FGW: Nail Polish Revolution!

Who doesn’t love nail polish? I sure do. I love to sit back and watch movies while I paint my nails and I change colors every couple of days. It’s almost impossible for me to walk past a display of colorful lacquers and not pick up at least one.  So I always have my eyes open for something new and fun. A couple things that have shown up on my radar lately are:
Nail Polish Pens.

Okay, seriously, why didn’t anyone do this ages ago? You can find several brands that carry these lately, with the most notable being Sally Hansen and Nicole by OPI. Both are available at drugstores everywhere for under $10. These handy pens can be easily toted everywhere and are fast to use. The polish dries quickly, though the coverage can vary from one color to the next. Nic’s Sticks come in a far larger variety of colors than Sally Hansen, but the brands are very similar otherwise. There’s a lot less run over onto your cuticles and fingers than with traditional polish once you get the hang of them, though you’ll still have some schmutz to clean. I think they last as long as most polishes, with average chipping and peeling.

Nail Patches, aka, Press on nail color.

Nail polish stickers, no joke. They are so deliciously novel that I simply couldn’t pass them up. I picked up a set of Sephora Nail Patches ($10) in Nickel Chrome, a gorgeous and crazy sparkling silver that’s perfect for New Year festivities and other special events, like Mondays. It takes a tiny bit of practice to get them placed just right, but I was super impressed that I was able to pull them off a few times before I finally perfected my placement. As thick as two well laid coats of quality polish, they’ve held up fairly well under demanding conditions, including much handwashing while cooking. There is no clean up, you simply discard the excess on the tab, no polish smell, and no chance of an accidental spill. These are perfect for a last minute polish change before going out, as my first venture with these took only about 15 minutes from start to finish. Since they are already a perfectly laid layer of color there were no streaks or bumps, something that is generally hard to accomplish with a shiny metallic polish.  The color stays pretty solid for about a week, but keep in mind that I’m really, really tough on my hands and more careful types might get the 11 days they claim on the packaging. My friend pasted one on as well and hers was still intact a week later, despite her retail job and penchant for picking. It would be nice to see more in a pack than just the 16 provided, the color selection is very limited at this time, and they should be used on a freshly cleaned nail for best results, but overall these are just too easy and fun to miss trying at least once!

Mo wearing in picture:  Sephora nail patches in Red Night