review: essence pink-ventures gel nail colour

There are certain items that I can resist and certain items that I cannot. Pink glitter nail polish falls into the latter category. My obsession with all things that sparkle and shine is no secret. When that sparkle and shine comes in a pink nail polish that is a mere $4 CDN...my willpower is gone. That is how the Pink-Ventures Gel Nail Colour from Essence found its way into my nail polish collection. It checked a lot of boxes: pink, glitter, and affordable. Ready to find out how this beauty product actually performs? If it is a drugstore must? Keep reading for a full review of the Pink-Ventures Gel Nail Colour from Essence.

Before sharing my thoughts on this nail polish, it is important to highlight some of the brand claims. According to Essence, their line of Gel Nail Colours are easy to apply, come in a variety of colours, dry in 40 seconds, and have a long lasting finish. Is it true? Well, sort of. There is a nice selection of colours and finishes in this line. Application is easy and the brush is nice and wide. This also dried fairly quickly, though I can't say for certain that each coat dried in 40 seconds. If I recall correctly, it took a couple of minutes for each coat to dry fully, which is perfectly acceptable. In terms of longevity, the Pink-Ventures Gel Nail Colour excelled. This nail polish lasted for about two weeks with minimal chipping before I eventually removed it. 

Now for the not-so-great parts of this review. The colour looks really shimmery and beautiful, but it took a lot of coats to build the polish enough. This particular nail polish would work better as a topper than worn alone. It simply took too many coats! However, that is something that I could overlook, if only the scent was better. Know that strong chemical nail polish scent? It is always there when you paint your nails, but after a little while, that smell fades away. Unfortunately, that scent stayed. For the two-ish weeks that I had the nail polish on my nails, that overpowering nail polish scent remained. It was very odd and not something that I can recall happening with other nail polishes that I have used in the past. As a result of this, I am a little hesitant to use the Pink-Ventures Gel Nail Colour again. I do wonder if all of the Gel Nail Colours in this line have the same issue. I have looked at other reviews on the brand website and elsewhere and this was not mentioned. Who knows....perhaps my specific bottle of nail polish is just a dud.  At any rate, this was not a positive experience overall, though the nail polish definitely lasted well. If you have tried one of the polishes from Essence, definitely let me know what your experience was like. 

Have you tried any Essence nail polishes? What brand of nail polishes do you like best?