Leather Nails? Unleash Your Inner Catwoman...

Left to Right Nails Inc Leather Effect Polish in Clerkenwell, Dalston and Noho

 Over the last couple of months, I have been experimenting with some special effect nail polishes. With 90s nail art back with a vengeance  a few nail companies, have gone above and beyond to produce a new breed of nail polish which experiments with instant texture, (hello Ciate caviar and velvet manis). There has been one texture effect that I have been particularly intrigued by and that is Nail Inc's Leather Polishes. Now I will admit, I have quite the soft spot for leather. Give me a jacket, short, skirt, tank, dress, pant, bag or shoe and you can bet money that I will be wearing one of the aforementioned at any given time. At this point I am sure you are probably envisioning me as a creepy biker chick with tatts and piercings EVERYWHERE! I am really not, I just really love playing up textures in my ensembles, and my nails are no exception! 

After that love letter to leather, I am sure you can imagine my excitement when I learned that there were leather effect nail polishes available for sale. I quickly tracked these down (HERE) after reading about them on Fleur De Force's blog, and thus made my first purchase. I decided to pick up Noho (black) first since it is the most like leather although I was strongly tempted by the divine cream hue Clerkenwell, as images of the summertime danced through my head and the perfection of cream leather nails was almost too much for my self control. Alas, I resisted, and my Noho polish arrived only days later. Now, don't judge me, when I received this parcel at work, I IMMEDIATELY ripped it open as if it were Christmas day and I was 5 years old, and set to work painting my nails with my new polish. (yes I attracted a few odd looks, luckily working in fashion, I can semi get away with certain things). I found the brush a little clunky and large, making it difficult to work with, but after two coats I watched in amazement as my nails started to develop a pebbled effect! I wouldn't say, oh my god it's EXACTLY like leather, or anything, but the pebbled effect coupled with the matte finish definitely semi resembles leather, and nonetheless is kind of cool. I found the black wore really well also. I wore the polish for a week or so before it chipped. Being the WORST nail painter in the universe, to the point that even my partner complains about it, I love that the formula, while difficult to work with, covers a multitude of sins one the leather effect comes into play. 

Upon a recent trip to New York, I found myself in Sephora Fifth Ave and a nail stand caught my eye. Upon investigation, I discovered that they had the leather nail polish in Clerkenwell that I had obsessed over so much, but also it was in stock in a periwinkle shade Dalston! (I have an odd obsession with periwinkle at the moment, so this was too much to handle!). Without thinking twice, these two items were tossed into my shopping basket and I was on my way. 

I have since road tested both of these colours and wear tested them on separate occasions. Here are my findings, and my ultimate conclusion for the Nail Inc Leather Effect Nail Polishes broken down into a classic Pros and Cons list! 

Pros 
Noho wore really well 
Despite the clunky brush, the "effect" covered up most streakiness for Dalston and Noho
No need for top coat 
Two coats are you are done 

Cons 
I really do despise that brush. It is so hard to do a neat job, I end up being frustrated. 
Clerkenwell! It did not finish as well as the other two colours, the gritty texture attracted dirt, it chipped within a day or two, and it was streaky 
The packaging is super tacky. I really dislike the lid how they have  made it from vinyl to emphasise the fact that is is a "leather effect" product, (PS we get it already!) The colour of the lid clashes badly with the colour of the formula which makes it look cheap and the sticky tape used to seal the container, took off the vinyl on my periwinkle bottle so now it looks extra awful. 

Clerkenwell- As you can see the application is not smooth, it attracted staining and also chipped after one day

In conclusion, while I do like the Noho a lot and Dalston, while pretty, I could easily go without. I do not recommend Clerkenwell at all, and to be perfectly honest, my experience with it has put a bad taste in my mouth for the entire line now. It is reasonably inexpensive, so i think these polishes (ahem, Noho) are worth trying out if you want to mix it up, but they are definitely a novelty and I would not recommend investing heavily into the line like yours truly. In saying that however, I am very intrigued by the Holographic in Westbourne Park HERE and Concrete Effect in Monument HERE. Stay tuned...

Jen xox