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: 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: 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: Bonita Green Crush

I really like Bonita brand nail polishes. The only store near me that sells any is the Rite Aid next door, but they don’t have a dedicated store display for them. I have to wait for a new collection to be released and hope Rite Aid gets it in. My friend and I checked there nearly every single day for months to see if anything new came in. Our vigilance was finally rewarded when we found Bonita’s latest Gel On collection display. We nearly bought all of it, including today’s test subject: Green Crush.

I was particularly interested in Green Crush because my polish collection doesn’t have many neons in it. Even though the color suggests this is green, I see it more as a highlighter yellow neon creme. As you can tell from my tag cloud, I don’t do much with yellows in general, so I’m happy to be able to give the warm side of the color wheel some love.

The Gel-On! label suggests this is a wannabe gel polish. Wannabe gel is my term for polishes that claim to last as long as actual gel polishes, and frequently need a specific top coat to go with them. More often than not, they also suck. However, since this display didn’t contain any top coats at all, I’m treating this like it’s traditional nail polish.

Application was a bit tricky. The formula is on the thick side. I found it was hard to apply evenly and neatly near my cuticles without flooding them.  Still, I was happy I was able to build it up to full opacity in four coats. I am not a fan of neons that require me to use a base coat or white polish underneath, so this was fantastic! I used my usual coat of Seche Vite on top.

Green Crush doesn’t really stamp well. It’s too sheer and dries too quickly, so I’d say don’t bother trying to use it for that purpose. Water marbling is another story. I used it with the other cremes from the collection and found it worked beautifully!

So, how did it hold up?

It did great! It made it a solid three days before I felt it had to come off.

Verdict: Excellent

All those days of stalking the polish displays for this Bonita was totally worth it, even if the cashiers at Rite Aid think I’m a weirdo. I think this is one of the best neon polishes I’ve ever used, in spite of the tricky application. If you see this polish, grab it! For $2.99, you really can’t go wrong.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Azature Coral Diamond

Azature is one of those brands that is hard NOT to be curious about. Curious as in at $25 a bottle, how good is it? Since I managed to score a couple bottles during their $6 sale, we’re gonna check out one today; Coral Diamond.

Coral Diamond is a really nice coral creme. It’s not too orange, not too pink, nice and bright without being neon. The formula was nice and smooth. I used three coats with my usual coat of Seche Vite on top. I gotta say, I really liked how this one looked on me.

As you can see, it stamped no problem. It also water marbled well too. This was one of the more cooperative polishes I’ve tried to use for that purpose. My brain was screaming “DON”T WASTE IT! THIS STUFF IS EXPENSIVE!” while I was testing it. I need to cover all the bases though, right?

So, how did it hold up?

I was impressed. It lasted a solid three days before the damage was noticeable.

Verdict: Excellent

At $25 a whack, it better be excellent, right? I’m definitely happy with this one. This may be my go to coral polish. Would I spend $25 on it? Nope. At that price I expect it to last at least two weeks and give me super powers!

IMPORTANT!  I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating; whatever you do, be careful about interacting with this company from work. Azature puts out some sexy pics to advertise their polishes. I’ve seen the same racy images on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even in emails. One of them was flat out NSFW. Here’s a link to Coral Diamond that’s safe. 

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sinful Colors Sugar High

Two things I absolutely love to see in polish are the color blue, and texture. That means today’s subject, Sinful Colors Sugar High should be perfect, right? Let’s find out!

Sugar High is a gorgeous royal blue textured polish from Sinful Colors’ limited edition Sugar Crushin’ collection. This is the color of joy.  Even better, it has a duochrome shimmer that shifts between blue and pink. I’ve never seen that done before, and I love, love, love it. Unlike its sister Sweeten The Teal, this polish is more on the sheer side. As a result, the color isn’t as deep on the nail as it is in the bottle. The texture isn’t overly abrasive and isn’t distracting as this kind of polish can be. I used three coats with no top coat.

As a textured polish, it won’t stamp. As for water marbling…well, this is the reason I don’t consider doing it with this kind of polish.

So, how did it hold up?

Sadly, it was a done deal after the first day.

Verdict: Loser Polish

While I’m sad this isn’t a repeat of Sweeten The Teal’s success, it’s still one of the prettiest polishes I’ve acquired in some time. I plan to keep on wearing this one; I’ll just stick to doing that on weekends. I picked this up at Walgreen’s for $1.99.