Several readers have mentioned the Victoria, Victoria Beckham x Nails Inc. polishes to me over the past few months. Nails Inc. is a nail polish line that has been on my radar for quite some time but I tend to get distracted while in Sephora and usually forget to swatch and play with items in store. I ordered the Victoria, Victoria Beckham for Nails Inc. Duo Collection ($45 for 2 full-sized polishes, each 14 ml/0.47 fl oz, Made in France) online from Sephora. Both are available for purchase individually as well, but the duo is offered at a slight discount and also comes in a beautiful white box.
The two colors in the Victoria Beckham x Nails Inc. are called Bamboo White and Judo Red. Both are glossy lush creams that offer full opaque coverage with two coats. The first coat did not cover the nail entirely but was still relatively smooth, the pigment was just a bit streaky. Adding a second coat resulted in a rich opaque color for both shades. In addition to testing out the polishes for the first time, I also picked up the Kensington Caviar Base Coat and Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat. I have been running low on my current go-to’s from Deborah Lippmann, Chanel and Rescue Beauty Lounge and since the Base/Top Coat from Nails Inc. have impressive reviews and high ratings I decided to try both.
Bamboo White is more of a powder pink on me. Even though it’s pale, it’s a stretch to call this one white. The color is quite lovely on the nails and flatters the skin tone nicely. It’s not too powdery in color like some pale pinks can be. Lasting power with the Nails Inc. Base + Top Coat was impressive. The top coat did indeed dry in 45 seconds although I did let the color dry for a couple minutes in between coats and about 5 minutes after the second coat. My manicure lasted 5 days before I started to see any tip wear. There was no flaking, chipping or peeling. The brush is on the medium to large side but slightly tapered making it easy to apply near the nail beds.
With two coats:
Judo Red is a warm orangey tomato red. On me the orange tones are visible enough that it looks like the perfect mix of orange and red. It reminds me of Chanel Holiday but with more opaque coverage and less of a jelly finish. I have this on the toes right now and it has held up really well over the past week. On the hands it’s pretty vibrant brightening color. Here it is with two coats:
I’m in the middle of working on major closet/makeup/storage reorganization so I didn’t have time to pull out polishes for comparisons. Several others have asked for my thoughts on these commenting they did not know if these were worth the purchase since the colors look so dupable. I agree with their assessment in the sense that these aren’t the most unique colors, you can definitely find others that are similar. I do think that the formula is impressive (and I have extremely high expectations when it comes to nail polish). Pale pinks are almost always hard for me to give a thumbs up to because I find the formulas streaky or colors too white in color. I did expect Bamboo White to be more of a white/cream color instead of pink – but the formula and coverage is really good so I am giving it a thumbs up.
I’ll be playing more with the Nails Inc. Base and Top Coats over the next few weeks to see how they work with other brands and give an updated review next month. So far I’m very impressed. I hope it’s compatible with other brands of polish because the wear on these manicures was crazy good.
Bottom line, if you’re looking for polished classic creams that have extremely good wear and long lasting power, the Victoria, Victoria Beckham x Nails Inc. Duo is worth a look. The formula and application are flawless. However if you’re looking for unique colors, you may want to pass.
I bought my polishes from Sephora. The collection is also available online at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue (Saks promo online for a full-sized Brick Red polish with a $35+ order use code NAILS2 at checkout, while supplies last) and Nails Inc.
Have you tried anything from Nails Inc. before? What are your favorites?
