The best nail polish for only $2

Aside from the fact I would hunt down Chanel Limited Edition Nail Colours like my life depended on it I wouldn't say that I was particularly bothered by nail polish. Of course now that I've abandoned acrylic nails I pay more attention to nail brands and I do often get tempted with new radical shades but as a general rule, and despite a sizeable selection of colours and shades I always revert back to my trusty reds.

For this reason I rarely devote time or space on my US shopping trips to buying nail polishes, from Rimmel to Barry M there are so many long lasting and affordable options it seems silly. I have picked up a Formula X polish from Sephora in my time and there was an Essie stage but otherwise it's often overlooked.

Roll back time to January as I prepared for my trip to Florida and I had planned a day off from work before my flight to pamper myself. My spray tan would be washed away and I would sit down with my Sensationail Nail Kit and save money on visiting the salon for gel nails, unfortunately my plans were thwarted by having to spend over two hours in a Facetime conference with my sister as we battled with Virgin Atlantic's online system to book our seats. A further unexpected visit from Ben meant that instead of this leisurely pampered I hurriedly was tackling my nails, exhausted at about 2am mere hours before I would leave for the airport.

As I discussed in my review of the Sensationail Gel System the most important part of application to ensure a long lasting finish is that you cap the nail tips with polish. This avoids lifting of the polish which will lead to them catching or chipping. I did not do this so after a matter of days my nails were in a right old state and I wasn't prepared to spend the remainder of the holiday that way.

After a visit to Walgreens I just picked up the cheapest nail polish in red I could find, Wet n Wild Megalast Salon Nail Color for a mere $2. What a bargain was all I thought but having returned from holiday and I'm still using the polish, and more importantly gave valuable space to it's return with me.

As I hadn't expected to be painting my nails during my trip I had no base or top coats to use which usually give any polish a bit of a helping hand. Instead once my gels were removed I applied Wet n Wild Magalast Nail Colour directly to my nails. Of course it wasn't the most smooth or shiny of finishes but after just one coat I was impressed about how opaque the colour went on and after the second I was quite happy with how they looked.

My SIL and I did have a second nail painting session during our trip which wasn't entirely necessary but was nice to make them look tip top once again. Since returning home I've been able to test with base and top coats and I'm even more impressed. As I type this post I'm nearly a week into wearing and there are no chips to speak off which is very rare for me.

This is one of the better nail polishes I've used and tips the scale for many better and more expensive brands. I'll definitely be seeking out one or two additional shades when I'm next in the US.

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