The Old Switcheroo: Sally Hansen Review

Well, here's a new one. I started out planning to write a positively glowing review of the award winning (Marie Claire, Self, and Redbook!) Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polish. However, before I could write this...well, circumstances changed...

 

Let me start at the beginning.

 

Last weekend, I realized that I didn't have any neutral nail polishes for Fall. I have several bronze-y colors, and more than a few bright pinks and reds, but all my sheers had pretty much dried up. While Thomas and I were in Target, he pointed out that the Fall Beauty Award Winners were on display, and maybe I could find a nice polish there. (Aww! How sweet!) Well, he was right. The Sally Hansen was front and center, and while it was still a little on the pricey side, it was a couple of dollars cheaper than my usual OPI. I left with a shiny new bottle of "Shell We Dance", a sheer, ballet pink.

 

Monday night, I went through my normal manicure routine: trim, buff, file, cuticle oil, push back cuticles. Then, I slicked on three coats of polish, waited for it to dry, and finished with a top coat of OPI Start to Finish. Now, according to Sally Hansen:

 

Sally knows you’re busy. So skip the salon, but get the results. With patented Vita-Care Technology for advanced wear, more shine, and nourishing care. Dare to compare to your favorite salon brand.

 

5 Steps in 1 Bottle: Base Coat, Strengthener, Growth Treatment, Color and Top Coat

With Vita-Care Technology for advanced wear, more shine, and nourishing care

42 salon-inspired shades

 

And you know, to start with, I loved this polish. The color was perfect. It was just bright enough to not blend completely into my skin, and made my nails look "done" without screaming, "I HAD A MANICURE!!!" The product applied smoothly, dried quickly, and two days later, there was not a chip to be seen. At that point, I was sold.

 

Then came day three, and all Hell broke loose.

 

Little pockets of air started to bubble up from underneath the polish on some nails. On others, cracks started to form, as if the nail had bent somehow. Soon after, I was able to peel off sheets of polish, leaving dry, scuffed nails in the wake. It's now been one week since I painted my nails, and of the ten fingernails, three have major air bubbles, four have large sections missing, one has been peeled completely bare, and two are in darn near perfect condition--nary a chip to be found. I have no idea how that happened. The toes, on the other, er, foot, look like I just painted them. Go figure.

 

I can't recommend this. Maybe, if it were only a buck or two, I could say it could work in a pinch. You know, for a function that night, or something like that. The problem is, this stuff runs $6.49 (Target). That's not exactly cheap for drugstore nail polish. For $6.49, I could have a decent dinner at the local chicken joint, see a matinee, or get a set of cute Halloween towels for my kitchen. In other words, I have better things to spend the money on than nail polish that comes off as easily as the brush-on/peel-off stuff my Mom bought me to play with when I was six. I'll use this stuff, because I'm stuck with it, but at least now I know that I need to be prepared either to remove it after a day or two, or deal with cracked, flaking polish.

 

Final Verdict: 2 out of 10. This stuff sucks.