Revlon Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel

I don't think that I've bought drugstore nail polish in ages.  I first saw these at Superstore and was kind of interested but didn't pick them up at the time.  But then my girlfriend bought a few colours that weekend and she wore them.  She wore that colour all week and no chipping, no nothing.  Well, nothing but regular nail growth.  She also has a 2 year old, so she's very active and was able to really test out the polish.  I was completely amazed.

They are supposed to be "gel" based, but not like full on gel nail polish like gelish or CND where you need to cure it.  This just air dries like regular polish and applies like regular polish.  They also advertise it to last 11 days, but that doesn't really mean much.  I mean, I could make my other polishes last 11 days too, but they'll be awful looking.


My first impression of this product was that this STINKS - literally!  I normally don't mind the smell of nail polish, but this stuff gave me a headache.  Imagine, you have the base coat, two colour coats and then the top coat.  YIPES!  


Second, it's really a thick formula.  But that's the beauty of this particular formula.  You normally only need the one thick coat.  It does spread well for such a thick product, but be careful, if it's too thick, then it'll kind of cause bumps on your nail surface.  Not air bubbles but actual bumps. I also found it a little slow drying.  I had to make sure I gave it a little time in between coats, otherwise it would "smudge".  Weird thing is, it didn't smudge like regular nail polishes.  As it dries (and it must be something with the formula),  it creates a weird skin.  It's like the skin that occurs when you let hot milk sit out for a little bit and it forms that weird layer of skin.  You can smooth it back out without having to redo the whole nail, but for myself, I can see the "smudge".  The look of the application looks very much like gelish - where you can see (if you look closely) each and every layer.  Well, at least for myself - the nail polish beginner!

I purchased mine from Wal-Mart for $7.49 each.  I don't know if you can use other base coats and top coats.  I'm assuming that you can, but it may not be as effective.  I put on the base coats, two colour coats and then the top coat.  I have this other top coat that my friend bought this for me from Lebanon (it's this really awesome thick 10 second drying top coat that smells similar to these polishes) that I add on top of the top coat just so I don't have to sit there and wait for the polish to dry and set.

Overall impression: I like them.  I like them a lot.  Mine has lasted me for a week already, whereas with regular polishes, they are usually only good for a couple of days before they start chipping and etc.  This is perfect for people like me, who like the finish and look of nice nails, but are really lazy to try and keep them in good shape (i.e., touch ups, changing polishes and etc).  The polish is a little harder to remove.


There isn't much in the way of selection, there's about 32 colours on the website, but most of the stores seems to only carry about 15 of them.  The colour ranges anywhere between summer brights and muted fall shades.  If you check out the Canadian website, it doesn't even list this product, but if you go the it's American counterpart, it will list all the colours available.

From Left to Right: Wild Strawberry, Marmalade, Stormy Night, Top Coat, Red Carpet, Midnight, Bold Sangria, Blue Slate, Base Coat, Stiletto and Passionate Pink.

The same girlfriend is heading to the states in a few months so I'm going to see if she can get me a few more colours because they have this beautiful light yellow colour and this gorgeous mauve-y purple.  YAY for long wear polishes that actually wear for long periods of time!!!