Review & Swatches: Fing'rs Heart 2 Art Nail Colors

Purchased by Me 

I know that the Fing'rs posts have been a little bit heavy this week, but there's a reason for that! I have heard from some of you that the new Heart 2 Art display that's currently popping up at Walmart is starting to get wiped out (not by the store, but by shoppers who are buying things!) so I'm trying to get everything I purchased reviewed ASAP, while you can still find these products in the display.

That said, here's my review of the four nail polishes I purchased:

 Fing'rs Heart 2 Art Nail Colors

Star Crossed Lovers, Teal We Meet Again, Black Tie Event, Set in Rhine-Stone

(retail: $1.68 each, 0.29 oz)

First and foremost, don't let the bottle shape lead you to believe that these are striping polishes. These polishes contain a standard polish brush, NOT a striping brush:

The brush is a bit long, loose and floppy for my taste, but it's still workable. I did find a few stray, bent bristles on a few of these brushes but nothing ridiculously wonky.

Let's start with Black Tie Event:

Macro shot of Black Tie Event

Two coats of Black Tie Event followed by two coats of Gelous base coat and two coats of Essie Good To Go Top Coat:

Black Tie Event is a black jelly-creme with tons and tons of metallic gold glitter shards. I don't have anything like this in my stash, so I was quite excited to get it.

Application was challenging because there are SO many shards in this polish. Trying to get them to lie down flatly on the nail is the biggest challenge, but you won't have a problem with getting the shards onto your brush--you'll probably find that too many shards are on your brush and you'll need to wipe some off on the edge of the bottle.

I had to use two coats of Gelous base coat followed by two coats of Essie Good To Go top coat in order to get this polish smooth to the touch (I tried using Seche Vite instead of Essie on my first go-around and it wasn't thick enough). Even after applying Gelous and Essie, I could still feel one or two little sharp points on a few fingers, but for the most part is was pretty smooth. Oh, and be warned that there are some HUGE shards lurking in this bottle! I encountered one shard in particular that was pretty much the length of my entire pinky nail!

Here's an intentionally over-exposed photo so that you can better see how many shards are on my nails after two coats:

Unless you really love the idea of metallic gold shards in a black base, I would say this one is a little too high-maintenance for most of us. It's a goopy formula with tons of shards and it might try your patience if you're a person who like to paint and go in a hurry. Also, unless you're ok with a bumpy texture with little sharp bits sticking out, you'll need to have even more patience applying several layers of base/top coat afterward to get this smooth to the touch.

Next up: Set in Rhine-Stone:

Macro shot of Set in Rhine-Stone

Two coats of Set in Rhine-Stone followed by one coat of clear top coat:

Set in Rhine-Stone is a gray creme with tiny silver hex glitter and even tinier silver hex glitter. This polish was much easier to work with than Black Tie Event, but it did have its issues. Due to the length of the brush stem, you'll find that you have A LOT of polish on your brush, even after you wipe it down. Polish drips from the top of the stem down to the brush during application, so even if you wipe your brush to almost nothing, you might see a big glob of polish suddenly appear on your brush in the middle of application.

This polish is a bit on the thick side but it's not unworkable. You just really need to watch how much polish is on your brush or you'll end up with a big, goopy mess during application.

Dry time was decent for both coats, but this one dries a little bumpy due to the glitter. That's why I showed it to you after a layer of top coat--it just looks SO much better after you apply top coat!

Next up, Teal We Meet Again:

(two coats followed by one layer of top coat)

No issues at all with this one. It's a lovely teal jelly-creme and it looks quite "squishy" after top coat.  Without top coat, this polish dries to a semi-matte finish, which is why I'm showing it to you with top coat. You know I love my teal cremes and this is a really beautiful one (especially for under two bucks!).  Dry time was excellent on both coats and this polish did not stain my nails or cuticles after removal.

And finally we have Star Crossed Lovers:

Macro shot of Star Crossed Lovers

One coat of Star Crossed Lovers over Teal We Meet Again:

Yes, I know that my middle finger in these swatches is one big, goopy mess. But I left it that way on purpose to illustrate a point (more on that in a bit).

First of all, this layering polish contains blue and holographic stars and small iridescent hex glitter in a clear base. I own a lot of star glitter polishes, and I have to say that this is the easiest one to "go fishing" with of my entire collection. You can swirl the brush in the bottle and come up with at least 3-4 stars on your brush every time. No frustrating fishing sessions where you end up with zero stars on your brush after ten attempts in a row.

On the negative side, the clear base is quite thick and goopy (see my middle finger in these photos) and because you have to dab the stars where you want them, you can also end up depositing a lot of that clear base onto your nails. If you're not careful, you'll get what you see in my pics. My best advice is to get the stars on your brush, and then gently wipe down the rest of the brush as best you can on the lip of the bottle. Otherwise, you'll end up with lots of goop that will take forever to dry.

FINAL VERDICT: If you're looking for inexpensive, low-maintenance polishes, I would probably stick with the colors in this collection that are like Teal We Meet Again. Teal We Meet Again dries quickly and the formula is a breeze to work with, while the other three polishes I purchased all have their quirks and some may test your patience. However, for under $2 a pop, they're still fun and not a huge commitment if you don't already have any similar polishes in your stash. I don't regret any of my purchases, but my two favorites, by far, are Set in Rhine-Stone and Teal We Meet Again. I love the abundance of stars in Star Crossed Lovers but you have to spend some time wiping down your brush and strategically placing the glitter on your nails. Black Tie Event is high-maintenance all the way around, but it's stunning on the nails (especially in person). All in all, I think these are nicely priced for what you get, and an easy way to experiment without breaking the bank.

Do you own any polishes from the Fing'rs Heart 2 Art Collection? I'd love to hear what you think of them! Oh, and don't forget that there are a few Deborah Lippmann dupes in this collection as well (scroll to the bottom of this post for details).

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.