Whether or not you’re devoted to your nail salon (if it’s even open right now!), we’ve all been doing our own nails the past few months. I am so disappointed with a “cool girl” brand that I wanted to test it against two tried-and-true favorites. Here’s what I found.

The WORST Nail Polish

For the past year, I’ve given Olive & June nail polish the old college try. I was intrigued by the buzz and the supposedly great ingredients, so I ordered all the things, including their funky holder, the stickers, all of it. And it immediately wasn’t great.

I discussed this polish when posting about how to do an at-home mani/pedi at the start of the ‘Rona lockdown since I had a little more time on my hands. I really wanted to figure it out - which should have been a red flag because nail polish should be fairly straightforward.

To get two days (max) chip- and smudge-free polish from Olive & June, I’d have to:

• apply one coat

• let it dry fro 10+ minutes

• repeat

• apply top coat

• let it dry ~ an hour (seriously)

This is even with the reformulated polish and top coat. Yes I used the cuticle oil, and yes I apply hand cream after every hand wash (I have a tube by every sink and two in my bag).

So I gave up and tossed it.

The BEST Nail Polishes

I went back to my two favorite polishes, OPI’s Tiramisu for Two with the Seche Vite top coat and Essie Gel Couture in Fairy Tailor and Gel Couture top coat.

Here’s the process for both:

• two coats of polish (one hand then the other)

• top coat

• let dry about 15 minutes

Boom.

I’ll touch up any chips around day two or three, but this is what it looks like on day five with zero touch-ups:

And so…

This bugs me because once again it shows how companies with the most marketing bucks get to the front of the pack and not necessarily the best products. Or maybe it’s just me. Or maybe beauty editors are just doing their jobs and are introducing us to the latest-and-greatest.

Either way, I want to know: what’s your favorite nail polish brand? What’s your process? Or are you a salon-only person?