Have you missed us? Things are busy this time of year, so please bear with us as with try to balance blogging life with the rest of our lives!
So, it's the holiday season--time for me to bring out my red polish! Okay, I'm not going to lie, I've been in a red polish mood ever since I put on Cult Nails Clairvoyant for a Mystery Mani Monday a couple of weeks ago. Today, I wanted to show you something a little different--it's Scotch Naturals Troya, a warm red. So what's different about it? Well, Scotch Naturals is a water-based polish line. It applies differently from the polishes you're used to--you know how you typically want your nail surface to be as clean as possible before painting (I go over them with Zoya Remove+ before applying polish)? Well, when using a water-based polish, nails need to have plenty of moisture (think oil) in them for this polish to adhere properly, so Scotch recommends buffing oil into the nails first. Do NOT strip them with remover before polishing. Also, although Scotch Naturals polish dries quickly to the touch, it must cure overnight and the nails must be kept out of water until the polish cures.
I found this polish applied somewhat unevenly, and dried somewhat matte, similar to the look of watercolor paints. For shine, I topped Troya with Scotch Naturals On the Rocks Top Coat. The finished look was a gorgeous tomato-red.
But how would it wear on my notoriously dry nails? I'd tried a different color of Scotch Naturals on my wretchedly dry toenails before, and the next day, it came off in my yoga class. My yoga mat was so covered in shards of polish, that I had it sticking to my skin and in my hair. Not pretty. So how would Scotch Naturals wear on my fingernails? I'll let you be the judge; here's Troya the next morning--after less than 12 hours of wear. I hadn't even left the house yet!
Water-based polish cannot be removed with regular polish remover. One option is to buy Sotch Naturals Soy Polish Remover. Another is to use rubbing alcohol, which is what I did, after soaking my nails in warm water, which makes the removal of water-based polishes easier.
I've heard of other folks having much better success with Scotch Naturals, and I believe if I kept using these polishes consistently, my nails would become less dry and water-based polish would consequently adhere better. But I don't have the patience for that, so I'll stick with traditional polishes. However, if you're truly looking for the most natural polish possible, you might want to try Scotch Naturals. At $14.99 per bottle, however, you'd have to be truly dedicated to natural alternatives. If so, you can purchase Scotch Naturals by visiting their web site, or you can visit their web site to search for retailers near you.
A final note: Scotch Naturals also has a children's polish line, called Hopscotch.
I hope you've found this post informative! Until next time, sending you lab love!
Allison
That colour is so pretty! Too bad it doesn't work so well for those with dry hands/nails. It's definitely not for me then! I had actually just been wondering about this brand, as I found it through some random searching on another retailer's site. Thanks for clearing up some of my questions!
ReplyDeleteRach--I'm glad this post helped you clear up questions! I really, really wanted this polish to work well for me--and it does for some!--but alas, it's a no go for this dry-nailed girl.
ReplyDeleteGlad you see you back!! This color is gorgeous on you, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't mesh well with my dry skin/nails.
ReplyDeleteDon't count us out just yet! For those of you with dry nails, Scotch Naturals base coat helps make the transition to healthier nails much easier. Customers have reported that the base coat extended the durability of the polish by several days. Allison we greatly appreciate your review and would love to send you a base coat to try. Shoot me an e-mail with your address and I will drop one in the mail for you!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
CJ Dearinger
cjv@scotchnaturals.com
Jodi, we'll see what happens when I use their TC! Hopefully, I'll have more success. I hope so because Scotch Naturals makes some gorgeous colors!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous from Scotch--I'd love to do a follow-up post to this one comparing longevity of your polish on my nails with and without your base coat. I'll be in touch. ;-)
Yeah, exactly what Fingers said. Base coat or not, I won't be buying either.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see what the base coat does . . . but one thing I really dislike is having to let my nails cure for hours. I really don't want to paint my nails right before going to bed!
ReplyDeleteI have very dry winter hands. I use Scotch with the base and top coat and follow the buffing step, and I find that it actually lasts longer than regular polish on me. Less chipping and I can easily keep it on and looking pretty good for a week and a half - if I get the amount of chipping in the picture it's after a week or so. Scotch seems to be slower to chip and faster to wear on the very tip (which is not too obvious). I've tested it without the base coat or top coat and using both really does make a difference...and when I'm done I can peel the polish off, which is pretty fun. :)
ReplyDeleteI was a little leery of painting my nails right before bed, because when I would do that with normal nail polish I'd always get those weird pillowcase imprint marks if they weren't perfectly dry. I don't find that to be the case with this stuff; I've painted them maybe 30 minutes before bed and had no damage at all. It seems to harden surprisingly quickly (faster than regular nail polish IMO); my understanding is that you just shouldn't get them in contact with a lot of water for a few hours. That said, I've had to gently wash my hands after painting my nails a few times with no problem; I just wouldn't want to shower or wash dishes for a few hours afterward. I expected this polish to be really delicate but I would agree that the base coat makes a big difference. I'm actually really impressed with it and have a lot of fun switching up my nails without dealing with fumes.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for a great review.
ReplyDelete