I'd seen this new Born Pretty Store Mirror nail polish on a few blogs over the last month or two, so with my latest set of products to try from the Born Pretty Store, I asked for a bottle. Let me tell you that we have a new leader in the chrome polish stakes, but it's not all bling and shiny awesomeness, so read on for all the details about this very reflective polish.
The polish comes as as a two piece set. The mirror polish and what is labelled as a top coat. From reading those previous blog posts about this polish I knew that the top coat is not really a top coat to apply over the polish. Let's just call it a top coat to apply to the top of your nails to get a smoother finish. Or in other words, an aqua base and it takes bloody ages to dry - like 15 minutes
Once it is dry you can apply the metallic mirror polish. Make sure you shake the bottle really well, otherwise you wont get any metallic pigment on your nails. Plus when you look at the brush you wont think you have anything on it, because the consistency is really watery.
Now this stuff is weird, and totally unlike any other polish I have applied. Now the other bloggers said this too, but until I tried it I wasn't able to imagine what it was like. Other chrome/mirror polishes dry very fast, and many of them look kind of dull and then as they dry - bam - reflection. But this dries instantly. Like by the time your brush is at the end of you finger the base of your nail has dried. I even filmed applying two layers of this and will upload the video to instagram, so make sure you jump over and check it out to see what I mean.
As with other chrome and mirror polishes, you will see every single flaw in your nails. I'm lucky that I don't have peeling nails, otherwise these polishes show that up so badly. I do have scratches across my nails, because I sometimes like to buff away some of the yellow staining (and get lazy with the fine buffing). As long as I'm gentle, I keep my nails strong and a little whiter. Christine over at Serenity nails got an amazing finish wearing the mirror polish over a gel base, so make sure you check her swatches out.
Let's look at this polish on it's own first. This is two immediate coats per finger with no top coat.
Yeah, it's pretty damn awesome. No some comparisons with other true chrome polishes.
OPI Push & Shove on my index finger, Born Pretty Mirror on my middle finger, Sally Hansen Sterling Silver from their Color Foils collection on my ring and Layla Metal Chrome from their Mirror Collection.
The Born Pretty Mirror polish is a darker shade of silver, more like the Layla Metal Chrome polish. Check out my previous comparison of chrome polishes when I swatched the Sally Hansen Color Foils. The Born Pretty polish is also the most chrome and mirror like of these polishes. Each of these is two coats with no top coat.
But, and there is a big but...
It just doesn't last! Here is a quick photo taken of the same four nails just 8 hours later. The Born Pretty Mirror polish wears off badly. Now I'm sure that applying top coat would make it last much longer, or even a mirror sandwich, where you go aqua base, mirror polish, mirror polish, top coat, mirror polish. I haven't tried that yet, but its on my list to do to see if a) it lasts better and b) if it still has the awesome chromey appearance.
The wear on this also begs the question, what the hell is this? and where is that metallic pigment going? Did I eat some? Was is just washed down the sink? Hmmmm, preparing food and eating with your fingers are probably both things I would avoid with this polish on.
So yeah, while this is the most mirror like polish I now own, it really is for a special occasion. A night out would be fine, and at least it doesn't chip.
Polish provided for consideration.
That looks awesome, but it's so strange about the wear! I've never seen any polish just...fade...dissolve(?) like that.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I have nails that have furrows in them and some peel and all sorts of things that prevent me from wearing these metallic chrome polishes without a lot of prep hassle, but I sure do like to see them! Thank you for your terrific review.
ReplyDeleteI'd be very interested to hear how it wears with top coat! This may be my first order from BPS in years haha!
ReplyDeleteIt's really neat, while it lasts!
ReplyDeleteImpressive polish, but really weird about the wear :)
ReplyDeleteHow disturbing....I really don't know what to say about vanishing polish. Like Kelly I wonder how it would go with topcoat. That's probably why they include it in the set because they are probably aware of the problem with fading? *scratches head*
ReplyDeleteIt totally dulls out the result. Trust me.
Delete"...what the hell is this? and where is that metallic pigment going?" That is EXACTLY what I was thinking. Lol! Yeah, it might be pretty but I think I will pass top coat or not!
ReplyDeleteMia secret already released the same thing and it wore off within an hour! Really pointless if you ask me!
ReplyDeleteIt's not A POLISH. It's a chrome liquid. That's why it doesn't behave as a polish :)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I've tried it with several kinds of topcoat (the one that comes with the product, the Nfu Oh aqua base, even with Cosmay that does not dull out foils), and it totally ruins the result. Becomes completely dull.
ReplyDeleteI'm really relieved that someone else had essentially the same experience as I did with reviewing this polish! It is pretty cool, but a longer lifespan would definitely make it better! Fantastic review ^_^
ReplyDeleteNice nail polish!
ReplyDeleteGet 10% off shopping on Bron Pretty Store Use Code SHASX31
Good review....Let me just ask you a question, if you had the best of them in your opinion, between OPI, Born Pretty, Sally S. and Layla, would you still go for Born Pretty because of its effect? Or would you rather choose another one of those? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what I was wearing it to. If it was a night out where the polish didn't need to last more than a few hours, I'd go with the Born Pretty, if I needed something that lasted longer I'd go with OPI, SH or Layla. But with the explosion of all the chrome powders now, I'd probably go with a powder and gel top coat as the effect lasts ages.
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