The Perfect Nail Polish

The Perfect Nail Polish

By: Britney Lenza

The definition of nail polish is varnish applied to the fingernails or toenails to color them or make them shiny. But, what makes a great nail polish? Seven things come to mind when I think about the perfect nail polish. The first is how well it goes on; the nail polish cannot be too thick but it also cannot be too thin, to the point where it will need an extra coat or two.  The second thing I think of is how easy will this be to apply to my nails; is the brush going to be too small or too big or will it leave goop and be difficult to apply it. The definition of goop is a sloppy or sticky substance. The third is will it dry quickly, that way I cannot mess it up before it dries. Then I thought about will it be shiny or dull, will it strengthen my nail, and will it stay on for a long time?  After thinking about all these components to having the perfect nail polish, I thought, this perfect nail polish is going to have to be pretty expensive; so how much will this cost me?

I bought four types of nail polish and tested them on a different finger nail. I bought Hot Designs, Essie, Sally Hansen, and Funky Fingers.  I bought the color black for each nail polish to insure that the colors were the exact same.

My results for Hot Designs were as follows:

The nail polish was semi-thick, but it needed two coats. The brush was a medium and also left some goop. Surprisingly, the nail polish dried very quickly, between and minute and a minute and a half.  The polish was shiny but rough looking and this polish was not made to strengthen nails. Unfortunately, this polish chipped the day I put it on.  Hot Designs nail polish only comes in sets of 6 polishes, so the price for this is $9.99, which is pretty expensive when you’re really only looking for one color. I gave this nail polish a five out of ten.

My results for Essie were as follows:

Essie’s polish was the perfect amount of thin/thickness; it did not need a second coat. The brush was way too thin, but it did not leave any goop like substance. This polish too, dried very quickly; a little over a minute. This polish had very little shiny and looked rough. It is not a nail strengthener but it lasted two days without chipping. This nail polish cost $8.50, just for one bottle; that seems too expensive for an okay product. I gave this nail polish a seven out of ten.

My results for Sally Hansen were as follows:

The polish for this brand was so thin I had to do a second coat; I almost did a third coat just to be safe. The brush was perfect though, it was not small and was not over powering my nail either. It has absolutely no goop at all.  This polish was made to strengthen nails or the make them harder.  It was shiny and did not look rough.  It took a little longer to dry, about two to three minutes, per coat.  After the third day of wearing it, it chipped. This polishes price is only $2.99 per bottle. I also gave this nail polish a seven out of ten.

My results for Funky Fingers were as follows:

This polishes coat was thick and semi hard to apply, but I will not need to apply a second coat.  The brush was a little small and left little goop.  It took between two and three minutes to dry and left a beautiful shine.  The polish was not made to strengthen nails but it did stay on for 4 days without chipping.  This polish cost $5.15 for a bottle.  I gave this nail polish an eight out of ten.

My personal favorite nail polish is Funky Fingers.  Although the polish was thick, it did not require me to apply a second coat.  The shine it gave when it dried was incredible. The price is not too expensive.  I would recommend that they make the brush a little thicker.  Then it is a step closer to being the perfect nail polish. Out of ten (ten being the best), I would rate this nail polish an eight. Minor improvements are needed to make this nail polish top of the line, the perfect nail polish.

In the article Funky Fingers Nail Polish Swatches & Review, the writer, Jen Karr, agrees that Funky Fingers is a great brand of nail polish.