As I mentioned in my June Birchbox Review, I am absolutely in love with coral nail polishes this season. It’s a super bright and happy color that really just makes you look super tan. It’s really flattering, and I honestly can’t say anything negative about it right now. So as promised in my previous post, here’s a review of three different nail polish brands, each in similar shades of coral: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in #460 Snappy Sorbet, Ruby Wing in Peony, and Color Club in Reign in Spain. I will be reviewing these different brands not based off of color (all are very similar) but based of of their formulas, pigmentation, and the ease of brush use.
First up, is Sally Hansen’s brush. I will admit a few years ago when polishes starting coming with the flat wide brishes, I hated them. I was also a lot younger and hadn’t really practiced doing my nails much. As I’ve gotten older, this is my all time favorite brush. The flat head coats the entire nail (or almost all of it) in one sweep and the slightly curved shape allows you to shape around the base of the nail and get a professional looking job done, versus that uneven edge with smaller brushes. The wide brush also allows you to smooth out the color easily leaving no weird overlapping layers, which makes even just one coat of polish when you’re in a hurry look good.
Sally Hansen
Ruby Wing and Color Club have essentially the same round brush, which does the job, but takes a steadier hand to make a professional looking edge as well as it’s pretty hard to get an even first coat, so you’ll need at least 2 to make your color look decent.
Color Club
Ruby Wing
Now onto formulas. Sally Hansen definitely has the thickest polish which helps in its ease to apply. If you have slightly too much on the brush, it won’t slip and slide all over your nail. Color Club is almost as thick which did make it easier to apply with the smaller brush but Sally still has the upperhand. Ruby Wing is a very water consistency, so much so that barely any polish clings to the brush when you pull it out of the bottle.
First coats
As for pigmentation and number of coats to achieve a good color, Sally Hansen only took one coat to achieve a nice even color. Color Club came in second place with two coats and Ruby Wing is last. After 3 coats, I can still see through to my natural nail. I will say however that I do still love the Ruby Wing because it is a color changing polish, therefore I excuse it’s flaws, but I would defiitely recommend using a similar colored polish as a basecoat under it. It’s way too many coats in my opinion.
Final Coats
So that’s my little review. Let me know what other brands of polish you guys have been using recently and what you think about them, or just drop a comment with your favorite summer color!
Love Mel
Little Submarines 