Thursday, June 27, 2013

Vinylux Review #2

My first Vinylux review gets a lot of hits.  My first review wasn't exactly 100% fair and I stated that up front.  I did use it on top of Gel Polish and that's not what it was intended for.  But I did put it head to head against a regular polish and everything I stated was fact.  For everyone who has just found this blog - I am a Certified Nail Technician so my technique and application is professional.

This is the last shot I'm giving Vinylux.  I wasn't all that impressed in my original review.  I tested it out first on my mother and it chipped within the first three days.  I also tried it on a Client who chipped it in less than 24 hours!





















I am a Gel-Polish-Aholic.  I have been wearing Gel Polish almost exclusively for probably 2 years now.  My nails are completely healthy and not stained.  This photo was taken after a proper PEP (dry manicure), cuticles removed and Scrub Fresh applied.

One very important thing to note about Vinylux is that it's a retail product being sold to regular consumers as well as professionals.  Let's get real here - a normal consumer is NOT going to do a proper PEP as directed by CND complete with Scrub Fresh.  Given the previous experiences I've had with Vinylux so far - I do not recommend this product for a normal consumer.  If a consumer is well informed and uses this polish exactly as directed they will need to purchase Scrub Fresh, cuticle remover and a cuticle pusher.





















I had picked up some new Vinylux colours earlier this week and swatched them beside the first 3 colours I bought. I decided that my original 3 swatches looked like they need another coat of polish and holy crap look what happened!





















There was never any top coat applied to my swatches.  This was just an additional coat of polish about 3 weeks after the original coat!  WTF is all I have to say about that!





















So I followed CND's instructions exactly for Vinylux application with the preparation, two coats of colour, no base, and the Weekly Top Coat.  This colour is Dark Lava.  This was before I applied my cuticle oil.  I use CND's Solar Oil as well.





















This photo is after almost 48 hours of wear.  Plenty of tip wear and you can see some chips just starting to form at the sides of my pointer and pinky.  Again, the Top Coat has dulled substantially.





















And a day later at 72 hours it has become a full chip at the top corner of my pointer.  My nails still looked okay overall but I took it off because it had chipped in 2 places and I felt like my nails were too vulnerable.  I've been wearing Gel Polish for so long that I needed that extra reinforcement or I was afraid they would break.





















And here they are after removal.  No staining - it's just the lamp I'm using that gives them a bit of yellow tinge.

So all in all, it's not a terrible product.  I find it was more chip resistant than normal polish but I won't be using it on myself again.  I think for the price it's a decent product.  It is slightly better than a normal polish and I love not using a basecoat.  But for me, this product is not what it claims to be.  The Top Coat is not shiny enough for starters.  They should definitely change that Weekly Top Coat bottle to read - Lasts 'UP TO' 7 days without chipping.

Later
P

2 comments:

  1. How much time do you spend outside exposing the vinylux to natural light? I'm asking because I use it on my own nails and usually the topcoat is still really shiny and fairly scratch free when I take it off after seven days, but since I did my nails last I haven't been able to spend my usual 2+ hours a day outside and I've noticed it has some scratches in it and it's not yet 48 hours.

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  2. I'm very much your average consumer, hopeless with my nails and I *love* vinylux. Means I don't have to pay for gel or buy a lamp, and I never have the chipping issue that you've described. Easily lasts a week for me without chips and the colour stays nice and bright.

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