REVIEW of Prevail's Nolita Lolita with SWATCHES

Hi lovelies!

Yes, I bought another Prevail nail polish. How could I resist? I live in NYC and many (if not all) of their polishes are named after NYC locations. Of course, I went for Nolita Lolita. I'm not telling you where I live but it's pretty much my neighborhood. 

Color: Nolita Lolita is a dark polish with green microglitter. It's difficult to tell if it's a dark gray polish or a dark green polish because it can look like either depending on the lighting. I find that the green comes out more indoors under artificial lighting and the black/gray comes out more outdoors and under direct sunlight. The glitter gives the polish a great deal of depth. 
Formula: This was yet another Prevail polish with an impressive formula. It was very smooth, especially given the glitter. I wouldn't call it a real glitter polish because it does apply so smoothly. The glitter particles are very tiny and not gritty at all. 
Application: Application is very smooth. It was even great when I was using my non-dominant hand to paint my nails. It was perfectly opaque in 3 coats. 
Wear: I did get a little bit of tip wear a few days in. 

CONCLUSION: If you like the color from the swatches below, I would absolutely recommend this formula based on the formula. 
SWATCHES (important to look at all of them)

REVIEW of Prevail Nail Lacquer in Gramercy Park with SWATCHES

Hi chickadees!

So I finally got around to testing out one of my Prevail nail polishes and...I have mixed feelings about it. First of all here's a link to my post about the sale on Prevail polishes at Duane Reade from now until June 2nd. http://smartandsarcasticwithdashesofinsanity.blogspot.com/2012/05/prevail-polishes-25-off-at-duane-reade.html Now, for $4.50, I'm pretty happy with this polish. I knew what I was getting into when I chose Gramercy Park. I specifically went for a shade that looked like it would apply a little bit sheer because I wanted to try and dupe the O.P.I. 2012 Ballet Collection that came out recently. Gramercy Park is a sheer light pink polish so it's closest match from that collection should be O.P.I.'s You Callin' Me a Lyre?. Unfortunately, Gramercy Park is nowhere near a dupe. Fortunately, that means it'll appeal to an entirely different crowd.

Color: Sheer, cool-toned light pink
If you have pretty bare nails (not stained yellow from polish testing like mine) I would definitely suggest wearing this super sheer with just one coat for a more natural look. I have a swatch below to show what that would look like. I did 3 coats to try and alleviate that patchiness (more on that later) and achieve opacity. In 3 coats, this polish is still pretty sheer but you can definitely tell what the color is. Gramercy Park is a sheer, very light, cool-toned light pink. It's almost more of a white base with pink instead of a pink lightened with white if that makes any sense.

Application: Smooth, patchy
This is going to sound like a contradiction but I thought the polish applied smoothly but it was also patchy. That is, the formula wasn't too thick or watery and the polish glided over the nail really nicely without any drag. However, because it was so sheer, I had a problem with patchiness. I usually hate large brushes, but I think a large brush to cover the whole nail at once, might have helped here. The paint job on my pinky and ring finger nails look fine but you can see some uneven patches on the other two nails in the swatches below. 3 coats to medium opacity.

Conclusion: Because it applied patchy I can't recommend this polish but I will say that it probably performs as well as most sheer, light-colored polishes so you might as well spend a few dollars less buying it this month for $4.50. I do like the color and I will probably wear this on days when I want a natural nail and I'm not obsessed with how perfect the paint job is.
SWATCHES (continue reading for swatches)

Prevail Polishes 25% OFF at Duane Reade

Until June 2nd, NYC (and probably a lot of Eastern drugstores though I'm not sure how it's broken up regionally so check your Duane Reader circular on the Duane Reade website) Duane Reades have discounted Prevail Polishes by 25% off so they are going for $4.50 before tax. I feel like Prevail is a Duane Reade exclusive brand because I haven't seen it in other drugstores. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads up because I picked up two polishes, Botanical Gardens and Gramercy Park (gotta love those names!) but I'm not sure if I'll paint my nails or get around to a review until the sale is over.

Happy shopping!
cat

UPDATE: I reviewed one of the polishes, Gramercy Park. You can read my review at this link.

http://smartandsarcasticwithdashesofinsanity.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-of-prevail-nail-lacquer-in.html