Review: CND Vinylux Weekly Polish

How often do you do your nails?  I go through stages where I do my nails every week and then others where I don’t do them for months.  I love having polished nails but I like to make sure I have enough time do to them properly.  I don’t have a steady hand so if I rush through applying polish it never ends well.  And after I invest time in doing my nails, nothing irritates me more than to have them chip after a day or two of wear.

That’s why I was pretty excited to give CND’s Vinylux Weekly Polish a try.  I was sent a package containing CND’s Weekly Polish in Regally Yours #140 and a bottle of their Weekly Top Coat as part of ChickAdvisor’s Product Review Club.  Using these two together claims to result in 7 days of chip-resistant wear.  Sounded promising to me!

The Vinylux line is described as a fast-drying, 2-step system that offers brilliant shine that lasts.  It also claims that natural light will result in increased durability; I’m not exactly sure what that means and I couldn’t find anything online that explains that, although I’m assuming it means a UV lamp isn’t required to set it.  Lastly, these are 7-Free polishes meaning that these are free from toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, phthalates (DBP), formaldehyde resin, xylene and lead.

I’ve been wearing this polish for the last 2 weeks and I definitely have an opinion on it.  First up, where it delivers:

• I can vouch for its claim that its fast drying.  This is what impressed me most. I’ve applied it twice over the last few weeks and within minutes it was dry to the touch and I could apply a second coat or the top coat.  Only once did I have it smudge after application and that was my own fault.  I definitely appreciate this factor in a polish as I can be pretty impatient waiting for coats to dry.
• The formula is thin and relatively easy to work with (however this is also a bit of a problem as described below)
• The weekly polish lets off a decent amount of shine but the Weekly Top Coat is exceptionally shiny.  I love having shiny, glossy nails and this doesn’t disappoint.
• There is no base coat in this line and it is not recommended you use one as it will negate the adhesives in the colour coat.  Given how dark and deep the shade I received was, I very concerned about using it without a base coat as I was certain it would stain my nails.  I can’t say it didn’t stain them at all – it did leave a slight tint behind but no where near what I was expecting and am used to with darker colours.  I found that to be impressive.

And where it falls a little short:

• Unfortunately for me, this wasn’t a chip-free polish.  I’ve applied it twice over the last two weeks; the first time I was pretty hard on my nails and there were some small chips and noticeable wear on the tips of my nails after the second day.  Because this is such a dark colour, the chips and wear were pretty noticeable but there was no large chips or peeling at all.  I didn’t think it’d be fair to judge it solely on that experience, so after a week I removed and re-applied it again the following week when I was much kinder to my nails.  Unfortunately I experienced the same issue and it was actually a little worse.
• I attempted to use the top coat to cap my nails in order to provide that extra bit of protection as they suggested, but it rubbed the polish off the tips of my nails (I did ensure my nails were completely dry before doing so).  If I could get this to work, I feel like this would definitely help with the chipping and wear as all of that took place on the tips on my nails – nowhere else.
• While the formula is thin and easy to apply, it can be a little bit patchy.  The colour I received was a deep, dark purple that actually appears black after applying 2 coats and the top coat.  Despite those two coats, there were some very visible areas on my nails where the polish was spotty.
• I had a small gripe with the brush – it’s on the thinner side but I prefer a thicker brush as I find I can apply polish more evenly this way.  I feel like this may have contributed to the patchy application.

I’m kind of on the fence with this – there were things I liked about it but the lasting power was basically their claim to fame here and it didn’t work all that well.  I’ve admitted defeat on the shade that I was sent but given that it wasn’t one that I would have picked out for myself, I may give another colour a try and see if there’s an improvement.

CND Vinylux Weekly Polish retails for $12.95 CAD and is available at select retailers and salons.

Special thanks to ChickAdvisor and CND for sending me these products to try!  These products were sent to me for review purposes but all opinions are my own.