Textured Nailpolish: Sally Hansen Vs. Nicole by OPI

I am a sucker for nail trends but I have no skills when it comes to doing my nails. I need trends to be super easy like Shatter polish, which I bought a bottle of and have used once (story of my beauty life). Textured nail polish is the new shatter. It's just a polish that you apply and it does all the work for you. Most companies have come out with some variation of it so I decided to pick up two different ones and compare them. The texture is pretty subtle which I like because I will probably still be able to use these polishes long after the trendiness wears off. I bought the Sally Hansen Sugar Coat nail polish and the Nicole by OPI Gumdrops formula.

Both of the nail polishes claim to have a sugar-like effect, a similar effect to what the OPI Liquid Sand polishes give. The Sally Hansen Sugar Coat line are all matte nail polishes. I have the shade "Sour Apple", which is a bright mint green. The Nicole by OPI Gumdrop nail polishes look more like a glitter polish. I have the shade "Blue-Berry Sweet on You" which is a periwinkle blue glittery colour. With the texture nail polishes you can't apply a top coat because it will ruin the effect of the polish. Both polishes have a very similar effect on the nails. The Sally Hansen polish is matte so the texture is much more apparent. From far away the Nicole by OPI polish can look like any mixed-glitter polish. I was actually surprised how many people came up to me and touched my nails because they could tell they were textured.

Both nail polished require two coats. I applied Essie's Go Stronger Base coat underneath the polishes which is what I always use. The Nicole by OPI polish wore much longer than the Sally Hansen. Nicole by OPI had slight tip-wear on the first day and slight chipping near the edges on day two. Other than the tip wear this is pretty normal wear and tear for nail polishes on me. This polish looked pretty decent until about day four or five where it started to chip a little worse and I needed to change my nails. This polish has a much finer textured effect.

The Sally Hansen nail polish did not wear as well as the Nicole by OPI. I had chipping around the edges on day one. The effect also applied slightly thinner in parts allowing my natural nail colour to slightly peak through. I think the matte texture of the polish makes it easier to see flaws and the actual nail in between the textured bumps. It's quite clear from the image that the texture on this polish is much more apparent. It is a much bumpier texture than the Nicole by OPI. This can be good or bad, depending on the look you're going for. This polish only lasted for about three days on me before I had to change the polish.

Both of these nail polishes are very difficult to take off. They aren't as difficult as a chunky glitter polish, but they are definitely more difficult than a regular nail polish. Overall I appreciate that the Nicole by OPI polish lasts much better than the Sally Hansen polish. I also think its more subtle effect makes it more wearable. But I also like that if you want people to notice the texture, Sally Hansen's appearance is more apparent to the naked eye. Nicole by OPI also gets bonus points for including instructions to not apply a top coat, which the Sally Hansen did not. I really like this trend and hope it sticks around for a while.