Nail Polish Lovers – Get Ready to Catch Milani Madness
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase.
New for Spring 2012 – Jewel FX and One Coat Glitter Nail Lacquer Review
photos: we heart this
We’ve caught a case of Milani Madness here at we heart this – and watch out, because it’s spreading like wildfire. In the coming days we’ll be taking a look at what this colorful, affordable line has to offer for Spring 2012. And make sure to check back this Wednesday for our Milani Spring 2012 Giveaway – it’s your chance to win 48 pieces introduced this season! Now on to the review…
These days in the enormous, wonderful world of colorful nail polishes it’s incredibly important for polish to not only have a good formula but a unique color selection. Anyone else just feel so overwhelmed looking for a “WOW” shade that is also wallet-friendly? Well thank goodness for Milani Cosmetics, a brand who chooses to aim for Color with Impact with “trend setting colors that have no boundaries”.
Mission Accomplished. In fact, we were so impressed with this line of nail colors we jumped into the video world so we could offer you a look at 25 of the new spring 2012 Milani Nail Lacquers! Just hit play to feast your eyes on the polish eye candy (while enjoying the music of Derwood Andrews, Stef’s Hub!):
Whew – that’s a lot of scrumptious shades! Aside from their normal nail lacquer and High Speed Fast dry lines (which we’ll be looking at tomorrow), there are two sparkling collections that we were oh so excited to try; One Coat Glitter and Jewel FX.
First let’s take a look at the the One Coat Glitter polishes ($4.99 each) which adds smooth bling to your plain nails or nail color. All of these applied nicely with buildable coverage to your liking. There are three new additions to this line (shown from left in the photo below).
Twinkle – a purple and blue party for your nails.
Pink Flare – pink and holographic multi-sized glitter mix that has tons of pizazz.
Lavender Fizz – a gorgeous sparkly flash of multi-sized light purple glitter. Pastel purple glitter is so chic for spring!
Pink Flare One Coat Glitter
Twinkle One Coat Glitter
Next, the most outrageous collection in the Milani polish family, the Jewel FX line (shown in the top photo). This one’s for the serious glitter fanatics out there. Milani totally stepped up their game with this new batch of Jewel FX polishes ($4.99 each) and some of these are incredibly unique.
There are five new polishes for Jewel FX:
Red Jewel FX
Red – red chunky glitter, if you put enough coats on your nails will look like Dorothy’s ruby slippers.
Lavender – a multi-sized glitter mix that would look perfect over Lavender Fizz One Coat Glitter (or Violet Dash High Speed, as seen in the photo below).
Fuchsia – multi-sized glitter which reminds me of the 80’s!
Hot Pink – pink and holographic chunky glitters that make for one really unique look.
Teal – my favorite of the bunch, it’s like a sea treasure with a fine and chunky mix of blue, green, silver and holographic glitter.
Lavender Jewel FX, shown over solid lavender
Fuchsia Jewel FX, shown over solid black
Pros:
• Extremely affordable trendy colors at just under $5 a pop!
• Available at participating drugstores including CVS, Walgreens and Target.
• DBP, Toluene & Formaldehyde Free and made in the USA!
Cons:
• Glitter nail polish removal can be a pain, ‘nuff said!
• Sometimes the formula can be runny while on the brush – watch out for drips!
Tune in tomorrow when we’ll take a look at even more eye popping polishes from Milani’s Classic Nail Lacquer and High Speed Fast Dry lines. And don’t forget to check in Wednesday for your chance to win all 25 shades seen in the video – and 23 additional Milani goodies!
we heartsters and reviewers – are you feeling the heat? Tell us which nail colors are causing you a case of Milani Madness!
Disclosure: This review includes products that were provided by the manufacturer/PR firm for our consideration. For more info, or any questions, please see our disclosure policy.
I got to rock Fuschia and @mandabear is right, it’s totally 80’s! The glitter is FULL of itty-bitty glitter as well as large circular glitter, both in a really vivid fuschia. I think it looks best layered over color, ESPECIALLY black as shown in the swatch, but even when I wore it by itself it still was very pretty and sparkly.
The formula isn’t too thick, so there’s not a terrible amount of coaxing you have to do to get the glitter to lay straight – a HUGE plus for me and my glitter obsession. (Trying to get chunky glitter to lay right is the BANE of many a nail polish fiend…) I know it’s listed as a con and can be annoying, but I think the runnier formula will end up being a pro in the long run; as the polish gets older and dries out, you’ll still have a smooth consistency rather than the thick gloppiness that happens with other glitters.
Also! Glitters SUCK at removal, but if you use the foil method (soak a half a pad in remover, apply to nails, wrap in foil and then wait a minute or two) the polish slides right off. It doesn’t solve all the issues of removing glitter, but at least you’re not scrubbing with a cotton ball for ten minutes at a time! :-)
The only real con on my end I can think of it if you want a more subtle glitter, you’re gonna have to look elsewhere. (Pink Flare? Which I want SO bad right now…) This is GLITTER and even one cost will be BAM! on your nails. :-)
Five stars from me!!! Yay Milani!!!
I agree about the runny polish too :) It is just the formula, which isn’t a bad thing but I dripped nail polish on my pajamas a couple times (okay, okay I admit I was swatching these on my bed. My fault!:)). Yes! The foil method totally works and requires a bit of time, patience and silly foil fingers but it’s worth it.
I got to play with Jewel Fx Teal and Lavender Fizz One-Coat! The Teal is gorgeous and totally plays on my obsession with mermaids, it reminds me of what mermaids would wear on their nails. Love the chunky glitter but a downfall I found was that it peeled off my nail a little too easily. This can be fixed by wearing a color underneath though.
I love the Lavender Fizz One-Coat as well, though I like it more with 2 coats so it gets really saturated with glitter. I’ve been wearing this on my toes for more than 2 weeks and have only had to touch up once.
I give these 4 stars just because of the peeling, but otherwise great inexpensive glitter polish!
I was so giddy about Teal! It looks so much more high end and unique than it actually costs. The best part is that you can layer with your already existing nail collection and make tons of new combos :)
I just had to give these nail polishes a whopping 5! They are as good as they get for the price range and I think there are some real gems (no pun intended!) that would put the Dupe Police to shame! And as @lyssachelle mentioned, the foil method always works flawlessly, it just takes a bit more of your time but totally worth it :)
When it comes to glitter, I turn into a twelve year old. The more, the bigger, the brighter, the better! Lucky me, I got to test two shades of Jewel FX: Hot Pink and Teal. The former has true chunks of holographic glitter in shades of pink, silver, and a mysterious iridescent purple-blue. I would call it my favorite glitter polish of all time, except I also tested Teal.
“Sea treasure” the is perfect description, @mandabear ! I layered Teal over silver polish and swooned. I will be rocking this beautiful mermaid glitter on my toes all summer long.
Yes, with glitter this big and dense, they’re both a pain to take off, but who cares? They’re gorgeous! Milani, I’m falling in love with you. 5 stars.
Forgot to add that I love the video and the song!
I agree @turboterp, the video is awesome!
I got to play with Jewel FX in Red and Lavender and I LOVE ’em! Red is purely large chunk glitter and used correctly can give a great stardust-esque mani. Lavender is a mix of large and small glitter, which strangely enough makes for a thinner formula and therefore more likely to drip. I think I prefer Red to Lavender as the single sized glitter can look a little cleaner, but both shades are beautiful!
I use the foil method to remove glitter polishes, and the single size is (weirdly enough) easier to remove than the multi size, but all in all it’s not *that* much more difficult than a normal polish. Milani is a great and affordable company with some killer bargain products this spring! 5 Stars from me, all the way!
@mandaleem I know, one wouldn’t think the more severe glitter would be easier to remove right? :) I loved the red but I totally drooled over Lavender though!
Actually, I really love glitter nail polishes and even my daughter wants something like that too…Looks really fabulous!
Your daughter will LOVE these! I think that they are already part of Milani’s core nail polish display in some drugstores already so they should be really easy to find!
I tested out Lavender Fizz on my toes and loved it! At first, I was hesitant I would look like one of my 9th grade students with it being purple glitter and all, but it looked so cool on my feet and will be a fun color for spring and summer. The polish goes on great and most important for me was that it stayed put. I also was very impressed with the one coat formula. It does take a little effort to get off but it’s worth it! Can’t beat the price either so I think it’s definitely a five star glitter polish!
@spitfire77 Lavender Fizz is sooo gorgeous. I haven’t thought to make a pedicure out of it. You sound like a cool teacher!
I was happy to finally get to try some of this Glittery stuff from Milani! I admit that I was not excited about it at first.. I think of my nieces first and know that they would just about flip over this! However, it really does look super cool on my hands, is long-lasting and seems not to chip even on my non lady like hands.. I’m in the garden digging all weekend! I loved this polish as I look at the colors reflecting the sun off of them today. Here’s what I did. I apply a base coat first and then added NAIL LACQUER-Orchidia. It is a lovey light purple with pleanty of its own shimmer.. Then added some glitter over it.. I put on SPECIALTY NAIL LACQUER ONE COAT GLITTER-in Pink Flare. I can see wearing this all on its own. I love this pink and this is going on my toes next visit to the salon! I asked my husband what he thought of my nails.. He said.. “It looks like a good color for a child’s bike”… Good gravy, men!
For under $5.00 bucks, I cannot help but give it 5 stars!
@irene that combination sounds so girly and amazing, I will have to try that soon :)
I tested out the One-Coat Glitter Polish in Twinkle (blue/purple medium sized glitter). It’s really a fun shade, but I was expecting a little more coverage from a polish that says “one coat.” They do have more glitter than most glitter polishes, making it easier to quickly build up to super-sparkle amounts of opaque glitter, and it’s easy to apply. I also love how inexpensive it is, and how many different colors there are! I also had a bit of a problem with peeling. I’m giving these four stars :)
First off, awesome music for that video, Mrs Andrews! Second, this was the most fun I”ve had with polish in ages. My toes have experienced more glitter these past few weeks than Studio 54 in its heyday. @irene, I used that same base color (Orchidia) with the lavender glitter. The monotone sparkle was gorgeous. Sail Away is a much more subtle, blue glitter that also looks great with the hugely chunky Lavender glitter. Of course Sail Away is pretty all on its own…Then again Twinkle, big glitter (but still shy of Lavender’s super-chunk size) in purple and cobalt stirs Sail Away up a notch. It looks great as a layering glitter on everything in those color families.
These dry relatively quickly. They also peel rather than chip…I’ve peeled entire nails. Some glitters can be hard to remove but not these.
I can’t wait to wear these at the beach, they’ll reflect those rays so prettily. I can’t think what Milani would have to do to make these 5 stars, so…5 stars from me!
I got to test out the Hot Pink Jewel FX—this is made up of chunks of iridescent silver and dark hot pink glitter chunks–once applied, they look like sparkly polka dots almost. I found that this looked fun layered on top of silver nail polish–the end result was girly, sparkly nails that are perfect for a day at the beach or just when you’re feeling fancy. I will say, the end result may be a little much for most work places or for everyday wear, but if you’re looking for a little oomph, these fit the bill. I found that two coats of this jewel polish gave me the most even dispersal of glitter dots. I found that I was shedding “dots” until I layered a clear top coat on top, so I highly recommend the top coat. Overall, this polish is fun and I’ve gotta give it 5 stars for cuteness.
@stef -Cool video and love the song!
This polish is so much fun! I did find that it needed a solid two coats. (I have not met a nail polish yet that actually delivers on the one coat promise.)
Four stars for being accessible, priced right and good pigment.
I can’t wait to try the one coat glitter polish. It looks gorgeous! But I was very lucky to get to try the Jewel FX line in Red. OMG! This stuff packs a punch! It really does look like Dorothy’s Red Slippers. I love that!!! It is super fun! But yes, glitter polish is a huge pain to remove. But I will be trying the technique that you ladies described here. It sounds much easier. And I am totally going to try this over black. What a genius idea!! This is not every day polish. But it sure is special and deserves 5 stars!!
I’m loving Pink Flare! So fun.
Well, I’m going to take back that “easy-to-remove” statement. I was literally peeling the glitter, them removing the polish from underneath and this was working super easy. Today, I tried removing in this fashion–I’m not sure if I applied some of the glitter before the polish dried or what but I practically needed a sand blaster to get it off one of my big toes. This doesn’t change my star rating, but do be careful with that!
@Sherrishera that’s funny.. I was biting mine off (not my toes) in whole pieces last night, as it seemed to work better then remover! The Sand Blaster was unavailable! I still love the polish too.
omg @irene – thanks for the visual of you biting the glitter polish off your toes! So funny!
While I’m not a glitter polish wearer, my 6 year old definitely is. She stole my bottle of Pink Flare the moment she saw it and begged me to paint her nails. Love the big chunks of glitter. This polish is super sparkly and perfect for her adorable little toes. Great staying power too! 4 stars
Haha @tiffany! I just put my Pink Flare on my three year-old’s nails! I have to wait to test it until my shellac polish comes off this week, but as soon as my daughter saw it, she too was begging for the “glitta poleesh!” I’m loving the long stay on her nails, since typical kid polish I’ve used on her (we just started this phase though a couple weeks ago) starts peeling off within an hour of application. And this is pretty quick drying too – which is good for those little hands that just can’t keep still. So five stars for my little one! But I’ll do my official star rating when I can test it myself!
Perfect glitter for the little ones isn’t it Mel. Love that it is pretty light color and does dry super fast. She was showing off her toes to everyone on Easter.