Nail Polish | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure is marketed as base coat, strengthener, growth treatment, color, and top coat, all in one. I grabbed a couple of bottles of the polish to try. Pictured below is a swatch of the shade So Much Fawn.

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Right off, I didn’t particularly like the brush with this polish. It is wide and reminds me of the Borghese nail polish brush, which I don’t at all care for. However, the formula is fine and I got great one coat coverage with it. Without the extra coats from a bottom and top polish, it dried very quickly.

As for wear, it was OK. I didn’t think that there was as nice of a shine with this polish as I would have gotten with a top coat, but it looked generally OK. The polish wore about average in length for me. I am hard on nails and usually start chipping them a day later. Sally Hansen Complete Salon managed to make it to day two.

Popularity: 1% [?]

OPI Matte Lincoln Park After Dark

I love the OPI nail polish shade Lincoln Park after Dark, so I grabbed it in both the OPI Suede version (read my OPI Suede Lincoln Park After Dark review) and the Matte version. OPI says that because the suede and matte polishes do not wear as long to not use a base coat with them. Trust them on that! When I tested OPI Suede, I followed that advice and it wore very well. I forgot when I tried the OPI matte and it was chipping off less than 24 hours after I put it on! Not using a top coat it obvious–it would ruin the mattte or sude look.

In terms of appearance, I like the Lincoln Park After Dark matte version better than the suede. But I still prefer the regular polish over both of them. If you try the matte, experiment with doing a glossy tip. I think that gives the matte nail polish looks a better overall look. I also like using a mattifying top coat better than using the already matte nail polishes. It seems to wear longer and gives more flexibility, since you can wear your favorite polish shades either normally or matte that way.

Popularity: 1% [?]

OPI Suede Nail Polish Lincoln Park After Dark

I was curious about OPI Suede nail polish, and I have always loved the OPI shade Lincoln Park After Dark, so I was happy to see it in the Suede version: OPI Lincoln Park After Dark SUEDE Nail Lacquer.

OPI Suede is basically the matte version of a frosted polish, which results in a suede-like effect. It is an interesting look. It appears matte, but light can catch on the frost a bit, so it isn’t completely without shine at times. I rather like it and I think I prefer it over a standard matte look.

OPI states that the suede nail lacquers do not wear as long as other polishes and they also instruct not to wear a top coat with the suede polish. Wearing a top coat certainly would defeat the purpose, since it would remove the matte effect. As for wear, I didn’t think it was too bad. I started chipping it a day later because I was doing yard work, but it actually held up better through that than I expected it to. I can’t say that I particularly noticed any less wear from it than I do with standard OPI nail polish.

Popularity: 2% [?]

MAC Holiday Nail Polish, Lucky Number from Magic Mirth & Michief

I fell in love with the MAC Holiday MAC Magic Mirth & Mischief Nail Lacquer in the shade Lucky Number as soon as I saw it in the store. Go figure that they were sold out of it though at both the MAC store and at Nordstrom! So I mail ordered it.

The light lavender shade is quite luminous, with silvery pigment running through it. A swatch is below.

The MAC holiday polish also wore particularly well for me. MAC nail polish always does, but I got longer than normal with this one. I suspect it is because I got good one coat coverage and didn’t use a top coat, so the lacquer wasn’t as thick on my nails.

Popularity: 1% [?]

MAC Style Black Baby Goth Girl Nail Lacquer

I love, love, love, MAC Style Black Nail Polish in the shade Black Baby Goth. Interestingly though, it looks nothing like the swatch shown by MAC site. They show it as a light purple shade, but it really is a deep black purple that looks almost black in low light but shows frosted purple tones in bright light. It is a gorgeous shade.

Here is the website swatch. It isn’t very accurate:

Here is the MAC photo of the bottle, which is much closer:

And here it is swatched on my nails in indoor light, but using a flash:

MAC polish is also one of my favorite formulations (my other being Sally Hansen Salon polishes). It applies nicely and wears very well. I am terribly hard on nails, but usually I can keep MAC from chipping for several days.

Note: This review is based on a product provided to me by the company. For further information on my policies, including those concerning reviews of free products, please see my disclosures page.

Popularity: 2% [?]

MAC Nail Trend Matte Nail Look Using Beyond Jealous

The MAC Cosmetics Nail Trend Collection has some wonderful fall shades, and its dark green shade, Beyond Jealous, has been particularly in demand. I love MAC Polishes. They always apply and wear well for me, and the shades are always unique. Beyond Jealous is a deep green shade that is so dark that in some lighting it looks almost black. I decided to use it to try out this fall’s other hot trend—matte nails with a glossy tip.

Here is a swatch of the shade in natural sunlight.

After applying two coats of MAC Beyond Jealous (although I really could have gotten away with one coat on this one), I then applied Essie Matte About You Matte Finisher this top coat gives any posh a matte finish. It is rather fun to watch it as it happens! Here are my nails after I applied Matte About You.

finally, I added a bit of glossy top coat to the tips. I don’t have the steadiest hand for that, so I think that next time I will have a pro do it for me in order to get the best look. But you can still get the idea of how they should look with a glossy tip from the swatch below.

I think this look works best with darker shades. So try it with dark green, red, black, navy etc. for a trendy look this fall!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Sally Hansen High Definition Nail Polish

Sally Hansen has a new set of nail polishes out that are bright, bold, and incredibly luminous. I love the shades, although they don’t really match my personal style.

Sally Hansen describes the HD polish as a unique, patented formula with real liquid crystals. Below is the shade Pixel Pretty, which is a lovely turquoise shade.

This polish was incredibly chip proof for me. I managed to get several days of heavy typing out of it without a mark. It is a bit sheer at first though. I applied two coats, and really could have used three.

Sally Hansen is also running an HD sweepstakes through September 15, with some great prizes. Visit the Sally Hansen Website to learn more.