I do my own nails, changing the polish about twice a week. From the 1970’s until last year I mainly used the Sally Hansen brand but I got tired of the bubbles that always maddeningly appear in the Hansen polish. Hansen used to be a reliable brand but it’s changed for the worse. So now I’m casting about for a new brand. Can you recommend one that isn’t too expensive?
Speaking of expensive, what gives with the brands that cost $25 or even $50 for a small bottle? Are they worth it?
OPI is a brand of “nail lacquer” once sold only in salons. I became a fan when my local Kroger started carrying it. Coverage and durability are excellent & the color selection is great. About 8 dollars a bottle, it’s not the cheapest–but hardly luxe.
My number one favorite brand is OPI. It’s usually around $9 for normal shades. A bit more for glitter or other fancy stuff. I have some bottles that are 5+ yrs old that I still use. Still works beautifully.
The most expensive brand of nail polish I have used is Chanel at around $25. I think the OPI is better.
I usually buy my OPI at Ulta or Target.
<<ninja’d by Bridget Burke>>
Thirding OPI. It lasts a while before starting to chip and has a large range of colors & shades. My favorite brand would be Essie. Both are usually $8 per bottle. China Glaze and Orly are good as well. The use of a good top coat will also make a big difference. This stuffis amazing. Very pricey but it really is so much better than the other top coats I’ve used!
I’ve never used a polish that was in the $25-50 range though. The $8 Essies would be highest priced I’ve tried.
My experience is that expensive nail polish is no better than Essie or Opi. If anything, I tried an Estée Lauder once that was 25 dollars. Cool bottle but the product itself was really cheap. It reminded me of Wet n’Wild.
I’ll also second the use of a great top coat making a huge difference.
I don’t know, but they all seem about the same to me. To be honest, I buy whatever is the least expensive at the drug store, in a shade that I like. I don’t use nail polish often though, I guess out of laziness. In addition, dark nail polish can make one’s hands look older, so I try to stay with a lighter shade when I do polish my nails. I don’t think the super-expensive brands are that much better, but if you have the money, I guess they could be worth a try.
There’s a big difference between cheap and Opi level but I haven’t seen much difference between Opi and super expensive.
I use both Opi and Deborah Lippmann. DL is more expensive but both have a wide variety of pretty colours, it just depends where I am when I buy, or what’s on sale or which one has a colour that jumps out at me that day.
No, but an expensive topcoat is. Seche Vite will turn any crappy $2 bottle of nail polish into a professional manicure. I’ve used it over many brands of nail polish, from OPI to cheap, and it works a dream. No bubbles, great hardness, great shine, dries fast. Just remember to wrap the color and topcoat around your tips, otherwise you might experience tip-shrinkage.
I agree with OPI, Essie, China Glaze, and Orly. A little more expensive than the Wet n’ Wild kind of stuff, but I think they’re worth the price. I don’t think I could ever bring myself to buy a $25-50 bottle of nail polish.
Somebody (I think it’s Orly) has a top coat called Sec’N Dry that is supposed to dry all the tacky layers of polish beneath it in record time. I can’t say I’ve ever noticed that part of it working, but it’s extremely durable and shiny, and I love it immensely.
I loved Orly until CVS stopped carrying it and replaced it with, can’t think of the name, an actress (Salma Hayek?), which I did end up trying because there was a gorgeous shade I had to try. At the same time I paired it with a bottom coat of Sally Hansen, rubber something or other. That REALLY helps the pretty stuff stick. My nails peel, so maybe that’s why it helps me in particular.
Chanel’s Le Vernier line used to be one of the best. Is it still? Speaking of that, didn’t they have a rouge et or color (a little darker than whore red with a little gold tint). Am I remembering right and if so, anything close or is it all red-orange or red with purple tints?
The thing about nail polish is it starts going gloopy as soon as you open it for the first time and it makes contact with air. Then every time after that, more air gets in and it starts going off. I’d never pay more than $10 for a bottle of polish because I wouldn’t use it all before it gets gooey and I’d want to replace it.
I use OPI colors (love them!) and Sally Hansen Triple Strong Gel for a base & top coat. It’s cheap, but for whatever reason, it suits my nails perfectly and I get great results.
Not that it’s needed but I’ll throw another vote at OPI and one for China Glaze. Both are available at Ulta.
There’s no need to throw out old nail polish. Seche Restore will bring back goopy and even hard nail polish into a perfectly workable state.
I’m going to look for this. I’m not familiar with the brand, but it looks like it’s available at Ulta. I’ve tried other thinners and they pretty much ruined the polish. I mean, the polish was already ruined by being too thick, but then it was, I don’t like, like broken and the color got weird.
I love OPI! I am the weird lady who brings her own polish to the nail parlor. Whatever top and bottom coat the nail tech use, combined with OPI polish, lasts forever on my toes.
Hey! I do that, too!
Ladies, what is Ulta?
Ulta is a chain of cosmetics stores … I don’t know how pervasive they are. We’ve got several in the area, and they sell a lot of the higher-end makeup and hair stuff, as well as the cheaper brands and their own stuff. I spend the majority of a paycheck every damn time I walk in there, mostly because of their Urban Decay displays. 
I have taken to buying most of my nail stuff at Sally Beauty Supply–it’s geared towards professionals, so you’ll find a lot of the tools and neat stuff you just don’t see at CVS and Walgreens. I recently decided I don’t have enough hobbies and have started getting into nail art, and all of the brushes and tools I need can be found there, as well as pretty much a full line of OPI, China Glaze, and a few other brands of polish. I’ve discovered Nina and Finger Paints are also pretty good–nice thick, solid color without having to pile on the coats.
And sephora has a new nail bar with some different brands they didn’t carry before. They are all in the 10ish price range.