I've seen thermal polishes for quite a while and was always interested, but also too lazy to place an order online. Then
Layla Thermo Polish Effect popped up at London Drugs--but at $9.99 for a small 5ml bottle (most polishes come in sizes of 13-18ml!), I decided to wait for a sale. I stopped by London Drugs on Thursday to find that the Thermo Effect polishes were on clearance! Even though I bought mine just two days ago, I feel like I have some kind of solemn blogger duty to swatch and post about this ASAP so that interested parties can hurry to their London Drugs and check them out before they're all gone!
 |
When warm, the polish is a pearly rose pink; the colour makes me think of a spring tea party in a garden! Depending on the lighting, it can look cooler-toned. Application was easy with no notable problems. The brush is on the wider side and dense (i.e. it holds a lot of polish!), so I was careful to wipe the back of the brush (side facing me) and two sides each time I dipped it back in the bottle. Even with three coats, there is still a slightly visible nail line, but that's common with polishes that have a slight squishy look like this one.
Here's how it looks after running the tips under cold water. The cold turns the pink into a pretty magenta. If you have long nails, then this gradient effect will come naturally because the tips extend far out enough from your body heat to stay cool.
This is after running my fingers fully under cold water for a few seconds. Full-on magenta awesomeness! I don't produce a lot of body heat so my nails stayed like this for much longer than I expected.
I can't comment on the wear of these polishes yet but so far I like the application and the neat thermal effect. I'm also pleased to see that the effect works even with a thick top coat like Seche Vite (worn in all photos). I did have a wtf?? moment while waiting for my polish to dry though: the back of the polish actually says that it's for false nails only! I wasn't sure what to make of this, but it seems like lots of people have worn this on their natural nails without any problems. The effect works and my nails haven't shrivelled and fallen off yet so ???
Anyway, I found mine in the clearance bin in the London Drugs beauty section for $6.99. If you've always wanted to try a thermal polish but couldn't be bothered to order online or pay for shipping, check it out. I was tempted by other colours such as light/dark green and light/dark teal blue, but passed based on the fact that I have way too many polishes in both colours. Unfortunately the Layla Thermo Polish Effect line is not on the London Drugs website, so your only chance is in-store.
Have you tried thermal or other special effect polishes?
