Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Review

As much as I would love to spend $8 on a bottle of OPI or Essie, sometimes that price tag is too rich for my student loan-burdened bank account. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m almost exclusively a drugstore cosmetics sort of gal at this point in my life. But just because I want bargain prices doesn’t mean I want nail polishes that chip the next day or need a million coats to look opaque. I've found that Sally Hansen Insta-Dri line is a great alternative to designer polishes.

For $3.99, you get a thick, long-lasting nail polish and a large selection of colors to choose from. Depending on the color, one coat will usually do the trick, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. The “Perfectionist Brush” is wider than the average brush and has contoured edges for easy application. 

Now, I will say that the name is a bit of a misnomer. The nail polishes don’t dry instantly (I wish!), and they don’t dry in 60 seconds either.  The dry time is still faster than most drugstore nail polishes I’ve tried though. I do still use a quick dry coat to speed up the process, but that’s only because someone has a tendency to smudge her nails…

A couple of weekend’s ago I bought two new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes for my collection.  Show Steel-er is a light gray with a slight blue tint to it (from certain angles it even looks a bit like powder blue).  It seemed like a perfect winter color to me and certainly matched the New York uniform (black, white, and gray). I can’t lie, I’ve been obsessed with this color since I bought it.  

The other shade, Expresso, is a rich mauve. It’s a deep enough shade to work as winter color but I think the berry hue could work for the spring too. I like that it’s on the more subdued side without appearing too neutral.

My Sally Hansen manicures usually last about a week without chipping and with minimal tip-wear, but the darker colors don't seem to last quite as long as the lighter shades (as was the case with Show Steel-er versus Expresso), not sure why.  Still, Sally Hansen provide smooth, vibrant coverage that really can't be beat for the price.