Nail Product Stress Test: Sassy + Chic Embossed Nail Stickers

Going to Dollar Tree is always fun. I never hesitate to pick up nail polish or in this case, nail wraps. I mean, if they suck, who cares? It was only a dollar. That leads me to today’s test subject, Sassy + Chic embossed nail stickers.

These looked like they could be of decent quality. Silver, pink, and blue dots are embossed on a translucent grey background. In the package, they definitely look embossed, but once they’re on, it looks like you sat there and stuck a ton of clear stones on your nails. They definitely looked nicer than I expected.

Application was pretty easy. The one problem I had is that the stickers tended to rip. Be sure you have the right size sticker before you put it on your nail, because you might ruin it before you can get it placed correctly. They have no stretch to them at all.  The edges were a bit ragged due to the embossing. I had to do a fair amount of filing afterwards.

I had no issues with wrinkles with these at all. That was a nice change.

Putting these wraps on was the last thing I did before I went to bed. I don’t usually do this, but I decided to take pics first. Good thing; when I woke up the next morning, there were...problems.

Somehow, I managed to chip these in my sleep, big time. I decided to remove them. In the process, I discovered that they’d become more brittle.

Even if that hadn’t happened, the adhesive was not up to the job. The decals would have been knocked off very easily at work. This is definitely a product fail. For bonus points, they left glue residue all over my nails. Yay.

Verdict: Loser polish

These didn’t even make it out the door. Granted, it’s only a dollar, but I recommend you put it towards a bottle of good polish instead.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sally Hansen Silver Scallop

I try to buy nail polish on sale as much as I possibly can. However, every now and then I’ll come across something that catches my eye in the store. The thought of someone else buying my polish before I can get it on sale will bother me; at that point, I’ll just go for it. That’s the story behind my buying today’s subject: Silver Scallop.

Silver Scallop is from Sally Hansen’s Pearl Crush line. The collection as a whole is pretty, but this one really stands out on the display. It’s a gray tinted base with duochrome shimmer that changes from pink to green. It also has big iridescent hex glitter and glitter shards in it.

Application is…challenging. The instructions on the bottle say to dab on one coat, wait a minute, then dab on a second coat. That makes sense in that the big honking pieces of glitter clearly aren’t coming out of that bottle without a fight. However, when I followed the instructions, I ended up with a total of three pieces of glitter on my nails, and a mani full of air bubbles.

I decided to try applying it using the traditional method. I got maybe six pieces of glitter, and the polish looked good, so I rolled with it. I used three coats, plus my usual layer of Seche Vite.

The glitter itself is fascinating. It doesn’t look like it should, but it does lay flat on the nail. Depending on how the light hits, it can either look awesome like water droplets, or super trashy.

Silver Scallop definitely won’t stamp or water marble. It’d be easy to blame it on the glitter, but the reality is it’s just too sheer.

So, how did it hold up?

It did great! Totally didn’t expect that. It lasted three days, and even then, I had to look for the damage. The color made chips hard to spot, which is always a good thing! I lost most of the glitter while I was at work, which didn’t particularly bother me.

Just for fun, I tried sponging it on to see if I could get more glitter that way. My conclusion? Don’t bother. This also makes the finish look awful, and in my opinion, more glitter doesn’t help here.

Verdict: Excellent

I didn’t expect this polish to last as long as it did! The problem here is with the glitter. Maybe if they’d used the same type but smaller, it would have worked out better. Maybe they’re going with the idea that you don’t get a fistful of pearls out of an oyster, so you get the proportionate amount of glitter here? I couldn’t tell you. I kinda wish they had the glitter in its own clear base.

With that said, even if the concept has flaws, the polish is sound.

App Stress Test: Snupps (iOS/Android)

One of the challenges of having a big polish collection is trying to not buy the same thing twice. My memory is quite good, but on occasion, I’ve accidentally bought a dupe or two. I’ve also held off on buying something because I was pretty sure I had something similar. I’m at the point where I need to catalog what I have in some way.

Recently, I heard about the Snupps app, and it sounded like it’d be just what I needed, so I thought I’d give it a try. This review is based on my using the app over the course of a few weeks, to be sure updates and such didn’t change my opinions.

With Snupps, you can take a picture (or use one you already have) of whatever it is you collect, label it, and sort it into different folders the app calls Shelves. You can have an item on more than one Shelf, and there’s plenty of opportunity to get as detailed as you want.

What I Liked:

•  Creating new entries is easy. You can either do this in batches, or one at a time.

•  You can sort entries in batches as well.

• Your entries are not stored on your device, so this won’t eat up big blocks of memory.

•  Snupps has a sharing function, which can be useful. For instance, if you know someone who wants to shop for you, but doesn’t want to buy something you already have, they can double check your collection first.

•  This is a free app that doesn’t have annoying ads all over it.

•  Your collection can be synched across devices.

What I Didn’t Like:

• You need to keep those batches small. I found if I tried to do more than seven at a time, the app would crash and I had to do it over.

• The way you select which Shelf an item is going to can be problematic. You have to tap on the list to access it, then tap the Shelves you want. I found that on occasion, it’d register a double tap, leading to something being shelved where I didn’t want it. I’d like to see an “are you sure?” function added so I don’t have to go and double check what I just did. 

• As your entries are stored in the cloud, you can’t access it if you have no signal or Wi-Fi. I’d like the option to either store everything on my device or store it in the cloud.

•  Autocorrect can be annoying. I would have to reenter names more than once because it doesn’t understand I really meant to type what I did. 

• The app will sign you out when it updates.

Verdict: Good

In spite of its annoyances, Snupps is a useful app. Once I got the bulk of my stash Shelved, I found adding more polishes as I bought them to be pretty easy. I think this is useful for someone who is starting to accumulate, but could be frustrating for someone starting off with a big collection. 

https://www.snupps.com/

Nail Polish Stress Test: Forever 21 Blue Jewel

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love textured polishes. I love their ease of use and generally superior durability, so when my nail polish BFF sent me Blue Jewel, I was excited to try it out. Textured and my favorite color? Yessss! *fist pump*

Blue Jewel is one of those polishes that begs to be worn in the sun. Even though I hate that round shiny thing in the sky (it BURNS!), I had to get a shot of it in daylight so you can see how gorgeous it really is. It’s got an iridescent quality to it that just isn’t done justice otherwise. 

It went on in three coats, no problem. I just made sure to let it dry in between coats. It’s not coarse like some textured polishes at all. If you really wanted to make it shiny, you could probably do it without much trouble. I did not use any top coat with this.

Obviously you can’t stamp with this, and I don’t bother with water marbling this kind of polish.

So, how did it hold up?

This didn’t last as long as I expected. It was pretty banged up after one day, but not dramatically so.  It wouldn’t be a big deal to touch up the damage. 

 Verdict: Good

Compared to others of its kind this isn’t the best in class. However, if you like textured polishes but hate the removal this is still a good choice. I’m looking forward to getting plenty of use out of this one.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Cover Girl #LaserLight

I was cruising the polish section of my local Rite Aid looking for polish bargains when I came across some Cover Girl polishes on clearance. I’ve never tried this line, so I picked up a couple to test drive. One of them is #LaserLight from their Glowing Nights series. It was only $.94, how could I resist?

#LaserLight is an inky black jelly. I’m not sure how this polish got its name. Glowing? This color? Nuh-uh!

It went on easily, taking three coats for full coverage. I used three coats with the usual layer of Seche Vite on top to make everything nice and glossy.

I didn’t have any luck water marbling with this, but it does stamp. Its inky quality gives the stamped design a nice effect. If I’d been thinking, I would have used this for a text design. Next time!

So how did it hold up?

I was impressed with how it did, especially since it’s a dark color. It went a solid three days before it was done in.

Verdict: Excellent

Ignoring the silly name, (seriously, who names a black polish #LaserLight?), this is a good find, especially for the price!

Pausing to say thank you.

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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.