Nail Medic CC Cream Laquer Review

This first impression blog post doesn't need very many words, the pictures can do all the talking.
But here's a little background:

Like all nail polish addicts, my nails have become badly stained - some worse than others. Thanks to China Glaze But of Corpse, my right thumb has been in pretty bad shape. It's grown out some, but the yellow is still very prominent. Sometimes I just want to let my nails go naked in public, but I'm always embarrassed that the yellow is too noticeable. So I was doing my normal scope-out at Wal-mart - and I have to say, they are really doing a great job of stepping up their nail care section! They now have this nail treatment brand called Nail Medic. I think the parent company is called Pretty Woman. they have complete step-by-step nail treatments to nurse damaged nails back to health. So i decided to try some out. I'm always in the market for new base coats, so I picked one out of the several options available. I chose the CC Cream Color Correcting Base. On the box, it claims to "instantly whiten & brighten nails" while treating them with green tea extracts and vitamin E.

As with all new things, I like to go in with little to no expectation. At the most, I just thought it would be a patchy clear coat. But man, new things are really working out for me lately! This turned out sooooo much better than I expected!

It made my nail beds whiter and it basically neutralized the yellow on the tips. It looked even better after I applied the second coat. You can even see in the photo that the yellow is virtually gone from my right thumb! This was so exciting to see!

So after it passed the inital first impression test, it was time for the wear test! After I applied the base, I worked on an ombre nail art  (more on my ombre adventures soon!) After a week, this wore so well. normally, I will pick at my nails and seek out weak spots to chip or peel off, but with this base coat, there were none! I had no tip wear or chips after a week of wear! This never happens to me! I didn't do anything special with my topcoat; I just used my normal Seche Vite topcoat. 

The two pictures above from fresh mani to a week later. 

So, I would highly recommend this base coat for anyone in the market to try something new. I would expecially recommend it to anyone trying to neutralize yellow stains on their nails. I have used it for two weeks now, so only time will tell if it has any long-term benefits!

New Colour Prevails Nail Polish First Impression

I was wandering around Walgreens one day when I came across some shiny new displays where you would normally expect the Jordana/Sinful Colors to be located. They were for two new makeup collections! Of course - I immediately scope out the nail polish! I can't remember the name of the first collection (they didn't have nail polish, hehe) but the other one was Colour Prevails - definitely more eye-catching! The display seems to have an entire line of makeup, but I was definitely on the look-out for nail polish! I am always pretty apprehensive about scooping up new polish lines, and sometimes over-the-top packaging seems like more of a gimmick to make up for poor formulas - in my opinion. That doesn't mean I'm not a sucker for packaging! So I picked out one bottle. I figured if it sucked I could still keep it for the packaging. I went for the most unique-looking color in the display...

This is Blue Blood. It is a deep blue/sapphire shade with blue and teal shimmers in it. The coverage is actually really good. It could be opaque in one coat! The shimmer is super subtle on the nail - you can only see it in direct sunlight. It is definitely more prominent in the bottle.

I was super impressed by the formula of the polish (it pays to have low expectations)! So, naturally I had to know more about this company, like:

What kind of company is this?

                                    How old are they?

                                                           Why did they choose the drug store market?

How does a new company charge $8 for a bottle of polish with little to no advertising?

What makes them think they can enter the market and already be on par with the likes of Essie, OPI, and other high end but available in drugstore brands?

I just needed to know...the business major in me came out to investigate. So I did some digging and it turns out that the brand is headed up by Nonie Creme - former founding Creative Director for butter London! Then I promptly took several seats. Lol.

So Nonie has broken out on her own and brought her creative genius to Walgreens everywhere! The main product's claim to fame is the ergonomic handle on most of the products adorned with a beautiful butterfly wing! This puppy is definitely not just for looks, either. It is meant to give you a steady hand and therefore more accurate application of makeup or nail polish. It did give me a steadier hand to paint my nails neater, but it was no miracle worker - my left-hand painting is still atrocious!

Overall, it is a very decent polish, and the packaging is beyond beautiful. But the price point is what gets me. Paying $8 is pretty pricey for a drugstore polish. Why pay that when you could pay the same for an Essie or China Glaze polish? Or pay a little extra and get an OPI polish? I don't think they brand has enough pull for people to buy just for its exclusivity just yet. The colors in the rest of the collection aren't much different from other brand either. However, I will be keeping my eye on this company - especially with Nonie Creme at the helm! There are bound to be some great things coming from this brand!

More shots of the shimmery goodness of Blue Blood below!