Chanel Nail Polish: Black Pearl

image from amazon.com


Price: $25 for 1.3ml (.4 fl oz)

What they say:
"Classic and trend-defining shades from the runways of Paris. State-of-the-art formula strengthens and moisturizes nails as it delivers long-wearing, high-shine, chip-resistant colour. Applies evenly without streaking."


What I say:
I know I'm going to get some hate for this, but this polish is not that great.  I love the color, but that is going to be duped soon because of how popular this shade is, but beyond that there really is no reason to get this polish.

The shade is like a really dark teal, almost black.  Think real black pearls, and that's what you are looking at.  There is a little sparkle in it, but not over the top, more like a highlighter affect.  Beauty Look Book has a really good review on this polish if you want to see good swatches (something that I can never get in this house's lighting) and comparisons with other polishes.  It really is a nice color, and I wish I liked it more.

Let's talk about the bottle, since that's the other thing that I liked about this polish.  The cap that comes off to show the brush part?  I like that.  It adds a little class, and doesn't just look like another run of the mill polish that you might have lying around your house.  The bottle itself is sturdy, and the shape is easy to hold when my nails are wet, since there's no chance it will slip with its square design.

Formula-wise, this polish sucks.  I have cheap drugstore polishes that work better than this one does.  It's easy to streak, it is unforgiving on mistakes, and it chips like nothing I have ever seen before.  I used the same base and top coat (and Seche Vite) that I always do, and this was chipping within a day and a half.  Now, that's normal for some polishes and with how rough I can be on my nails, and that's not the problem.  The problem is that a normal polish that chips that fast will have a little chip on the tip, maybe the side, and that's it.  It will still be usable, maybe even fixable, and I just go on.  This stuff chips by taking out an entire section of the nail, like a corner, half the nail in most cases, and this is as soon as the littlest chip even happens!  Appalling!

Something about the formula also is messing with my nails more than usual, making them more brittle and peeling more.  I don't know what it is, but whatever it is is really not good.

Scent is standard nail polish, so nothing really bad.  The brush on the bottle is standard... really, everything else is just standard.  Which leads to the next bad part, the price.  NARS charges less than Chanel for its polish, and yet they have a better formula, so this isn't just a high-end thing, Chanel charges too much for too little.  I will gladly pay for NARS, maybe even Dior polish because I know that besides the name you are getting a decent polish, and it is a nice treat.  Chanel is just not worth it to me when OPI and even Wet 'n Wild are superior in terms of formula, and will probably dupe the shades Chanel comes out with soon anyway, if the shade is popular enough.

Overall, I am disappointed in this polish.  I am going to keep it just because I like the color, and it would be a hassle to try and return it, but I'm going to have to try really hard to get this polish to work for me, and that's just not something I like doing.  If Chanel polishes work particularly well for you, you might want to check this out, otherwise skip.

P.S. - Just put the "What they say" on the page, and noticed that everything they say is the opposite of my experience.  That made me laugh.

2/5

O.P.I. Yoga-ta Get this Blue

image from binbin.net

Price: $4-$8, depending on source

What I say:
This is my go-to color for my toes during the summer.  I remember back in the day, when the India Collection came out, and this polish came into the scene.  It was love at first sight, and I ran (well, drove) to the nearest place that sold OPI to get this (in fact, that was how I found the place that I buy these polishes from).

Yoga-ta Get this Blue is a dark blue, almost navy, but brighter.  The closest color from their collection was Russian Blue, but I would call them sisters, not twins.  There is a slight amount of what might be called shimmer, but more fine, that is in this polish.  It reminds me of car paint, where is kinda shines.

I loved this polish so much, but unfortunately, it was limited edition, so I gently used my polish until it died from old age.  I never thought I would see it again, but recently found out that it was so popular that they brought it into their permanent line, where hopefully it will stay.

If you are interested in blues, and especially darker blues, I highly recommend giving this polish color a try.  I would say it is a cooler color, but it is one that anyone, from the palest of pales to the darkest of darks, warm and cool alike, can wear.  I have never seen anyone who didn't look good with this polish, and that is a hard thing to say about a blue.

5/5 HG

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

image from sallybeauty.com

Price: $8 for 14ml, .5fl oz


What they say:
"   * Guaranteed not to yellow
    * Durable high gloss shine
    * UV Inhibitors
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat's patented formula allows top coat to penetrate through the nail lacquer to the base coat, forming a single solid coating over the nail plate. Can be used on natural nails, nail enhancements and pedicures."

What I say:
This is really good stuff, and I can see why people are always raving about it.  Without using this fast dry top coat, my polish takes a decent amount of time, maybe 5 minutes, to get to the point where I feel comfortable touching anything without my polish smudging, denting, or just becoming a mess in general.  Using this stuff, I swear I was able to touch stuff in about 1-2 minutes.  That's a very large difference when you need to get back to work.  I normally wear 4 coats (base, two coats of color, top), so adding another coat to my normal polish routine, and actually having it decrease dry time, is a great thing.

Wear is pretty good.  I don't really know how long it wears by itself, since I would never just put something like this on bare nails, but it seems to wear about the same amount of time for me as normal polish.  It did seem to make my nails more glossy, which I like, but people going for a matte look might not like that side effect.

The smell is a little weird.  I can't quite place it, but it doesn't quite smell like normal  nail polish.  I think the color lingered for a little while, but that might have been the rest of the polish that I was wearing at the time,

Overall, I am very impressed with this product.  I do wish it was a little cheaper, but I guess waiting for a sale because purchasing more will have to be good enough.

4/5

Orly Top 2 Bottom Basecoat and Topcoat

 image from sallybeauty.com


Price: $7 for .5fl oz, 14ml

What they say:
"   * UV protection prevents nail polish from yellowing & fading
    * Helps polish last longer
    * Bonding power of a basecoat
    * Protection of a topcoat
    * Creates strong, chip-resistant manicures
    * Convenience of two products in one
Combination product makes manicures quick and easy. "

What I say:
I definitely like this stuff a lot better than Orly's nail polishes.

I bought this to take the place of my old top and bottom coat, since I think it was reaching the end of its life, and I didn't really like it to begin with.  The ratings that I saw online seemed good, and the price was right, so I decided to give this a go.

First off, the bottle is really nice.  Like Orly nail polishes, the handle of the brush is rubberized, making it very comfortable to use.  The rest of the bottle is just pretty standard, but the handle is great.  The brush is pretty small, but that could be a good or bad thing, depending on preference.  I didn't find it hard to work with, but I would have liked it to be a little bit larger.

The formula itself is pretty good.  It dries quickly, which means I can put my next layer on as soon as I get back to that nail (I go in a circle).  The base/top coat dries clear, with a slight glossy sheen, though I would say that the sheen was less than what I saw with Seche Vite.

The smell is standard, but I think it is actually a little less than normal.  I don't go around just sniffing my nail polishes, though, so I'm not really sure, hehe.

I can't really say how the wear is just alone with this, since I was also using Seche Vite, but I do know it is higher than OPI's top coat.  This lasted 2 days on me before my polish started to chip on the ends, but to be fair, that's pretty amazing considering how rough I am with my hands.  As a base coat, this worked amazingly well, helping to bind my polish to my nails like no other.

Overall, I recommend checking this top and bottom coat out.  It's worth the price, since you get two products in one, and actually lasts a respectable amount on nails that see a bit of action.

Top coat: 4/5
Base coat: 5/5

China Glaze For Audrey

image from sallybeauty.com

Price: $4-6 for 14ml, .5 fl oz, depending on seller

What they say:
"   * Professional 220-strand brush for easy application
    * Long-wearing nail lacquer is an oil base
    * Flexible and will not chip
    * Greatest fashion shades
    * Great coverage
    * Non-Thickening formula
Unleash your inner color with China Glaze ... your long wearing professional nail lacquer choice! Long wearing formula with hardeners features great coverage and is DBP Free. China Glaze Nail Lacquer makes nails look spectacular and dries in seconds. China Glaze offers the latest technology in formulas and color selection. "

What I say:
Man, this nail polish is great.  I was able to find it on Sally Beauty, though I have seen it other places online, and was really looking forward to when it arrived.  I'm really happy I ordered this nail polish, because I think it is even more beautiful in person than it is in pictures or online!

For Audrey is described by many as being "Tiffany blue."  I can't say for certain if that is correct, since I really don't know what Tiffany blue is supposed to look like, but I think this is more of a turquoise blue (real turquoise, not the fake, painted stuff).  It is a lovely light blue, which I think would work better in the spring and summer months.  Some might also describe it as a sky blue, but I think it's a little too light for that myself.

Two coats of this was more than enough to make it opaque, but one coat was a little streaky.  Wish there was a way to make 1.5 coats happen, hehe.  Once on, this stuff stays true to color when drying, and seems to have better chip-tolerance than many nail polishes that I have tried.  It is not a fast-drying nail polish, but it is not one that takes forever, either.  Pretty average.

Overall, I'm really happy I tracked this polish down.  I can see myself using this a lot, and a bottle of this is really worth it's price (unlike, say, YSL.  I don't care what you say, unless the thing can cure some sort of disease, $20 for a bottle of polish is just insane).

5/5

Orly Nailpolish: Green Apple

Man, it likes to mess with my pictures, hehe.

Price: $7.5 for .6fl oz, 18mL

What they say:
"Free of DBP, Formaldehyde, and Toluene"

What I say:
I got this on sale, and while it's an okay polish, I'm not sure I would buy from this brand again, unless I really liked a color. The brush is really small for my liking, but usable, so some of you might like it. The bottle is a good size, and the rubber on the top is a nice touch, since it makes is easier to handle.

Green Apple, itself, is a nice neon green color, but still very wearable. It goes on sheer in thin layers, so I had to apply 3 to get a good coverage. The worst thing about this polish was the streaking. The layers dried quickly enough, but in order to get all the streaks colored, I had to apply layers (which I had to do anyway for the coverage, so at least that worked out).

The wear: Higher than OPI, so pretty good. It started chipping on my more used fingers (like pointer) within a couple days, but many of my nails didn't really start chipping until the end of day 3, beginning of day 4. This is really good for me, since I am not ginger with my hands when they have polish on them.

Overall, this polish was okay, but unless I find this brand on sale, or a really unique color, I am not going to purchase more.

3/5

Hard Candy: Mr. Wrong

Price: $5

What they say:
"Just Nails with Ring

The focus is on color! Put the final touch on fingertips and toes with a top-quality formula. The long-lasting, chip-resistant polish ensure flawless results with each application, and is DBP, toluene and formaldehyde free."

What I say:
Mr. Wrong is a color that I saw online, and just had to buy.  Sparkly, shiney, kinda purple/black, it is a great color for layering, and for just wearing in general.  It applies sheer, though, so be prepared for layers, but it doesn't steak.  It dries quickly, as well, so it doesn't take forever to get your nails finished.

The wear: Pretty normal, a little higher than some.  Lasted a few days before chipping on me.

I had to get this at Walmart, which is now the new distributor of Hard Candy, a brand that used to be available in Sephora.  Now, some of you might like Walmart, but I don't like it very much.  My family all has good Walmarts near them; friendly staff, clean shelves, no crazies.  I have a creeper.  Dirty shelves, merchandise just laying there opened and used, unfriendly staff, and crazies that like to follow people around.  *Shudders*  The reason I brought this up is because, despite all this, I make the trek into Walmart, and got this polish.  Now that I have it, would I do it again?  No, not really.  While it is a nice color, and applies nicely, I don't think it is really unique enough.  Still, I was already in Walmart, so I was going to buy it (dang-nabbit!).

3.5/5 Good color and polish for its price