Review & swatches: Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect Color + Care Nail Polish

Today I'd like to show you some swatches and give you my thoughts about the Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect Color + Care Collection. I received some samples a while back, and while I realize this collection is not new, I thought that you might want to know a little bit more about it in case you've been considering a purchase.

There are eight shades in this collection and I received five for review:

Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect Color + Care Nail Polish

(retail: around $5.50 each, 0.45 oz)

From the Sally Hansen website:

This breakthrough nail color hides ridges and imperfections with a breathable porcelain-smooth finish. Enhanced with ginseng, camelia oil and lotus to promote stronger, healthier nails.

Application Tips:

• Shake gently. Apply 2-3 coats of nail color.

Benefits:

• Allows 20% more oxygen to reach nails

• Streak-free formula

• Patented formula

• 8 barely there shades

Notice how Sally Hansen suggests you apply 2-3 coats of nail color? I would definitely take this suggestion to heart (more on that in a minute). Also, as stated above, these polishes promise to hide ridges and imperfections with a "breathable porcelin-smooth finish". 

All of the following swatches were taken after three coats of polish and no top coat.

FOG:

outdoors

Fog really surprised me. I usually can't pull off stark white polishes, but this one has just a drop or two of beige to it, making it much more wearable. It also has a pretty, hidden shimmer to it that you can't really see in the bottle. It comes out much better when on the nail.

 indoors

DUNE:

 outdoors

Dune is a milky beige with, again, some hidden shimmer to it. The brush marks you see below are NOT visible in real life--they're very pronounced in extreme close-up but I honestly can't see a single brush-stroke on any of my nails with my naked eye.

 indoors

LINEN:

 outdoors

Linen looks like a milky peach in the bottle but on the nail it actually doesn't look too different than Fog. I'd say that if you have one, you probably don't need the other. This color, as well, has hidden shimmer to it that comes out when on the nail.

 indoors

AIR:

 outdoors

Air is a gorgeous pastel sky blue with (surprise surprise) hidden shimmer. This was one had some application issues though. There was a good amount of bubbling to this polish (more on that in a minute) and it's also a bit streaky.

indoors

Sorbet:

The hidden shimmer in Sorbet is so well-hidden that it really only comes out in direct sunlight. Indoors, this looks like a straight-up creme. I really wanted to like Sorbet, but I found the formula to be streaky and not as easy to work with as the other colors.

Fog, Dune, Linen, Air, Sorbet

•  As indicated on the Sally Hansen website, these polishes require 2-3 coats. Even after three coats, you'll still be able to see some visible nail line with these polishes.

• All of the polishes I received for review contain hidden shimmer. Some of the colors look like cremes in the bottle, and the shimmer only comes out when the polish is on the nail (and sometimes in direct sunlight--sometimes you can't see the shimmer at all when you're indoors).

• As for the claim that these polishes promise to hide ridges and imperfections, I'd say they do that quite well after three coats, but then again, a lot of polishes can hide ridges after three coats.

• Air and Sorbet were streaky in addition to being sheer. My favorite of the bunch is definitely Fog--it really surprised me. I normally don't go for white polishes but this one is very wearable.

• Dry time is decent on these--not excessively long but keep in mind that three coats take longer to dry than one of two. The brush that comes with these polishes is very similar (if not identical) to the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure brushes (wide, flat and tapered). I LOVE the bottles in this collection. They're perfect squares and they stack up very neatly when stored. 

Now I'd like to talk about the bubbling issue: If you look closely at my swatches above, you'll see some bubbling in just about every photo. Sometimes these polishes bubble and sometimes they don't. When I did these swatches, it was very warm and I had a fan going in the room (fans usually lead to bubbling, in my experience) so I know that contributed to the issue. However, I have applied these polishes in cooler weather and sometimes they bubble, while other times they don't. I think that it really depends on how long you wait between coats. When I'm using a "three-coater" I tend to get impatient and not wait as long between the 2nd and 3rd coat as I should. But if I take my time and apply thin coats and wait a few minutes between each coat, that seems to eliminate the bubbling. I just don't want to say, "these polishes bubble" when in fact, they only bubble for me sometimes.

FINAL VERDICT: If you don't mind applying three coats and you can pick these up on sale, they might be worth considering (if any of the shades appeal to you). Just know going into it that these are sheer colors that look their best after three coats, and you need to allow each coat to dry before applying the next (to avoid bubbling). My favorite of the bunch is Fog because, even though it's white, it has just a touch of beige in it to make it very wearable. I wouldn't recommend this collection to those of you who like to "polish and go" because they do require some extra effort and they are not "one coat and you're out the door" types of polishes. But if you're a sucker for soft, subtle colors and hidden shimmer and you don't mind taking your time with these, I'd say get them when they're on sale at the drugstore.

Do you own any Smooth and Perfect polishes? I'd love to hear your thoughts about them.

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.