I managed to get three of these gorgeous polishes a while back in the colours Crushed, Posh Plum and Cherry Red. I got these before I could ever afford or get my hands on the Sally Hansen Gel Polishes. I got them on a 20% off sale at my local Farmers store which is a bargain as far as I'm concerned.
The bottle shapes are so different to other polishes I have seen. They stand out and that's what I am all about. They are tall and thin rather than wide and bulky. The Crushed colour if a coral colour, the cherry red is exactly as it suggests and the posh plum is a magenta purple all with pearl finishes that look gorgeous once on the nails.
The brushes that they come with I actually like because the applicator is quite long which is perfect for my big hands. It means that is less likely that I would get it anywhere other than my nails. The brush itself is quite small and thin which makes it easier to get right to the edge without getting polish on my fingers but also means that it takes a few swipes to get polish all over the nail.
The real question, does it have the hard as nails stay power it suggests. In short no it doesn't BUT it lasts a few days longer than any cheap dollar store nail polish would without having to use more than two layers. This is with no clear coat. I put a clear coat over the top and one and half weeks later I only have minor chips but most of it is still firmly in place! That to me is good stay power but not great stay power. For that reason it gets three stars for performance. It doesn't take away from how gorgeous it is though.
I really wanted a sort of magenta/pinkish plum shade with a creme finish. Luckily there just happened to be on sale so I bought Pep-plum. It's a sort of fuschia plum shade that I think would look great on most skin colors and would suit both warm and cool skin tones. I really like this shade on my nails. This polish is really thin when I did the first coat it looked really streaky and sheer in parts. The brush provided definitely isn't one I like for polishes, it's super thin and it's got a square tip. After two coats the polish does look better but it's still streaky. Three would've been better but I just don't have the time to do three coats. As far as lasting power I regularly use my nails as tools not jewels so of course my nail polish chipped on the thumb and the pointer and middle fingers on the second day. However the last two fingers held out without chipping till the fourth day. I wash dishes and cook and clean around the house, so I did expect some chipping than if I wasn't doing any housework. By the end of the fourth day which was the day I was cooking my mani looked really tacky and it just got worse from then. The polish was easy to remove with my non-acetone remover and didn't stain my nails. This line of polish suggests that your nails would be harder and stronger from wearing this but I don't think this gave my tips more durability while it was on. I later read via the Sally Hansen website that you can paint this on bare nails but I always use a base coat since I'm worried of polishes staining my nails. This is a really pretty color so I'll probably use it again but because the polish was streaky and the brush isn't my fave to work with, I don't think I'll be repurchasing.
Tips: Interestingly you can use this on bare nails. That being said if you do decide to go without a base coat I would recommend trying this on a lighter shade from the range as dark colors can stain nails. This polish is pretty streaky and sheer so you need at least two coats of color to get an okay mani. A top coat helps make the streaks but doesn't remove them. This is in no way the most long lasting polish I've use but lasts longer lasting compared to some really cheap polishes I've had. If you don't do much and don't cook or clean or wash dishes you'll probably get a few days wear with just a little chipping, especially if you used a top coat.