Now, if you don’t care about the specifics, then pick up any of these corals. But the differences are easy to pick up when you hold them next to each other in the store. Coral 1 is clearly much darker and contains more red. Coral 2 is mixed with some bright pink giving it less of an orange tone. Coral 3 has a slight shimmer to it and IMHO is my version of a creamy coral. Coral 4 is what I think of when someone asks me about a true coral color. Color specifics are up to the viewer.
- Sheen/Shimmer/Glitter/Chunky Glitter/Flakie/Glitter Shapes
- Creme
- Matte/Suede/Satin
- Bright/Florescent/Neon
- Dark/Light Undertones
- Metallic/Foil/Pearl/Frost
- Jelly/Sheer
- Holographic/Duochrome
Shades of Silver Left to Right: LA Colors Color Craze in Silver, Sinful Colors Professional Nail Lacquer in Out of this World, Revlon Nail Enamel in Silver Screen. Polishes are placed from thickest metallic to the thinnest from left to right.
Left to right: Sally Hansen Maximun Growth in Inspired Orchid, Mini Divas Nail Polish in Star, Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Plus in Beautiful Berry.
This is Sinful Colors in Savage, a color I truly love. I did my research on it, so I knew it would be a matte shade. However, looking at the bottle/packaging, you would never know that! If you had wanted this shade with shine (like the rest of the Sinful Colors line) you would be sadly disappointed. This also goes for sheer shades and bottles without a viewable color source like Sally Hansen Chromes. These have a type of covering on the bottle for that metallic finish which isn’t always exactly right on with whats inside the bottle.
This might sound silly but seriously, do you already have that color? Are you picking up duplicates or near-identical twins? Check out my example below from Color Club and Icing. I love them both and use them both, but I might as well have bought two of the same kind.
Left to right: Color Club Professional Nail Lacquer (no name) and Icing Nail Polish in Butta.
My main advice to make sure you don’t end up with triplets when you only want one shade? Walk around the store and find polishes you already have and hold them up next to each other. Look up swatches online if you aren’t sure, that will help you become more educated on how it wears too.
Other Twins/2nd Cousins:
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Left to right: Essence Color & Go in Walk of Fame and ULTA Salon Formula in Fine Pruned. |
Now, on the flip side, you might just THINK you have it already. Remember, finishes/opacity/application can all make two very similar polishes completely different. Ok, maybe not completely, but if you don’t hoard them like I do you won’t necessarily want to judge a bottle by what you think it will look like.
5. Check for Stickers/Labels/Packaging
For some people this won’t be a major issue, but it definitely is for me! I’ve walked out of a store numerous times thinking I had the color I wanted. Later on I discover it is missing its label/labeled wrong/scratched somewhere. If you don’t think you need to remember the shade you’re buying and aren’t worried about buying doubles, then forge ahead. Lesson learned: Don’t trust store labels. Check for yourself that the polish you’re purchasing has the correct label/sticker/name/shade/number and always check to see that the bottle is in good shape.
6. Can You Return it?
Did you know you can return nail polishes to many stores? If you order from Walgreens, Sephora, CVS, Walmart, Rite Aid, Avon, ULTA, MAC, then you can return your item within 30 days with a recipt. This goes for other cosmetics purchases as well. For all other stores, simply call and politely ask if they do returns/exchanges. Usually if you treat them how you would like to be treated, they let you work it out.
Brands want you to be happy with your purchase and so do the stores. Hassle-free returns are especially handy if you picked up something defective accidentally. When Sally Hansen Crackles first came out I bought them and my red was defective from possibly being opened beforehand. I loved being able to return it for a refund instead of throwing that money in the trash!
7. Check for Deals & Reviews
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