Now that I am taking a break from school and working full time, I don't feel that I need an excuse (haha), and I am also more willing to splurge! Hence the reason why I am reviewing these two polishes. Both have price tags that are a far cry from your average Sally Hansen or Revlon polish, but does the quality make them worth it?
I popped by Holt Renfrew a couple of weeks ago, intending to check out their supply of Butter London and Deborah Lippman polishes. I didn't particularly see anything from either line that particularly caught my eye (that was in stock at this particular Holt Renfrew, anyway), so the saleslady pointed me over to the Nars counter. She harped on the quality of Nars polishes, how she managed to wear hers for a full seven days with no chipping (all with no top coat!), and how it was basically, in the nail polish world, the best thing since sliced bread. I am a huge fan of Nars' blushes, so I figured that trying out the polish would be worth a shot. I picked up Night Rider, a shade new for Fall 2011 that is part of Nars' Night Series Collection.
It was a tough decision! All of the shades in the collection are gorgeous. I was particularly stuck between this one and Night Porter, a black shade with "green pearls," but ultimately decided on this one based on wearability. It is a pretty soft plum shade with silver glitter.
I apologize for the horrible focusing in this picture -- my DSLR was being a complete itchbay about focusing (time for a better lens, methinks) and the one picture I got that WAS in focus is a horrible representation of the colour. Argh.
Anyway, even though this picture is horribly unclear, this is two coats, no top coat. Why no top coat? Because I fully intended to test and see if the saleslady was just feeding me a line, or if this polish was really as high quality as she claimed.
How does it stand up?
Again, when I first applied this polish, I applied it in the exact same way that the saleslady said she did -- two coats, no topcoat. The polish is opaque with two coats, though I prefer the look of it with three. Nevertheless, the first time I applied it, only two coats. I was a little wary about going without a topcoat, since I am not a person who can get days upon days of wear out of one nail polish application. The longest I have gone chip-free is two days, and that was with an Essie polish covered by a thick layer of topcoat.
And boy, did I put this polish through a test. Handling money (including operating a cash register, counting change, swiping cards, etc.), removing staples, photocopying... these things are generally not too kind on your nails. After my work day? No chips! It wasn't until I got home that a tiny little chip appeared on my pointer finger, which is where my polish generally goes first.
After a few days (around three or four), the polish had only chipped on my pointer fingers and thumbs, with the others only showing minor tip wear. Woo hoo! For the next application, I tested its performance with a topcoat (and an extra coat of polish). It performed similarly. So, in this case, the saleslady was right -- you do not necessarily need a topcoat with this polish unless you like having a little bit of extra shine.
This polish is available at Nars counters, and retails for around $21 CAD a bottle. Not cheap, but you are definitely getting a high quality, long wearing polish.
OPI - DS Magic
A couple of days ago, I was at the mall to pick up a couple of things from Lush (reviews of those products coming later), when I decided to swing by a salon to ogle the OPI Designer Series polishes. One of my friends had gotten a manicure with this particular shade -- DS Magic -- and I was dying to get my hands on a bottle of it.
For those who don't know, OPI's Designer Series differs from their original line in a few ways. One, the polishes are quite glittery, apparently thanks to the addition of diamond dust. Secondly, they are DBP, Formaldehyde, and Toluene-free. Thirdly, they are more expensive. As in, at this particular salon, $14.99 CAD expensive. I was having a hard time with the price for a little while, since there was another, equally gorgeous shade in their regular line that was cheaper. BUT, since I had gone in there with the sole purpose of picking up this particular shade, I figured that I had better. You know, just in case I regretted it at a later date.
It is difficult to do this particular colour justice in photographs. The fact that I used my camera phone to take this picture didn't help matters any (I was feeling lazy), but haha. If you want a true idea of the gorgeousness that is this colour, check out this awesome picture. As you can see, this polish is a gorgeous deep blue/purple duochrome, and is glittery without being obnoxiously so. Soooo pretty.
Unfortunately, there is a caveat.
How does it stand up?
This polish chips SO easily! As in, within a day of application it was majorly chipped. I wrote it off as possibly being due to my base coat. Nope. I reapplied it last night sans-base coat, and even though I didn't work today there are still some pretty significant chippage. Disappointing, considering the fact that it is more expensive than regular OPI polish; you would figure it would hold up at least equal to most OPI polishes, if not better.
So this one is definitely proof that more expensive does not always mean that you will get a long wearing formula. I get way better wear from my $4 Forever 21 polish, actually. BUT that being said, this really is a gorgeous colour, and if you don't mind applying every day and/or aren't prone to chipping your polish, I would still recommend it.
This particular colour, along with the rest of OPI's Designer Series, retails for around $14.99 CAD at most salons.
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