CND Vinylux Nail Polish in Dark Dahlia Review and Photos

CND is the company that introduced Shellac to the world and they've come out with a new formula of nail polish that gives the high shine and some of the longevity of a Shellac manicure, without needing a special dryer or a base coat. VINYLUX manicures last a week, don't require a base coat, (but need a special top coat), have high shine, and become stronger when exposed to natural light. 

Here's what the CND website has to say about VINYLUX:

VINYLUX™ is a breakthrough polish system that endures a week of fashion perfection…without a base coat! Exposure to natural light secures the patent-pending technology, creating an enduring, long-lasting polish. While ordinary polishes become brittle and deteriorate over time, VINYLUX dries naturally to a flawless finish and strengthens its resistance to chips over time.

VINYLUX polishes come in 62 shades and retail for about $12 CDN as does the top coat. The bottles are 15 mL/.5 fl. oz.

I picked up a bottle of VINYLUX polish and the special VINYLUX top coat recently. The shade I chose is Dark Dahlia, a blackened cool purple. I'm a sucker for vampy nail colours and this one is great. Think the colour of blackberries - so dark it's almost black but not quite. 

Pictures!

CND VINYLUX Weekly Top Coat and CND VINYLUX Weekly Polish in Dark Dahlia

CND VINYLUX in Dark Dahlia

CND VINYLUX in Dark Dahlia

CND VINYLUX Weekly Top Coat

CND VINYLUX Weekly Top Coat instructions

Uh, the "Avoid skin contact"? OK, that scares me a bit as I am no professional at applying nail polish. Whenever I do my nails, the polish tends to get on my cuticles and onto the skin around my nails. I just use exfoliating gloves in the shower to scrub it off in the shower the next morning. 

But I was extra careful when applying the top coat in this case, and I don't think I got any on my skin. Polish on me tends to chip at the tips, not at the base, so that's the area where top coat is most needed. 

Here's my manicure on the first day. Don't ask me why I opted to hold an orange in this photo but not in any of the others. It's certainly better than the manicure "claw" hand pose. And I like the contrast of the inky purple nail polish and the bright orange.

Anyway, I applied two coats of Dark Dahlia with no base coat, even though I was certain I'd have discoloured nails when I took the polish off, and a coat of the scary top coat. VINYLUX is very shiny, particularly with this dark shade. It went on well, and wasn't noticeably different in consistency or odour than other polishes. It dried fairly quickly and the coverage is impressive. The top coat goes on the same as any other top coat I've used and also dried fairly quickly. 

Day One

I took photos of my manicure over the week to document how well VINYLUX did or didn't work. I took photos on day one, day three, day five and day seven (when I removed it) as well as my nails after removing the polish. 

Here's the manicure on day one, again, but without the orange. High shine and full coverage with only two coats. 

Day One

Typically, polish will begin to chip on me by the third day, or if not chipping, there'll be visible wear at the tips. There was a little bit of tip wear by day three, but much less than with other polishes. And the shine was still there, very glossy though slightly scuffed looking. 

This polish made my nails feel stronger. I should note that my nails at the length they are in these photos are beginning to feel more fragile and they begin to break and peel (bare or under polish). I would typically be cutting them at the length they were at the end of this week of wearing VINYLUX.

Day Three

On Day Five, I noticed that my index fingernail was looking pretty scratched and dull. I'm not sure how that happened but it could be from coming in contact with rubbing alcohol. The shine is noticeably diminished from Day One, but it's still impressive considering other polishes would be quite dull. Another noticeable difference is that there's no chipping! There's visible tip wear on all nails, but no chipping. Very impressive!

Day Five

I took a second shot of my hand to show the wear from a side angle. My middle finger is showing the most - but that's not a chip per se, that's just wear. I must have been picking at a sticker or trying to open some package. 

Day Five

And here is Day Seven. I took the polish off the following day, as it was looking scruffy and bugging me. To be honest, I would have removed it probably by Day Five but I stuck out the week to test it. My nails were looking scratched, the shine had been dulled and the tip wear (second photo below) is quite visible. Still, the VINYLUX wore really, really well and better than any other nail polish I've tried. 

Day Seven

Day Seven

I was curious to see what my nails would look and feel like after removing the VINYLUX manicure. I photographed my bare hand to show you that there's no discolouration at all, despite not using a base coat, and my nails are not broken or peeling as they'd normally be. The VINYLUX made them grow longer and feel stronger. Of course, a day after removing the VINYLUX, one of them broke on me so I had to trim. If I had redone them with VINYLUX, maybe they'd have kept growing longer and longer.

Post-removal

Overall, VINYLUX impressed me. I've only had one Shellac manicure in my life because I prefer to do my own nails for convenience and financial reasons, and also because I like to switch up my manicure weekly or so. Shellac lasts way too long for my liking. VINYLUX may be the alternative! I think I'll pick up some other shades and see how they work shine and endurance-wise. 

While the manicure didn't last as promised (perfectly for a full-week), it performed much better than any other nail polish I've tried, so it gets top marks for that. 

I'm still terrified about getting the top coat on my skin though. 

Grade: B+

C.