Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Sephora Brand Glittering Nail Polish

When I saw these on Sephora.com, I knew I had to have them. Glitter nail polish? Click!

I ordered four shades- Pink Agate, Fuchsia Quartz, Blue Sapphire and Violet Amethyst. So far, I've only swatched two of them. Pics first and then my review.



Blue Sapphire. A truly spectacular dark blue jelly with varying sizes of silver glitter. I almost prefer this shade over the beloved Essie Starry Starry Night. The jelly-like finish of the polish makes some of the glitter appear blue, while the glitter at the top layer of polish appears silver. It's beautiful.



Violet Amethyst. I don't know about you, but this isn't really what I have in mind when I think "violet" or "amethyst". It's a super dark purple, more brown than purple in most lights and it contains NO GLITTER. :( Just a glass-fleck-esque type shimmer. It is very dark, not very sparkly and not very purple.


Now, I really, really wanted to love these polishes, but they're just too flawed to get a glowing review.

First of all, the name of the polish is misleading. They are called "Glittering Nail Polish" and the shade descriptions mention each polish containing glitter. That is not accurate. As far as I can tell, only three of the eight shades contain actual glitter, while the rest have a sort of chunky-type shimmer. When I received my polishes, you can bet I was one sad little glitter addict. No glitter. I think I pouted.

Second, these shrink more than any polish I have ever worn in my life. I can't figure out what's causing it. I know that quick-dry topcoat like Seche Vite or Poshe are usually to blame for polish shrinkage, but I didn't use any topcoat on these! You can tell from my pictures that there is severe shrinkage happening. Why??? Why is this happening? The shrinking was so bad that I had to stop and do another coat of polish to cover it up before I photographed these. Bizarre.

Third, the formula is.... lacking. I don't want to say the formula is bad, it's just weird. It seems dry, if that makes any sense. It was hard to get enough polish onto the brush for it to glide smoothly across the nail. It felt sticky and it was awkward to try to get a smooth, even coat. The brush is very square shaped which makes it difficult to get that perfect curve along the cuticle.

Also worth noting: These are mini sized. They are not full sized polishes. I don't know the exact volume of these, but they are very small.


I will eventually get around to swatching the other two, along with the one Sephora Metallic nail polish I ordered. I think seeing that there was no glitter in half of them kinda took the wind out of my sails and I haven't been motivated to swatch them.

Final verdict: See these in person or at least find swatches online before you buy. Otherwise, you may be surprised when they arrive. Blue Sapphire is a truly gorgeous polish despite its formulary flaws (I think I made up a word!). Violet Amethyst is neither violet nor amethyst and does not actually contain glitter. If I had known this, I probably would have spent my money elsewhere!

18 comments:

  1. You say Blue Amethyst, do you mean Blue Sapphire?
    I recently bought Blue Sapphire and I'm glad I did! I like what you said about it even though you don't like the formula. I think I can deal.
    I can't get Starry Starry Night anywhere, so I'm glad I got something comparable.
    And yes, they are on the rather small side.

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  2. Nessa, haha thank you- I really need to proofread my posts before I hit publish =X

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  3. No problem, I only noticed b/c I went back to copy it b/c I'm too lazy to type it out!

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  4. And they BTW, are the chippiest polishes I've tried. Not only are they chip city by themselves, but when used on top of anything else, they automatically make the entire mani chiptastic. Um, did I mention they chip? A lot? Yup.

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  5. Thanks so much for the review. I think I will definitely check these out next time I hit sephora. Being that I am a sephora junkie, that will be this week ;)

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  6. Thanks a lot! I was thinking about getting Blue Sapphire, but a MINI-bottle?! ugh. and the shrinkage is pretty crazy too...dammit, why can't I find SSN?! lol *end rant*

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  7. That's a beautiful color, but thanks for the honest review. Seems like there are too many negatives though, unfortunately.

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  8. Thank for the heads up! I don't plan to buy any but that Blue Sapphire sure looks lovely...

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  9. I got the purple one also and it is a HUGE disappointment. I do not even understand how sephora could list it on the same page with those other glitters. I got the blue and red ones, I love them--but they're a bit chippy on me. $5 for the size polish is a complete rip-off. Not big enough to stop me from buying 3 LOL!

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  10. You can return products you have used and do not like to Sephora... maybe some of the disappointing ones need to go back to the store? I have sent back plenty cosmetic non-performers.

    No glitter in the glitter polish?
    How dare they!
    Love the blue sapphire though.

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  11. How about "formulaic?" ;-)

    Just saw the fab green that Zoya sent you...LOVES it! Any chance you'll get an early bottle from them to swatch for us?

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  12. I'll admit those colors do not wow me. Having an even less than thrilling application does not thrill me.

    Thanks for the review!

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  13. Holy shrinkage, Batman! Even with an extra coat, it still looks like you had a lot of shrinkage. That's just insane. I have never had a polish shrink that much even with a quick-dry topcoat.
    Also, a "glitter" polish with no glitter is false advertising. BOOO!

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  14. I was thinking about getting some of these- thanks for your review- I think I'll hold off for a bit and think about it some more.

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  15. Anonymous, ahh crappy! I took mine off right away :(

    Krasey Beauty, you're welcome :)

    The Asian Girl, I know, why don't they just make them full size? Blue Sapphire is really, really pretty :)

    Body And Soul, thank you, I was surprised! They are my first Sephora polishes, too!

    Trista, it is very beautiful :)

    SiennaX, I KNOW, right?!?! I bought four plus a metallic that ISN'T METALLIC!! *sigh* They get me every time...

    Firepail, I was seriously thinking about it. I might. I feel bad returning things lol

    CD, oooh good one! I might get one, we will see :) If I do you can be sure I'll swatch it!

    Haley, anytime dear :)

    Deb, isn't that insane?!

    Sasha, Definitely see them in person if you get the chance. I wish I had!

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  16. I tried my Blue Sapphire for the first time last night after buying 4 of them when in France last month (also got Amethyst and the black and red ones) and I have to say that I had no issues with shrinkage! Bottles could be bigger though, it's a long way for me to go back from England to replace them when they run out!

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  17. Andi, that's good to hear! Maybe I got a bad batch :(

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  18. I was in HK this week and bought some Blue Sapphire. I tried it out today. Like you said, the formula was weird, a bit too thick, but I thinned it out and it seemed better. The brush was hideous, however. I had to trim the stray long strands, but even after that application was difficult because if the hideous brushes. Urgh.

    I hear Tins 020 (The Mercury) is quite a nice dupe for Essie's Starry Night. I've ordered it and will let you know once it's arrived. It'll be my first Tins, so I'll let you know if the hooha is justified.

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