It's happened to me many times where I have bought nail polished based purely on photo's I've seen online or simply by how it looks in the bottle. When it comes time to try it out, I die a little inside when I realize it was not what I expected.
A few month's ago, I purchased Max Factor's Fire Fantasy after seeing many awesome insta-swatches. It wasn't until a saw Very Emily's swatch that I really decided, "I neeeed this in my life!". Shortly after, I found the mini bottle on sale at Priceline so I snapped it up and took it home. So extremely exited to finally have this in my collection, I removed my mani and put a coat straight on and I was shocked! It was sheer and just a bit 'meh' compared to the photos! Giving it the benifit of the doubt, I applied two more coats and you could still see my nail line, which i absolutely hate!
"Why? Why did my Fantasy Fire not look like Very Emily's Fantasy Fire?", I asked myself. So I went back and had a look at her blog post to find she'd layered it over OPI's Euro Eurso to get the beautiful, opaque colour and depth.
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| Left: Sheer with 3 coats of Fantasy Fire (note piece of glitter is at back of nail) Middle: Opaque with 1 coat of OPI Euro Eurso + 2 coats of Fantasy Fire Right: Opaque with 1 coat of Ulta3 Black Satin + 2 coats of Fantasy Fire |
Did I regret my purchase? No! But was I dissapointed? Heck yea I was!
I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem, so below are some tips that have helped me avoid such disappointment and stop wasting money. I apologize in advance for the length of this post! I maybe got a bit carried away.
*Disclaimer* These tips are based on my own personal experiences and will not guarantee that you will never buy a nail polish you don't like or are not 100% happy with.
Tip #1: Read the description:
As I mentioned, I have brought polished based purely on swatch photos and become extremely disappointed with the result IRL. When I have gone back to where I bought it from and actually read the description, it is clearly noted it is a sheer jelly that has been layered over a darker colour in the swatch photo or that it needs 4 coats to reach full opacity. Ugghh!
Most online shops, particularly indies, will have information such as the colour, finish (gloss, matte, jelly, creme, shimmer, etc.), how many coats are shown in the swatches, if and what topcoat was used and if they recommend layering it over a base colour. If they don't have this information, you can always do some researching. Which brings me to my next tip.
Tip #2: Research:
Before buying a polish based on swatch photos or how it looks in the bottle, do some googling and read some blog reviews - see what people have to say about it. It may be hard to do this when you're at a store but if I can, I always do!
Before buying a polish based on swatch photos or how it looks in the bottle, do some googling and read some blog reviews - see what people have to say about it. It may be hard to do this when you're at a store but if I can, I always do!
Bloggers are often sent products by the companies or makers to express their honest opinions on things such as the formula & the way it applies, the colour & finish and their overall thoughts on the polish or polishes. They will almost always include how many coats they used and if they used a top coat - this is important to take into consideration when deciding.
Another thing to consider is that some bloggers will have different opinions and their photos will sometimes look slightly different colour wise due to lighting. For this reason, I read as many reviews and blog posts as I can to see if I can find some consistency. If I am finding that multiple people are saying a polish is streaky, there's a good chance I won't buy it, no matter how good the swatches look! However if I find that only one or two say this and the rest say it applies well or they loved the formula, I will buy it.
Some of my favorite, go-to nail bloggers are Peachy Polish, Fierce Makeup & Nails and The Polish Aholic, Look What The Bats Dragged and Serenity Nails.
Tip #3: Wait for sales:
There's nothing worse than buying a full priced polish that you're not 100% sold on. Most companies, whether online companies or stores, post these on their Facebook and/or Instagram pages. Also keep an eye out at your local beauty stores, pharmacies/drug stores, etc for sales.
There's nothing worse than buying a full priced polish that you're not 100% sold on. Most companies, whether online companies or stores, post these on their Facebook and/or Instagram pages. Also keep an eye out at your local beauty stores, pharmacies/drug stores, etc for sales.
That being said, don't just buy it because it's on sale! I've ended up having heaps of bottles that only cost me a few bucks each that I never use. With all the money I spent for the sake of it, I could have brought a few more expensive ones I'd actually use.
Tip #4: If in doubt, don't buy it:
This ones pretty self explanatory. If your not sure you'll like it colour wise, formula wise or even if you think you'll only use it once and never again, don't buy it.
This ones pretty self explanatory. If your not sure you'll like it colour wise, formula wise or even if you think you'll only use it once and never again, don't buy it.
Tip #5: Dont knock it til you've topcoated it:
Some polishes (especially ones with glitter, in my experience) are not done justice until a topcoat is added. For example, I brought Powder Perfect's Storm Rainbow after seeing so many good reviews and swatches, but as I was applying it I had my doubts as to whether it was all it was cracked up to be. It was duller and not as blingy as what I had seen.
Some polishes (especially ones with glitter, in my experience) are not done justice until a topcoat is added. For example, I brought Powder Perfect's Storm Rainbow after seeing so many good reviews and swatches, but as I was applying it I had my doubts as to whether it was all it was cracked up to be. It was duller and not as blingy as what I had seen.
That was until I added a coat of HK Girl topcoat and that was when the magic happened. It smoothed it out and brought out the holo, shiny goodness I'd seen and heard about. This goes for any polish though - until you add a topcoat, you can't be sure whether you love it or hate it.
I hope these tips help you in your future polish buying endeavors. What are your best tips for avoiding disappointment?
