For years now, I've been hearing about Morgan Taylor polishes, and I've probably seen about a zillion swatches of those polishes on all of my favorite nail blogs. But it wasn't until Ulta started carrying the brand that I found myself making a purchase. A while back when I needed just one more thing to get me to free shipping on my Ulta order (we all know how that goes) I decided to purchase the shade Gotta Have Hue. My very first Morgan Taylor polish!
If you're new to Morgan Taylor, these polishes are made by the same company that makes Gelish Soak-Off Gel Nail Polishes. You can now purchase Morgan Taylor polishes and treatments at Ulta where they are NOT excluded from Ulta coupons.
Morgan Taylor Nail Lacquer in Gotta Have Hue
(retail: $9 at Ulta, 0.5 oz.)
From the Ulta website:
- Morgan Taylor Professional Nail Lacquer is inspired by luminous pearls, raw gems, semi-precious stones, glimmering silvers and radiant gold all drawn from the earth. The exclusive Morgan Taylor Nail Lacquer is infused with rare and precious elements.
- All pigments are saturated, pure and finely milled for luminous metallics, never before seen shimmers, decadent crèmes, stunning sheers and more glistening glitters.
- The payoff - smooth, even, long-lasting color with a gorgeous professional finish.
- In Morgan Taylor's commitment to the professional and as a worldwide leader in the nail industry, they recognize the importance of a globally compliant nail lacquer that is free of formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP.
The brush on this polish is very cleanly cut, and the shape is flat (as opposed to round) but it's not one of those super-wide brushes. It's pretty standard.
Two coats, no top coat
It was difficult for me to decide which shade to buy for my first Morgan Taylor, but I ultimately went with Gotta Have Hue because I have a soft spot for teal cremes. And this is a lovely one. True to the description, this polish is super saturated with tons of pigment. My photo doesn't do this one justice because, first of all, my camera doesn't play nicely with teals and the color always goes a bit wonky. Second, I just couldn't capture how vivid and saturated this color is to the naked eye. It looks like a million bucks in person. I have quite a few teal cremes in my stash, so it takes something special to really get me oooh-ing and aaaah-ing. This one does just that. It's the perfect mixture of blue and green, although in person it pulls a tiny bit more green than what I'm seeing on my monitor (which I LOVE). I'm telling you, this color is a knockout in person.
As for application, this polish flows beautifully onto the nail, and the formula is right in the middle between thick and thin. It has great opacity and it's almost a one-coater but not quite. There's a teeny bit of streakiness after one coat, so I definitely suggest applying two. But you certainly won't need more than two.
Dry time was the only thing that wasn't perfect with this polish. For me, one coat dries quickly and thoroughly. But two coats is a different story. Six hours after application, I could still make slight dents in this polish after two coats. So I would definitely suggest using a thicker quick-dry top coat like Seche Vite, etc., just to lock everything into place.
This polish has a beautiful, shiny finish, which of course gets even more shiny with top coat. Staying power was quite good for me as well. After two coats, it took about three days for me to see any tip wear (no top coat or base coat) and I didn't get any actual chips until day five. I do a lot of typing, so this was impressive for me--especially without base or top coat.
Removal was easy as well, and no staining! I did have some polish that clung to my cuticles during removal, but that is often the case with teals, blues, and greens. If you're wearing blue, green, or teal polish, I always suggest using a base coat first, for easier removal (I skipped base coat because I wanted to see how this polish performed on its own). I used my Beauty Secrets Acetone Remover (love that stuff) to remove this polish and it worked like charm.
FINAL VERDICT: Is this polish worth $9? Well that really depends on if you find a shade in the range that speaks to you. I don't regret paying full-price for this one because I am obsessed with the color, but I think that I would probably wait for a good sale at Ulta and stack it with an Ulta coupon before I purchase additional shades. I feel that unless it's one of those "Wow, I MUST have this color and I simply cannot leave this store without it" polishes, $9 is a bit steep. I also wasn't completely impressed with the dry-time after two coats (but that can be easily remedied with some quick-dry top coat). I AM impressed with the wear-time though, and the application. In my opinion, I think this is certainly a brand to check out the next time you're at Ulta, or to consider if you need to an add item to your cart to get free shipping. And if you're looking for a rich, vivid, saturated teal, this is certainly one to remember. I can't wait to wear this on my toes this summer.
Do you own any Morgan Taylor nail polishes? If so, which shades do you own? Would you recommend them?
The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.
Pretty! I love teal and I LOVE MT polishes, especially their glitters, they are so glitter-dense and pigmented I'm spoiled :) Some of my favs are New York State of Mind, Midnight Rendezvous and Under the Stars (both perfect undies for galaxy nail art!), Its My Party, Sapphires, Rubies and Emeralds Oh My!, If the Shoe Fits (Cinderella collex), and All the Right Moves. Most of these I picked up on Ebay since they are older shades but still, I haven't met one I haven't liked yet so I definitely recommend :) I always check out their offerings each season.
ReplyDeleteI love my Morgan Taylors. I have picked them up from Amazon for less than $9. My fave shades are Anime-zing Color and Making Waves.
ReplyDeleteLike the other ladies who have commented, the few Of this brand that I have, I've picked up online...I've been meaning to get some of the Cinderella ones....
ReplyDeleteI have a few Morgan Taylor in my collection. I do like the way they perform. My sister is a hair stylist and she picked them up at Cosmoprof for me. It's been a Little while so I don't remember how much they were.
ReplyDeleteI have Party at The Palace from their Cinderella collection last year, it is gorgeous. It's a pale blue/green, depending on the light you're in, with a gold shimmer, and worth every penny. I had no idea Ulta sold them now, will have to stop by and check mine.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking how beautiful this color was but was sure it would stain. Now that you say it doesn't ...
ReplyDeleteI love how comprehensive your reviews are! Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteOne caveat: they are not excluded from Ulta coupons *if* there is no white colored price sticker on it. I found some Morgan Taylor's (not limited edition colors) on the racks where they keep the odds & ends and leftovers from (salon polish) collections. It had a white colored price sticker- $9, which is the normal cost. However, when I went to use the $3.50 off $15 coupon, the register refused to accept it because white price sticker merchandise is excluded. So between this and upping the coupon spending limit, Ulta's getting a bit stingy...
ReplyDeleteOoh, not to overlook the actual polish (which looks lovely, btw and your review is great, as always. I haven't tried Morgan Taylor yet myself), I am very curious about the Beauty Secrets Acetone. Is it really "nourishing?" I have a remover I LOVE, but it is hard for me to obtain. It's Dollar General brand and it's green. I'm not sure actually what it's called, but it's nourishing too, and it actually does moisturize my nails (moisturize might be too strong of a word. It mostly just doesn't leave my nails overly dry. I think it's a dupe of a Cutex product, but I don't like the Cutex as much. There isn't a DG that's convenient to where I live, so I buy all the green acetone they have when I go visit my parents. If the Beauty Secrets stuff is actually somewhat moisturizing, I am in. I would love to have an easy source for decent, nourishing acetone. In a sort of related note, I found empty nail polish remover pump bottles (the kind with the circular thing on top that you push down, and liquid comes up through the middle) at Dollar Tree recently. I suppose you could use them for other liquids you easily want to pump onto a cotton round too, like toner or micellar water. I had always wanted to try this kind of bottle for NP remover, but had never seen empty ones and didn't want to buy an expensive remover just for the bottle. It was a great purchase! I love how it works and it is nice and sturdy. It really makes using acetone easier for me.
ReplyDeleteHey Brooke! I was planning on responding to all of the comments here later tonight (it's been a busy week and I'm a bit behind) but just in case you were in a hurry to get a new remover, let me tell respond to your question now.
DeleteThe Beauty Secrets Acetone IS nourishing (well in the sense that it's not drying at all)! And it also smells nice (it's scented with sort of a floral fragrance). This is the pink bottle (the one linked in my post; I have not tried the other versions) and I buy the huge 32 oz. bottle at Sally for under $7. The only thing is, it's NOT good at cuticle clean-up. Since it's not straight acetone, I've noticed that it can get a bit "gummy" on your brush when you're cleaning your cuticles. But for straight polish removal on a cotton pad, it ROCKS. I have switched from using straight acetone to this for polish removal after it was suggested to me by a lovely nail blogger, and I haven't looked back! Now I only use my pure acetone for clean-up. Hope that helps! :)
Thanks G! That's super helpful.
Delete