A $28 bottle of nail polish: Ridiculous or Redeemable?

A $28 bottle of nail polish: Ridiculous or Redeemable?

I’ve never been one for luxury polishes- I either cheap out on nail products or go to salons where a Chanel or Dior polish wouldn’t even be an option. But it always seemed like the ultimate sign of luxury- an almost $30 bottle of regular nail polish, that could potentially chip in a few days? I thought it as foolish as buying a white t-shirt from a designer brand. As I’ve spread to luxury brands in beauty, however, an unfortunate truth has been realized: You do get what you pay for, and a staple might as well be quality.

It started at the Chanel counter in Neiman Marcus. I was with my sister, wandering around, trying samples and pretending I wasn’t broke (Spoiler: I’m about to become even MORE broke lol). I stopped at the shiny glass bottles, eyes passing over the bright and neutral colors of the collection. A really interesting grey-blue caught my eye, unlike any other polish I’ve ever seen before, Chanel or otherwise. A feeling of dread came over me— only the kind of dread you can get when an expensive beauty purchase seems inevitable. So, I bought it!

NOTE: Two factors may affect this review:

1. I did NOT purchase the Chanel base/top coat, which does help the polish last a lot longer, so it’s not really at its full potential.
2. I recently got my acrylics off (about 3 weeks ago) and while I’ve been religiously using cuticle oil and the best nail strengthener known to man, they’re still really weak and thin at the tips, which may lead to more chips than on the average, healthy nail.

Let’s get into it!

I got a mani-pedi at the salon, with my Chanel in tow (s/o to the homegirl Tran <3).  For 4 days afterword, the manicure was essentially flawless. As the 4th day rolled around, I did notice some wear on the edge of the nail. To be perfectly honest- I would rather have the polish wear off around the edges than just straight up chip, like your typical O.P.I. or Essie polish. Small chips did start occurring, due to me picking. Overall, a really great polish. The first coat comes off thin, enough to worry me a bit, but the second coat is creamy and opaque a really nice formula. The brush is a little thin for my liking because you have to get a lot of lacquer on the brush- and move fast! The application is easier than most as well, due to the top being small and having ridges. (There is a square-ish cap on top of the bottle top, so pictures may be confusing.)

The verdict: A bit ridiculous. But my take on beauty and self-care is a bit ridiculous, so it fits quite well. Luxurious, from my head to my stone-colored toes :)

Edit: I recently read an Into The Gloss article where this was mentioned. If my recommendation won't convince you, hopefully, their's will.