Playing nail polish nurse

While I was going through my nail polish drawers, I came across this little one.  My very first nail polish gone bad, Action by Essie (summer 2012 poppy-razzi limited edition).  I bought it while on vacation in the US at that time and I really can’t remember pulling it out ever since.  But seeing the shape it was in, my heart just broke.  Immediately I kicked into nurse mode determined to save my patient.

I don’t know why it went bad.  My guess is that it has to do with the formula, it is a neon polish and the formula is definitely different from other Essie polishes.

I don’t believe polishes can go bad the same way fluid make-up or skincare can.  They can become tacky or shift like this one, but when it comes to bacteria it’s a totally different story than with make-up or skincare.  So if you can solve the tackiness, you can use your polishes as long as you like.  

When my friends and colleagues hear about my nail polish problem, one of the first things they usually say is „you’ll never be able to use them all, what do you do when they go bad?” and ever so often someone will reply „when they go bad, you have to put in a few drops of nail polish remover”.  My heart always stops when I hear this and I just want to scream ‚NOOOOOO’.  You don’t have to be a scientist to see how wrong this is.  Nail polish remover dissolves nail polish, that’s what it’s made for and that’s why it does what it does.  When your nail polish gets tacky, you don’t want to dissolve it, you just want to make it thinner.  So please use the proper product for it: nail polish thinner!

I added 2 drops of the OPI Nail Polish Thinner to my Action polish and gave it some time to work it’s magic.  And it did!  An hour later, I gave it a nice shake and it was as good as new.  Oh, and before you frown your brows at me, yes you can shake your nail polish bottles.  I know this puts air in the polish which can result in little bubbles when using it, that’s why you shouldn’t be shaking it right before you put it on (it’s best to roll the bottle between two hands if you’re going to use it right away) but if you give it a little rest after shaking, no harm is done.

My first polish gone bad and my first polish I saved.  Job well done!

So while I’m at it, I might as well make a swatch of it I thought.  As soon as I put this polish on I immediately knew why I hadn’t pulled it out since buying it.  This is probably the only Essie polish ever I hate.  I can’t put it any nicer.  I hate the formula, I hate the color (I feel like it makes my hands look sick) and even after putting on 3 coats it still doesn’t give me full coverage.

And it’s an older Essie polish so it still has the smaller brush, which I’m not a big fan of.

Overall, I’m very pleased I managed to save the little one but that doesn’t mean it’ll hold a special place in my heart from now on.  It will however star in my next blogpost which will be on the blog tonight.  Stay tuned!

Where to buy:

I don't think you can still buy Action through the usual channels, but I'm sure you'll be able to find it on e-bay if you really search for it.  You should be able to find OPI nail polish thinner in the stores that sell OPI.  Currently theres a 10% discount on feelunique.com costing €16,20 instead of €18,00.