Today's topic is going to focus on the Sation Nail Lacquer I received in this month's Ipsy Glam Bag, in the shade Love at First Byte.
For those who don't know, Ipsy is a makeup/beauty monthly subscription service. For $10/month (plus tax in some states, shipping included), you'll receive 4-5 products in a little cosmetic bag. It sounds like a great idea, and some bags I've received have been awesome. However, some bags, like this one, were not so awesome. If you're interested in signing up, you can click here to register for their Wait List (it usually takes about one month to get a bag, so if you get put on the wait list in late April and miss May's bag, you'll be able to sign up for June's bag). Unlike Birchbox, I don't get any sort of compensation for you clicking this link (I wish!)
The brush is similar to that of Revlon Colorstay, in which it's a little fat and short (which I like). The brush picks up a lot of polish, so I found that it was best to actually wipe a good amount on the top of the bottle as to not paint the coats on too thick.
I wound up having to do four (FOUR!) coats of polish to get anything near full opacity. Four coats basically made the color on my nails match that of the bottle, but the white part at the tips of my nails still showed through easily in the sunlight. Still, it wasn't horrible. I definitely think one coat would look pretty over a french manicure to give it a subtle tint, but to wear this polish on its own takes patience. You have been warned.
(First Coat - Natural Light)
(Second Coat - Natural Light)
(Third Coat - Natural Light)
(Fourth Coat - Natural Light)
(4 Coats + Top Coat)
[Left: Flash ~ Right: Natural Light]
The good news is: it has hardly chipped and it has been 5 days (almost a week!) since I painted my nails. Plus I had strike today (in theatre, for those who don't know: strike is when all of the set/props/lights/etc are taken off the stage and everything is put away). Needless to say, things get very dirty and messy, so the fact that my nails mostly survived is a triumph! (I'm not sure it's because of the four coats, or in spite of the four coats of polish. Any ideas?) I used Sally Hansen Miracle Cure ($8) as a base coat and Sally Hansen Speed Shine 10 Day Top Coat. Either way, I'm really impressed with the staying power of Sation's formula!
Would I repurchase this polish? Not in this color, because I do not have the time or patience to sit there and paint four coats of color (plus base + top coat) all the time. Plus, this polish takes FOREVER to dry. It's kind of like in the '90s when I was a kid and I would shake my hands for half an hour hoping it would make my nails dry faster (it never worked). It's not that fragile once it's dry, but it just takes so much longer to dry than other formulas out there. Otherwise, for $5 (.05oz) it's not that bad! If there were a pretty color that took 2 coats for full opacity, I would consider purchasing it. I can't find any good websites to purchase Sation nail polish on. It is being sold on retailers that I have never heard of, but since i don't trust them, I won't post them here. You are welcome to Google it yourself to see if you find any suitable sellers. Let me know if you find any good ones!
What are you wearing on your nails right now?
With love,
Sammi
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