Lacquer Lundi

It looks like a great majority (78%) of readers are interested in nail polish reviews. So, without further ado, let me first tell you a bit about my nail polish philosophy:

* When it comes to nail polish, I am basically a magpie - the brighter the shade, the weirder the colour and the sparklier the polish, the more I'm drawn to it. I do have many traditional colours - reds, pinks, neutrals - but my heart always beats a little faster when I see a polish chock full of glitter!

* I don't freak out if I break a nail - I just file them all down to match.

* I keep my nails fairly short - anything too long and I can't function properly at work.

* I am not a polish snob - at this point, I own polishes that run any where in price from $1 to $17 per bottle. I have found that price is not necessarily an indicator of quality.

* I am easily distracted. I don't generally wear a polish for very long (I like to switch things up every 1 to 3 days).

* I am very hard on my hands - I don't baby them. Between all the chemicals I use at work (the joy of being a chemistry teacher) and all the gardening/housework I do at home, my hands get quite the workout in any given day.

Now, on to the pretties:

Rimmel Play Fast - Out of Control
- purchased at Zehrs (a chain grocery store) for $2.29 CDN

I love this polish. The consistency is good, not too runny, not too thick - so application is a breeze. The brush is easy to control and is a good size, so three swipes of the brush and the nail is covered.

It has decent pigmentation - these pictures are two coats, although three coats would have been more opaque. This is a fast drying polish - my first coat was dry in one minute and the second coat was touch dry within 2 minutes.

But, the best part - the colour, oh the colour! This polish is the most beautiful shade of dark orange, with light orangey-gold micro glitter. It is simply gorgeous.

I wore this polish for three days (during which I was tough on my hands) and I didn't suffer a single chip. The only evidence of a three day old manicure was some slight tipwear. This polish is a winner in my books.


BB Couture - Frosty Meadow
- purchased from overallbeauty.com for $8 US

I wanted something green for St. Patrick's Day and this bottle jumped out of my stash and into my hand. It is a beautiful rich green base with small gold glitter. I realize that green is probably out of the comfort zone for many people and may not be work appropriate for most. I'm lucky that I can wear wacky nail polish to work and no one bats an eye. For people still wanting to give it a go, it might merit consideration as a great weekend or pedicure colour.

The application is a little difficult for the first coat (it's streaky), but all subsequent coats are easy-peasy. Three coats were required to build up to the bottle colour, but it is well worth it in my opinion.

This line of nail polish boasts a "4 in 1 formula", which means that it has "base coat, top coat, nail strengthener and color in one bottle." However, I always use a basecoat to avoid yellowed nails, but I did not bother to use my usual topcoat.

I have had this polish on for two days with no signs of any chipping and only minimal tipwear.