Beauty

[Snow Owl]

OPI is my favorite brand and I own many. But I've never tried one that wasn't opaque by the second coat so I'm wondering what happened to yours. Which color did you use? I looked at the 50 Shades swatches by The Polishaholic and she used two coats on all except Shine For Me she used 3. They are all opaque. I haven't tried this set yet and only want the 3 grey cream shades. I just placed an order for those.

[birkin baby]

I have many(too many) polishes. Some of my favorites are the cheapies. Consumer Reports did a test and over even Chanel and OPI,plus some others, Sinful Colors rated top. I agree. Those polishes are great ..both color and chip resistance ..and often on sale for 99¢. I also like Wet n Wild (2%Milk is so good I own multiple bottles). But I am wearing OPI and a Nails Inc right now. Add a Seche Vite top coat and all polish is better.

[WhateverLolaWants]

Hi Andreatoo, I have some opinions on nailpolish, one of my favorite subjects!

1. Bottle shape. Believe it or not, this is a significant issue to me -- too tall can be unstable and easily tipped over. Round shaped is cute, but you can't get to the last half of the product, no matter how you tip or roll the bottle.

2. Brush shape. Too long (or too short) of a brush stem just messes up my application -- e.g., Sally Hansen has some really long brushes; Sally Girl mini's are of course, very short. Also brushes that are too narrow, too wide, brush fibers that are unruly, not trimmed evenly across the bottom, trimmed into a rounded edge -- I've found all these to be a problem, usually found in lower-price point polishes.

3. Now to the polish itself. Not all polish is intended to provide opaque coverage in one or two coats. Some are intended to be sheer, semi-sheer, opaque, shimmer top coat, glitter, etc., so I don't expect a polish to do what it wasn't designed to do. Essie's website as well as nail bloggers, always describe the coverage of each shade, which is helpful when making a choice between shades.

I do think a good polish should go on without streaking, or for the streaking to at least even out with the application of more coats.

4. Wear. I find salon brand polishes to generally wear best for me, but I wouldn't expect any polish to wear more than a few days without chipping on my natural nails without applying a new coat of top coat or Nailtiques protein treatment every other day or so during the week. My favorites are OPI and Essie for great coverage and great wear. China Glaze comes in a distant third (although I own and wear many of their colors), and many of the indies'. Less well known brands do not give me the same wear, but sometimes offer something the others don't.

[Andreatoo]

for those that asked it was the metallic shade. I'm pretty sure it should be opaque. Sheer silver? That would be odd. and Lola: you forgot to mention the shape of the cap. too small or too big or even square can make it awkward to manipulate

[Porcelain]

If the dang brush comes out of the top thingy and sticks to the bottle that's a bad polish. Otherwise, they're all the same. I have cheapy and relatively expensive favorites and they all cover in two coats and are not streaky and their colors suit me. Chippage or non chippage depends on the top coat not the color coat.

[ECBG]

On 2/25/2015 Nadjalu said:

Are you using a top coat? And for light colors a base coat? These are very important. Often the color is different than just looking at the bottle. You need to open it and look at the polish, see if it is opaque or not. All of my OPI polishes are good. Of course I do use a top coat even though the polish has a high shine. I will agree that I love Sally Hansen, Revlon colorstay even Nicole brands and they seem just as good.

Absolutely right! I've used OPI for years and they have superior color. A top coat will lengthen your manicure, that's why techs give you one. I also use a spray nail dryer to help several layers dry. My nails also stay nice because I use plastic gloves to protect them and my skin when washing dishes, makes a massive difference.

[glmama]

For me it's ease of use--I like a nice, bigger brush/applicator. And lasting power. Color choices are great, of course, but there are so many nail polish companies now and everyone has lots of colors. So I know I can find colors that I like just about everywhere.

I've really liked Deborah Lippman polishes. I also like Sally Hansen.

I would love to know if there's a line out there that I haven't tried that has a nice bigger brush and great results? Anyone?