work for me the way they claim. This time I’m trying China Glaze’s Everglaze, bought during one of Sally’s buy one get one free sales, of course. I’m not paying full price for potential broken dreams!

Don’t Grape About It is a lame pun is a lavender crème. The formula was easier to work with than the Endless Wear polish I tried. I had full coverage in two coats, which dried very quickly. I used the Everglaze top coat afterwards. It had a really nice shine to it. Could this polish be the one that survives the warehouse?

Nope. While I didn’t have catastrophic polish failure this time, it was pretty much trashed in one day. 

I didn’t have any luck water marbling or stamping with this polish. It dried too darn fast to do anything with it. 

Verdict: Loser polish

Fellow warehouse workers and retail people, I’m sorry to report this is not the polish we’re looking for.  I do recognize that any manicure of mine will die an accelerated death, BUT I do expect it to last longer than traditional polishes. With that said, people with office jobs might be able to get this to work. Everyone else should steer clear.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Finger Paints Endless Wear I Louvre You

Any time I hear about a polish that is allegedly long wearing, I find myself both curious and suspicious. The last one I tried didn’t fare well at all. Even so, when I learned Finger Paints had come out with their own line of long wearing polish I figured I’d give it a shot. Was that a mistake? Let’s find out!

I picked up I Louvre You, a bubblegum pink polish with a very pretty shimmer and microflakies. I’d say this is a jelly, but it can be opaque in three coats, which is what I went with. I used the matching Endless Wear top coat to finish it off. 

   This polish dries very quickly, which is great in the sense that you can move on to doing other things in the meantime, but also renders this polish useless for stamping or water marbling.

On to the critical part; how well did it hold up?

It didn’t. At the end of the first day I had noticeable tip wear, but I decided to push it to a second day. That was a mistake as I had catastrophic polish failure.

Verdict: Loser Polish

I’m being a bit harsh here as I’ve rated other polishes that have lasted one day higher than this, but they didn’t promise to last up to ten days either. Save your money and buy something else instead.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Republic Nail Gel Effect Monaco

When I first came across this product in T.J. Maxx, I must have picked it up and put it back like six times. I’m always suspicious of companies that don’t put photos of the actual product on their packaging. However, since it was only $3.99, I figured I’d potentially waste some money for science.

 

This is one of those polishes that claim to last a long time without using a UV lamp. I was really wary as the last time I tried a product with that promise, it was Nutra Nail. That was a disaster. I decided to do only one nail at first, just in case this polish worked the same way. 

According to the directions, you put one coat of nail polish on, wait six minutes, put the gel effect top coat on, wait six minutes, done. The colored part went on streaky as heck. I tried to go over it again but it didn’t help. Once I applied the top coat and waited the required six minutes, it was completely dry, so I took the plunge and did a full manicure. 

The results were not pretty, but I foraged on. So how did it last?

This stuff was definitely on the fragile side. After one day at work I had chips at both ends of my nail, and a major chip on my thumb too. Long wearing? Um, no.

Verdict: Loser polish

This polish fails in every way possible. It’s a pain to apply, it looks terrible once it’s on, and it doesn’t last. Do not buy this.

Update 8/30/15: I gave this brand another go.