Truth Tuesday (#3 September 11, 2012)
Today I'm going to tell you my thoughts and opinions on all the nail polishes out there. Obviously one blog post can't encompass every nail polish brand and type so the focus on today's post is inexpensive nail polish versus the more expensive counterparts and if there is a true difference in the quality and longevity of wear if you spend a little more money.
To start some brands on the costlier end of nail polish that I've tried & tested are OPI, Sephora by OPI, and Butter London. All 3 are great polishes. They apply evenly and even the first coat provides color and a second coat is ideal. Two coats will give true color and when worn with a top coat, the polish lasts too. Obviously polish on your toes will generally last longer than your fingers, unless worn over acrylic nails, because your fingers do a lot more work and get more wear, but these polishes provide good color and decent wear-ability.
However, the downside is really the price. OPI generally costs about $8.00, Sephora by OPI costs around $9.50, and Butter London's polishes cost $14.00. In the scheme of things, $8.00, $9.50, and $14.00 isn't very expensive, but it adds up ... and for nail polish!
On the cheaper side, there's L.A. Colors, Sinful Colors, NYC, and Hard Candy. These range from $1.00 per bottle to about $4.99 for a bottle. However, how do you know which one is worth saving the money without sacrificing quality? It's pretty much a guess and check. It helps to open the bottle in store and partially remove the brush from the bottle and look at the consistency of the polish on the brush. If it seems very sheer or slides right off the brush instead of forming the shape of a rain drop, it probably isn't a very quality polish. L.A. Colors, for example, makes nail polishes and something called "Nail Art Deco Polishes", which are the ones used to do designs. The design polishes are very nice, but the actual nail polishes are very faint, take many coats before you get any real color, and chip extremely easily.
NYC & Hard Candy's polishes are definitely much better than L.A. Colors, but still have their downfalls as far as quality, color, and lastability.
My favorite, favorite, favorite polish is Sinful Colors. They can be found in Walmart and Walgreens for $1.99. They come in so many different colors and types. They come in matte, shimmer, glitter and endless colors and shades within a color. They release collections like OPI does and have staple colors all the time. They are often on sale at Walgreens for $1.00 too so you can get an even better deal! They are toluene, formaldehyde & DBP free, which is a great thing too! Sinful colors are high quality and 2 coats is plenty. They last just as long as their costlier counterparts so why not save the money?
***DUPE ALERT: MAC's new collection Style Seeker, has a harvest orange color nail lacquer in "Styleseeker". Sinful Colors makes a polish called "Cloud 9" that is a very close dupe. It's a little brighter than MAC's, but it's definitely close and at $16.00 a bottle for MAC's and $1.99 for Sinful Colors ... I'll take it.***
Below are some of my favorites, but there are many MANY more!
No comments:
Post a Comment