I picked this up on a whim at Rite Aid. I'd seen the display for these all over the place since the beginning of the year and decided that it was time to bite the bullet and pick one up. At $4.99 these are definitely the cheapest lightless gel product that I've been able to find. There were a ton of different of shades and I was definitely eyeballing the black, mint green, and a nice wine shade, but I ultimately ended up settling on this milky pale pink nude shade.
The packaging looks pretty swanky for being under $5. The all black bottle is definitely reminiscent of actual gel polishes because it lets no light activate the product inside. The shade is evident on both the front and back labels as well as the shade sticker on top. It doesn't feel like super weighty glass, but it's functional. The brush is the wider, flat style with a curved end, which is pretty typical of drugstore polishes nowadays to provide quicker coverage, but the bristles are a little cheap which can cause streakiness.
The formula is a little sheer and runny making it a somewhat difficult three to four coat polish. Because of it's runniness, I found it a little hard to control it. A pretty fair amount ran into my cuticles despite taking extra caution to be precise. This polish also had a bit of a bubble problem, but I've found that to be a bit common in drugstore lightless gel polishes since my Sally Hansen Miracle Gel topcoat can get a bit bubbly. This also seemed to dry down a lot quicker than I thought it would, but even a good hour after "drying" there was minor smudging causing a very subtle wrinkled sheets effect on a few of my nails. Even the next morning I woke up with some mystery fuzzies imbedded in the polish and a deep slice on my right thumb. I also unfortunately started experiencing chipping on two of my nail tips in the next 24 hours.
However, that was the only chipping or noticeable wear that I saw for 4 days and by then I saw some pretty significant stress fractures in the varnish. This leads me to believe that it takes a very long time to properly set up. I finally got my first chip along one of those stress fractures by day 5 and by then it was looking pretty rough.
TL;DR Section
Price: $4.99
However, that was the only chipping or noticeable wear that I saw for 4 days and by then I saw some pretty significant stress fractures in the varnish. This leads me to believe that it takes a very long time to properly set up. I finally got my first chip along one of those stress fractures by day 5 and by then it was looking pretty rough.
TL;DR Section
Price: $4.99
Size: 0.45 fl. oz/13.5 mL
Availability: Drugstores, Wet n Wild
Pros:
- Wore about 5 days without chipping
Cons (I know there are a lot, but I don't hate this product):
- Runny formula
- Takes about a day to properly set
- Displays stress fractures at nail tips in a big way
- Bubbly
Cruelty free: Yep!
Final Verdict: Needless to say, the wear of this product was beyond what I was expecting. I think that the formula is a bit difficult to work with since it is so thin and bubbly, and it takes a good day for it to properly set, but all in all it's a really great one step, long wear nail polish for only $5.
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