Review Time: Vinylux Gel Polish by CND

Review Time: Vinylux Gel Polish by CND

So I was reading my magazines the other day and inside my Elle was an ad for the Vinylux polishes- making this amazing claim:

"No UV light needed".

So you know me, I love having my nails polished but I also hate doing them every 2 days because my nails are in water all the time and polish hates me and my life.

I also do not have a UV gel lamp- I KNOW, SHOCKING! But, I also don't have 100 bucks to blow on frivolities. (Soon though, soon...)

I didn't really think anything of it again until I saw that they were being sold in my local Cosmoprof (where I spend all my money like it's just a black hole with a front door). 

"So... no light?"

"Nope."

"No base coat."

"Nope."

I stared at the clerk vacantly for like a good minute, while she blinked and looked like I was a serial killer. (TO BE FAIR, I was wearing the hood on my sweatshirt up like some kind of vagrant.)

"I don't get it."

"All you do is paint 2 coats of the color, then the top coat. Give it a minute to dry, and then it's done- gels without the hassle."

Gels. Without. The hassle.

The heavens opened up and the light of God shone down on me and the Vinylux stand and chubby angel babies were singing (allegedly).

So I got the color "pretty poison", which is a hunter green with some very subtle gold shimmer. Fancy, fancy, man. I feel like a Disney villain when I wear it.

See? Shimmer? Oooh, Aaaaah!

 SO HERE'S WHAT I DID. I took off my old polish and trimmed up my nails (aren't they ridiculous? I love my nails. They're so strong and big. Nail artists get all pumped up over it, like "CAN I PUT FLOWERS ON THEM?!" "Yes, yes you can.")

Then I ran a little bit of alcohol over my nails to get them good and dry. CND makes some kind of thing like this, but, whatever, alcohol is fine.

 Then I painted 2 color coats and applied the special top coat.

DON'T JUDGE MY PAINTING ABILITIES. I am so lazy when it comes to doing my own stuff because it doesn't bother me if polish hits the skin. 

Then I applied glitter to my ring fingers because... whatever, why not. Don't judge me. Did you not read what I said earlier?

Here's the breakdown:

The polishes cost around $5 in a cosmoprof or beauty supply retailer. To the general public, I think they are around $7, but each website I looked at was a little different.

Basically, they're about the same price as buying a regular OPI or Essie polish. (OPI gel polishes, for reference, are like $14 dollars which is why gel manicures can be a little pricey.)

Did it last 2 weeks like a proper gel manicure? No.

Did it last the week that it claimed it would? Just about.

Here's what ha-happened... I didn't paint them very well and when I went to do hair later on, water got up in them and they started to crack- so it wasn't the polishes' fault, it was actually me forgetting to cap the tips of my nails to create a strong seal. MY BAD.

However, they lasted 5 days on me and that is some good stuff right there. I can usually have a regular polish last about 2 days on me, and a gel manicure usually barely makes it 2 weeks. So all in all, this was a really fun alternative to regular polishes and if you're good about it- you can do nail art over the top of it and then change it a few times while you still have a nice manicure underneath.

I'm pretty sold on these, and if you're like me and get tired of colors easily- they still have seasonal colors they put out and they offer multi-packs of the miniature sizes so you can try colors out without a huge price tag.

Try them out! They literally cost the same as a polish you would have bought anyway,

-SamanthaK