Nail Polish Stress Test: L’Oreal Too Dimensional?

The other day I was cruising through Rite Aid looking for new polishes, when the L’Oreal display caught my eye. It had several items, including nail polish on 50% off clearance. I bought a couple including today’s test subject, Too Dimensional? Was that a good idea? Let’s find out!

Too Dimensional? is a hard polish to describe. It looks significantly different depending on the lighting. It’s a textured polish that seems to have duochrome properties. It can look more purple or gray depending on the light. It has iridescent shimmer and purple hex glitters mixed in to make it even more interesting.  I never got tired of looking at this one.

Here it is in LED light.

Here it is in sunlight.

And here it is in the indirect light I usually use.

This was easy to apply and I had full coverage in three coats. I let each layer dry completely before I added the next one. I did not use any top coat. The texture was somewhat abrasive but not distractingly so, and that always wears down a bit as soon as I start living life.

As a textured polish, it can’t be used to stamp or water marble. I bet it’d be fun to use with nail vinyls though!

So, how did it hold up?

It did pretty well. It made it two days before it was time to take it off.

Verdict: Good

This was a good find. I love textured polishes and unexpectedly finding this one makes me happy. You should pick this one up if you come across it. 

Nail Polish Stress Test: Color Club Rays The Bar

I love color changing and other gimmicky polishes. When Color Club came out with their new Heat Index collection, I had to try at least one.  I chose Rays The Bar. Was that a good idea? Let’s find out!

Rays The Bar is a thermal polish that is supposed to change from pink to orange depending on temperature. Looking at the label on the cap, that color change is supposed to be pretty distinct. It isn’t. Most of the time it looked like a bright coral to me. Occasionally it’d look slightly more orange or more pink. If you’re looking to buy this polish for the color changing aspect, don’t do it. 

The formula was on the streaky side, not to mention sheer. It took three coats to get everything looking even, which dried to a matte finish. There was still visible nail line afterwards. I used one coat of Seche Vite over it to make everything nice and shiny.  I used a different color changing polish on my ring finger because I wanted to see some color changing action darnit!

Stamping is possible with this polish, but I found it to be very frustrating to work with. I had a lot of trouble getting images to fully pick up to the point where I eventually threw in the towel. Water marbling was a complete fail as the polish wouldn’t spread.

So, how did it hold up?

It did pretty well. It made it two days before I had to take it off.

Verdict: Loser Polish

I can’t recommend buying this. If it was ordinary polish I’d rate it Good. However, it fails at its job of being a color changing thermal polish. There are better options out there. If you must try it, at least do what I did and wait for a sale as it usually sells for $10 on Color Club’s website.                     

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: Hard Candy So So Sequin

Ever have one of those busy weeks where you want to do your nails and need something that’ll get you through the rest of the week? When that happens to me, I reach for a glitter polish. This time around I went for So So Sequin from Hard Candy. Was that a good choice? Let’s find out!

So So Sequin is a very sparkly polish made of silver holographic microglitter, with large blue hex glitter and medium holo glitter. It’s another case where photos don’t do it justice. This is bling in a bottle. 

I am not a fan of the brush this polish comes with. I felt like I was using one of those cheap watercolor brushes you used as a kid. As a result, I found this polish was difficult to apply neatly. I was able to get full coverage in three coats in spite of the challenges. I used one coat of Seche Vite on top. It was still a tad rough, nothing a second layer of top coat couldn’t have fixed.

As a glitter, stamping is out, and the larger hex glitters make it less than idea for water marbling. I think it’d be fun to use with nail vinyls though.

So, how did it hold up?

Badly. I had major chips on the first day, and I’d barely even started working!

Verdict: Loser Polish

Considering I paid $1.50 at Ocean State Job Lot to get this, I can only complain so much. I think it’d be fun to use in nail art, or making Christmas ornaments, but I don’t see me using it on its own again.

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: Orly Color Blast Wonder Woman

I used to be really into superheroines as a kid. I thought Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Supergirl and such were awesome. I even had this sleeping bag! So, when I saw the Orly Color Blast Wonder Woman collection, it definitely hit me in the nostalgia. There was one polish that stood out to me from the collection, and that’s today’s test subject, Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is a polish comprised of small metallic red glitter, matte yellow stars and matte blue hex glitter. As an Orly Color Blast polish, I would normally wait until it went on clearance before buying , but anyone who knows me is aware I have something of an obsession with stars, so I was really interested in trying this baby out.

Be prepared to shake this up a LOT, as all the stars tend to sink down to the bottom of the bottle and stay there.  Once I had it properly mixed up, it wasn’t too hard to fish the stars out. The red and blue glitter covered evenly without having to be patched up.The finish was pretty smooth although the stars stuck up bit in places. I used four coats to get full coverage, with my usual coat of Seche Vite on top.

As this is a glitter polish with big glitter pieces in it, water marbling and stamping is out of the question.

So, how did it hold up?

Not so great, I wrecked it in one day. The main problem is the stars. When they catch on things, they get pulled off, taking a big chunk of polish with it. *sigh*

Verdict: Loser Polish

I hate, hate, hate, to give it that rating, but I can’t let personal bias get in the way here. I think if a member of Team Office Job wore it, it’d last longer, but those of us with retail or warehouse jobs should save this for a day off, or use it as a topper.  I bought mine from Walgreen’s for $7.99.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Bonita Leaf Me Alone!

Bonita Colors is my favorite budget priced nail polish. The only store in my area that sells it is Rite Aid, and they’ve been known to miss entire collections. Grrrr! Imagine my delight when my friend surprised me with a full set of their new Candy Fix collection which she found by going to a different Rite Aid. Today’s subject is from that collection, Leaf Me Alone!

Embarrassing story; the first time I ever heard of Bonita, I was experimenting with making my own color changing polish by adding thermochromic pigment to existing nail polish. I bought some Bonitas to sacrifice. I figured they were cheap enough it wouldn’t matter if I ruined them, which I did. Had I known what I was destroying I wouldn’t have done that! The extra pigment eventually turned into goop at the bottom of the bottle, and I ended up tossing them. I’ve learned some things since then. I’ll be writing a post about that before too long.

Leaf Me Alone! Is a Granny Smith apple green with a pearly shimmer to it. At first I thought it looked a lot like Bonita’s Honey Dew Your Thing from last year’s Turq It! Collection, but next to each other I’d say the difference is strong enough to merit owning them both. In this picture Honey Do Your Thing is on the left, and Leaf Me Alone! on the right.

I like how Leaf Me Alone! is right between being a bright color and being a pastel. This went on easily and was opaque in three coats. I put my usual coat of Seche Vite on top.

I found when I tried to stamp with this one that technically it works, but it’s really sheer. I wouldn’t bother using it for that purpose. Water marbling is a different story. I’ve found Bonita polishes are generally very cooperative, and Leaf Me Alone! is no exception. It worked beautifully!

So, how did it hold up?

It did quite well. It went three days before I felt it was time to take it off. I was happy to see this one didn’t stain my nails.

Verdict: Excellent

This is another worthy polish, and at $1.49 a bottle, there’s no reason to let it get away. If you live near one of the Rite Aids that has this collection, buy it! Grab the rest of the collection too!