Putting CND nail polish to the test

CND (Creative Nail Design) recently sent me a few of their newest nail polish colors and “special effects” top coats for consideration on Bionic Beauty. Since I’m all about being open and honest, below you’ll find swatches of each color along with my thoughts…

Asphalt (#542) – A true dark gray creme polish with no shimmer. This looks amazing with both gloss and matte top coats. I did have some problems with getting it to apply evenly and it took three coats to achieve a uniform color; but it’s my favorite color of this collection!

Marshmallow Rose (#508) – This is your standard “barely-there” almost nude polish. It has a hint of pink making it great for cool-toned women. It would be a good choice for a French Manicure look.

Smoochie (#518) – I’ll admit my photos of this color came out horrible no matter what settings I used! The color is actually more of a dark hot pink, than the red shown. It’s a nice color, no shimmer, and would work well for this summer’s bright nail trend.

Desert Suede (#530) – Another cream polish, Desert Suede is aptly named. It’s basically a khaki with slight mustard under-tones. I think it would be best on ladies with warmer skin tones.

*Edit: Vevster and I were chatting this morning about CND nail polishes and she made an excellent point about Desert Suede.

“Also Keep in mind that desert suede shade is amazing on women of color.”

Since her comment was SO spot-on, I decided to edit this article to include her thoughts. I do really think this color would be lovely on someone with darker skin, or with more warm tones. I just have too much darn pink in my skin.

Oilslick (#541) – This is a true solid black. Not very creative, but then again most dark “vampy” polishes these days aren’t true blacks.

Gold Pearl (#550) – A translucent pearl effect top coat. As you can see in my photo, it creates a frost look that flashes almost neon-green in bright light.

Sapphire Sparkle (#561) – Another translucent top coat that adds a turquoise glitter effect to your nails alone or over another polish color. It’s very similar to Sinful Colors’ “Pearl Harbor” ($2.49 at Walgreens).

Super Matte top coat – Save your bucks ladies. This matte top coat is not matte. It took the gloss finish down a bit, but barely to a semi-gloss; it also made the polish color underneath look milky. The wear was poor compared to Essie’s Matte About You or Orly’s Nails for Males (Don’t miss my matte top coat comparisons).

Overall, I wasn’t too impressed by CND nail polishes… maybe it’s because I had high expectations since I love their infamous “Stickey” base coat. They seemed to take unusually long to dry even when I applied my favorite quick-dry top coats. The colors also left me wanting… there just weren’t many “stand-outs” (I do love Asphalt though!). The length of wear was average- I got about a day but I’m really tough on my nails. For reference, a long-wearing polish for me would be rated at three days.

My fave CND Stickey Base Coat is available at Ulta for$8.

Have any other Bionic Beauties tried CND nail polish? What was your experience?

FTC Disclosure: This item was sent to me free of charge in return for an honest review. The opinion in this article is based on my personal experience and was not influenced by any source. I was not compensated for this article. Feel free to read my disclosure policy for more information.

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