For the first of the “Power to the People” reviews, I went with Bridget’s suggestion and tried one of the nail polish pens.
I’ve seen these at Target and wondered what their story was. I am, however, kind of a lazy weasel and don’t often do my own nails at home. But since I am between pedicures and I’d removed the color earlier in the week (read as: toes unacceptable to show as-is but am too busy to make an appointment), I thought this was a perfect time to try out a nail polish pen. Also, I had a doctor’s appointment that involved stirrups and I did not feel comfortable having nudie toes all out and whatnot.
Anyway, so while in Target I picked up one of the pens, specifically Nic’s Sticks by OPI. I decided on what I’d hoped what a sheer pink color (“Feeling Girly,” I believe) but was a little peeved because I was only allowed a smidgeon of area on the actual pen to tell what color is truly inside. The rest of the container is all packaging. And while the package designers may have intended for the colored label to be the indicator for what lies inside, we ALL know that colored paper is not the same as the color delivered. Anyone who’s tried to shop for lipstick by those little 1/4″ x 1/4″ color swatches near the tubes of lipstick knows this. Pfft.
-1 point for not really being able to what color you’re purchasing.
Later that morning after taking my shower and trying to figure what I was going to stuff my pregnant can into for work, I decided to take a breather, crack out the pen and see what’s what.
I struggled with removing the clear protective layer, but that’s par for the course. After I had it open, I saw the the brush was white and not yet saturated with polish. So how do I get the polish from the tube to the brush?
I tried turning it like I would some of the lip gloss pens I have. No dice. The bottom of the pen seemed “depress-able” so I pushed on it a bit. Nothing happened.
So similar to when the elevator doesn’t arrive right away, I just kept pushing to see if something would happen. After probably appearing a little manic in my pen clicking, polish did eventually start to slooowwwly reach the brush bristles.
-1 point for the absence of instructions.
Okay, so polish is on brush–toes are ready–and paint.
The color went on kind of globby (I did roll the pen between by hands to warm it up just in case it had been on the shelf awhile) so when I tried to even it out by running the brush over it again–it turned even globbier! And smeared!
-1 point for odd color distribution with brand new polish
Also, I should point out that the brush is fairly bushy. On a standard nail polish brush, the brush is long and kind of narrow–making it easier to hit the nooks and crannies of those smaller nails (especially if crouched trying to see what’s what over a pregnant belly. Just sayin’.). The Nic’s Stick brush is shorter, wider and bushier. Kind of like the Crayola crayons for kids just learning to color. Because of this I found myself using nail polish remover to clean up from where I painted outside the lines.
-1 for bushy brush.
I wanted to even out the first coat that went on globby and thick, and, well the second coat just looked like a hot mess. In the end, I removed all of the nail polish and headed to my doctor’s appointment with nudie toes.
Bottomline: I don’t recommend.
Nic’s Sticks by OPI, $7.00, available at most major retailers
Bridget
Hey thanks Kori! I won’t waste my time on this then. I’m very lazy about doing my nails. I never go for pedicures because I’m not a big fan of someone else touching my feet. So at the beginning of the summer I slap on some nail polish and every time there is a chip or I need a fresh coat I just slap another coat on. I don’t remove it until I’m sick of the color. I made it all the way to August this summer before switching (plain laziness). And once sandal season is over the nail polish is left alone to chip itself off until next summer rolls around.
OPI is such reputable name I’m surprised they would put out such a shoddy product. Thanks for the review!
:-)
September 25th, 2009 @ 10:53 am
Samantha Jo Campen
I am totally bummed this didn’t work out. You’re totally going to return that bad boy aren’t you?
September 25th, 2009 @ 3:59 pm