Review: Nanacoco Nail Polish in Fly To The Galaxy (new affordable nail polish brand)

Purchased by Me

Have you heard of the brand Nanacoco? Well don't feel bad if you haven't, because it's new to me too! After doing some research, I discovered that Nanacoco (a division of Annie Inc.) has only been around for about a year. Judy over at Beauty Judy saw this brand at Cosmoprof this year and you can see her coverage of the different collections Nanacoco has to offer here.

For those new to Nanacoco, I found all of their various collections at a local indie (aka: mom & pop) beauty supply here in San Diego. These polishes retail for $1.99 (actually, I've heard that some people have found them for $0.99 at their local beauty supplies, so prices may vary) and they're also available online at Amazon and various beauty supply etailers.

I ended up buying several Nanacoco glitter polishes and posted some sneak-peek bottle shots of them last week on my Instagram. I'll of course be swatching those soon, but today I want to show you Fly To The Galaxy, which is the scattered holo I purchased (this is from Nanacoco's Classic Color Collection line, which is their core polish line).

Nanacoco Nail Polish in Fly To The Galaxy

(retail: $1.99, 0.5 oz)

I actually don't have a navy blue scattered holo in my collection, so I was happy to find this one for two bucks. For me, linear holos are more fun to look at on the nail, but I do appreciate a nice scattered holo every once in a while!

Due to the dark color of this polish and the fact that the label is printed in black ink, I could not photograph (or even read) the ingredients on Fly To The Galaxy. So I did the next best thing and photographed one of my Nanacoco glitter polishes. I know the ingredients probably aren't identical but it's something:

This polish requires three coats for good opacity but at two coats, it has more of a jelly quality to it, and the color is more of a cornflower blue (as opposed to the navy blue you get at three coats). You can see the cornflower blue jelly-like finish on the brush below:

The brush is flat and wide, but not super wide.

And here's what Fly To The Galaxy looks like after three coats (plus top coat):

And here' a shot taken in lower light:

I had some issues with this polish. First of all, it's one of those inexpensive beauty-supply-only polishes that is a bit thick and goopy, takes forever to dry, and also has a strong, unpleasant scent to it. In fact, the entire time I was using it, I thought, "Is this a Kleancolor polish?" because it has the exact same characteristics of several Kleancolor polishes I own, right down to the scent (I actually get used to the scent after a while, but I know that many of you cannot stand it).

That's not to say I hate this polish...it just takes some patience, and you have to get past the scent and the long dry-time. I'm afraid that even quick-dry top coat can't cut the dry-time down much, unless you apply VERY thin coats of this polish and allow about ten minutes of dry-time in between coats.

My philosophy with Kleancolor, and now with Nanacoco, is that their polishes are only worth a purchase if a shade is truly unique and something you find absolutely stunning (like my favorite glitter topper of all time by Kleancolor). Otherwise, they're just not worth the hassle, in my humble opinion, despite the friendly price-tag.

FINAL VERDICT: If you encounter the Nanacoco display in your area and you don't already have a navy blue scattered holo (and you want one), I would consider a purchase IF and only if you're OK with a strong scent and thick formula that takes a long time to dry. Otherwise, there are lots of navy blue holos out there that probably perform better than this one (L.A. Girl Brilliant Blue comes to mind). 

Please check back soon for my Nanacoco glitter polish swatches...hopefully those will perform a bit better for me!

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