Nail Polish Stress Test: Cult Cosmetics Hollywood Blvd.

Cult nail polish is a brand I’d never heard of before. I acquired a couple bottles from an awesome friend of mine, so of course I’ve got to do a stress test!

Hollywood Blvd. is a pale gold color with a foil finish. It’s nearly a one coater, but I ended up using two to get full coverage, with my usual coat of Seche Vite on top. To my surprise, several people commented on this one. I’ll put just about any color on my nails so I expect those around me to be somewhat desensitized by now. I guess I’m wrong!

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

This did superbly. After two longer than usual days of work, it had some tip wear, but it wasn’t noticeable at all. 

It won’t water marble, but it will stamp. It works best on darker or lighter colors. 

Verdict: Excellent

Speaking as someone who has a ridiculous amount of gold polish, I’m really impressed with how well this polish did. Absolutely a worthy purchase. Since this brand goes on sale a lot, I’m definitely going to be buying more. 

Nail Polish Stress Test: Zoya Thea

I love Zoya’s Pixie Dust textured polishes. The glittery matte finish is gorgeous, and the wear time has been fantastic.  Sadly, Zoya is discontinuing them. They’re declaring the moment is over, time to move on. I grabbed Thea during a sale Zoya had to clear out some of their Pixie inventory. Was this a good idea? Let’s find out!

From the Wishes Holiday 2014 collection, it’s most definitely not like the Pixie Dusts of the past. I would call this a Pixie Dust in name only. It looks like it should be comparable to one of the Magical Pixie Dusts like Arlo, but this doesn’t dry to a matte finish, nor is it textured. Thea is a purple jelly with lots of different sized holographic glitters. You could say this is what you get when you remove the matte texture and leave everything else. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this, it’s just that I really liked the texture and I miss it here. 

This polish dried to a somewhat shiny finish. I actually went back to its product page to make sure I wasn’t supposed to top coat this. Sure enough, that’s what it says, so I didn’t. Like most glitters, it's not going to stamp or water marble.

So, how did it hold up?

 Not well at all. It was wrecked in one day. This polish is pretty darn brittle once it’s dried. 

I really wanted it to do better than this. I decided to try again, but this time, I added a coat of Seche Vite on top. In my opinion, it looks better shiny. 

 

This time, it survived two days before it was done in.

 Verdict: This is not a Pixie Dust Good

As long as you use a good top coat, curb your expectations, and only buy it when it’s on sale, this is a solid addition to your polish collection.

Stamping Plate Stress Test: Hehe Plate 013

I love nail stamping. I happen to really like Sailor Moon. When I learned that Sailor Moon stamping plates were a thing, I had to investigate!

Hehe is a new to me stamping plate manufacturer. Their plate designs take somewhat after Pueen’s Stamping Buffet series in that the different designs usually cover the entire plate. I really like this type of versatility as it makes them more accessible to people of different skill levels and nail sizes. I got my plate from Amazon for about $5. 

As is usually the case, this plate has blue film on top that needs to be removed before you can use it. I would handle it with care. There is no backing on this plate; the edges are a bit sharp.

Stamping wise, I was very happy with how it performed. I played around with stamping in different polishes, making sure I hit all the major areas on the plate. Everything picked up and transferred nicely. The real test came when I decided to try and use Sally Hansen Color Foil in Liquid Gold; the most aggravating polish I have that will stamp. It dries very quickly, and doesn’t always want to play nice with what I’m stamping on.

It worked beautifully! I got what I wanted on my nail the first try, every time, even with all the lines and details. 

Verdict: Excellent

I wasn’t sure what to expect from an unknown manufacturer using a licensed property, so I’m really happy I didn’t waste my money on this! Based on this experience, I wouldn’t mind checking out some of their other plates.

UPDATE: This plate can be found on the Born Pretty website.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Seche Uplifting

I’ve been a big fan of Seche Vite top coat, even with its flaws, so when I found of display of Seche nail polish at Ocean State Job Lot for $3 a bottle, I was all over that.

 Uplifting is a really pretty metallic purple. It looks like it ought to have a golden finish the way it looks in the bottle, but that’s not how it comes out on the nail. This went on in one easy coat. I put my usual coat of Seche Vite on top.

 It won’t water marble, but it stamps great! 

Sadly, it doesn’t hold up well. It was done in at the end of one day. Such a shame. If it had done better it would have been so awesome. 

Verdict: Party Polish - unless you’re into stamping

Even though it doesn’t hold up as just polish, it’s great as stamping polish. I actually went back and bought one of each of the other colors. At $3 a bottle, it’s worth it for that reason alone. I plan to review them as I work the large pile of polishes I want to try.

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 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: Claire’s Purple Mood Polish

Every so often, I’ll see a gimmicky polish that looks like fun, even though I know it might not work. Claire’s Mood Polish would be a good example. Being as it’s winter, I figured this would be the perfect time to test it out.

Although the label on the bottle says Purple, it never really looks that way on. It starts out looking like a darker pink, and turns to neon pink when warm. I didn’t really like how it looked in its transitional state. Normally I like how mood polish will create a French manicure look. This just looked like my nails were dirty. Meh. 

Here's how it looks all the way warm.

 

It’s a crelly, with a matte finish, so if you hate visible nail lines, turn back now. I used three coats, plus my usual one coat of Seche Vite on top to make it shiny. This doesn’t wholly come as a surprise to me, but this polish will not water marble or stamp.

Here's how it looked after one day.

I adjusted this photo to get the polish color accurate. This is its cold state.   

This particular morning, I did little more than get dressed and head out the door. No washing dishes, cooking, anything that might accelerate the doom of a manicure. Just as I started my car I noticed I already had some chipping. It only went downhill from there. Even with low expectations, this was a bottle of fail. 

Verdict: Loser Polish

While the color change effect is neat and all, what’s the point if it’s going to chip if you so much as look at it wrong? This one’s a waste of money.