REVIEW of Wet n Wild Megalast Salon Nail Color in 205B Sugar Coat

Hello my little dragées,

Dragée would be the alternate French name for Sugar Coat listed on the bottle. That reminds me, I'm so behind on the Pod F. Tompkast. I was having iTunes issues and now I've forgotten which episode I listened to last. Anyway, none of that is important at the moment. I read a good review of Sugar Coat a while back and almost picked it up once at the drugstore but I ended up finally purchasing it from drugstore.com when I recently placed an order. Damn the $35 requirement for free shipping. Why am I telling you all of this? Skipping ahead in this endless story, I felt like I needed a palate cleanser, especially after a frustrating run of difficult to photograph polishes, so I pulled out Sugar Coat. I don't review that many nude polishes anymore as I don't really like them and mainly wore them when I had exams.

Color: Sugar Coat is a pale nude creme polish. It's not exactly a pale pink. I'd describe it more as a very pale peach, like a foundation shade. It's somewhat similar to OPI Samoan Sand but a bit more pink-toned. I wouldn't say it was as pink as Sephora by OPI A True Romantic. I would guess that it's somewhere in between the yellowish nude of Samoan Sand and the peachy pink of A True Romantic.
Formula: The formula of this polish is a little thick but sheer.
Application: I immediately realized what the problem with this polish would be when I applied the first coat. The polish went on smoothly without any drag for two brushstrokes but when I went to add a third brushstroke in the center and even out the polish with the brush, the trouble started. This is a case where the polish and brush work in tandem to thwart all attempts at getting even layers of polish applied to the nail. The brush creates streaks and the polish has sheer, milky quality that is easily displaced should you be so foolish as to try and work with this polish and even it out with your brush. Application of the second coat proceeded similarly. The formula is not super thick but the polish has to be evened out to get even application which you can't do because the brush will ruin the decently smooth layer of polish you just painted. You can sort of manage to even out the polish by loading more polish onto the brush and gliding it on very gently to get more of a smooth surface but the polish is still not really even. Honestly, I would suggest working with this polish as little as possible. I ended up applying four coats of polish. At three coats the polish is basically opaque. The only issue is patchiness and the uneven application. I added a fourth coat just to see if I could get the polish to full opacity.

When I was painting with my nondominant hand, the first coat went on smoothly. I didn't go over it with the brush to even it out as I had already learned my lesson when painting with my dominant hand. The second coat went on relatively smoothly though I experienced a bit of drag when I tried to even out the polish or add a third brushstroke in the center. At three coats, the polish still appeared unevenly applied and was not fully opaque so I added a fourth coat. At four coats, I would still call the opacity passable at best.

Wear: I wore this polish for four to five days. I barely experienced any tip wear. Really, the polish just wore away right at the edge where I wrap the tips of my nails.

CONCLUSION: Almost without fail I find nude polishes to be very aggravating to apply. I suppose if you're absolutely determined not to pay more than a few dollars for a bottle of nude polish, there are more expensive nude polishes that apply just as poorly. But there are also nude polishes that aren't as much of a headache. Personally, I think the color is a bit too light for me and not that flattering for my skintone and I would look for a polish with better application. Maybe try OPI Samoan Sand, which is my go-to nude polish.

Cat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. If you would like to help support this site, please consider making your next purchase at amazon.com through the links on my page. I will get a small percentage of anything you purchase through one of my links at no extra cost to you.
SWATCHES

REVIEW of Wet n' Wild Megalast Salon Nail Color in I Need a Refresh-Mint

Hello my dears,

I've kept this polish in my stash for a while now because as much as I love my Wet n Wild eyeshadows and I love the color of this polish, I've been extremely skeptical about some rave reviews about its application. And, I was kind of right to be nervous. Full disclosure, I don't know how this polish holds up because I only kept it on for about 1.5 days.

Pros

• The color is gorgeous. I've heard it described as a dupe for China Glaze's For Audrey, which we all know is intended to mimic Tiffany blue. To me it has a bit more green, kind of like Essie's Turquoise and Caicos. Maybe I'll do a comparison one day.
• Opaque in 3 coats. This is fine for me. I don't need a one coat polish. As long as it doesn't take more than 3 coats for a polish to be opaque, I'm happy.
• Formula seems alright. It may have been a little thick but I think the biggest problem was the brush and not the polish. I'd have to try with a different brush to say for certain.
• In direct sunlight this polish works with the yellow undertones in my skin and does not bring out the red in my hands.
• It's a great color for summer. It's very wearable but it can also look bright and fun. It's a way of making a subtle statement and a good sort of color-blocking shade.
• Great value. It's near a dupe for other colors of this type for a lot cheaper. It's usually only about $1-$3 if I remember correctly and I picked it up when it was on sale for even less.

Cons

• The brush is atrocious. The polish has a wide, flat brush which I actually didn't have too much of a problem with. My problem was that I could get at the sides of the nail I would miss in the first brushstroke because you can't go over the last brushstroke while the polish is wet. Why? Because the bristles of the brush are cut roughly and result in a streaky mess.
• It is impossible to get even coats. There will be streaks on the sides of the nails. The surface of my nails is very smooth. I never do any buffing or sanding and the only time tools other than a nail file approach my hands is when I go to the salon. The uneveness of this polish's application gave me crazy ridges.
• This isn't a "con" as much as a tip. If you shake up the polish, you will probably get bubbles.
• During the evening/in artificial light the color is brighter and much more saturated and it can look a little harsh. Also, it brings out the redness in my skin.
• Seche Vite is a little miracle worker but even my favorite topcoat couldn't even out all the ridges.

CONCLUSION: If you aren't overly concerned with a perfect paintjob and/or change your polish frequently, this readily accessible, very reasonably priced drugstore option might appeal to you. However, if you're kind of obsessive like I am, you're going to get fed up looking at the uneven polish and wipe it off after 1.5 days. Personally, I'd stick with the better brands and pick this up only for nail art or to see if you like this kind of color.

SWATCHES (Note: ridges not that apparent in pictures)

REVIEW of Wet n' Wild Spoiled Collection S025 Ants in My Pants and S072 Visually Slimming

OK, these nail polishes were a massive fail on so many fronts ...but I did manage to get results I'm actually happy with. Let me explain. The formula on Visually Slimming is pretty watery, but opaque in three coats. It's a basic, glossy black nail polish color. Nothing to really report. The brush is absolutely atrocious. I can't do great close-up shots with my camera so you'll have to go on my description. It's a flat wide brush that is wider than my pinky nail and makes applying varnish to all of your nails kind of difficult. The brush was also misshapen so instead of lying flat, it created a weird bulbous, bulging shape that was very unwieldy to work with. Also, the bristles seemed hard and weirdly attached so they went out in different directions. I haphazardly threw on 3 coats and then cleaned up the edges with nail polish remover. I guess I like the polish and if you really need to save money, a basic black polish is a basic black polish. Still, from my high school days when I wore black nail polish on a regular basis, I remember there being plenty of cheap brands that made decent black nail polishes. Milani might be one of them. If I had an empty bottle of polish I might try transferring this just to see if it would work better with a different brush.

S072 Visually Slimming
Pros- decent formula, 3 coats opaque
Cons- a bit watery, horrible brush, difficult to avoid a mess

Wet n Wild Spoiled Display Spotted

The Wet n Wild website is annoying to try and navigate so I'm just going to link you to one of my favorite beauty blogs for more info. http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2012/01/closer-look-at-new-spoiled-nail-color.html

I was so excited to see this display at my local CVS. The one at 20 University Place which is always out of everything...in case you live in NY and want to check it out. Well, this time they had the nice big display at the back and it was almost fully stocked. There was a bottle or two of polish for every color in the selection except I think they were out of some of the reds and purples in the pictures on Nouveau Cheap or I probably would have picked them up. Most of the creme colors looked unremarkable but if you wanted to try and find a dupe for other brands, $1.99 is a great deal. What mainly caught my eye were the glitters. There were a handful of them that looked interesting but glitters and I have a complex relationship. I like them in the bottle, but once I take them home and apply them on my nails I fall a little out of love. By the time I'm picking large hex glitter off my nails the honeymoon is definitely over and it takes me a few weeks to get over it. As you might have read in my recent update, I have a big stash of polishes I need to get through so I only picked up two colors, a black creme and polish with red large hex glitter with regular red glitter in a black base. I don't know when I'll test them out but I'll try and make it before next Halloween. Maybe I'll try the combination for Valentine's Day, just to be cheeky. :)

Oh, and Ants in My Pants (terrible name) might be a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers but I don't have the Deborah Lippmann polish to do a comparison. I'm sure if it is, the internet will soon be flooded with comparisons.