How many of you are still drooling over the silver chrome look? I never thought that achieving this look would be possible with regular nail polish, so I was a little skeptical when I decided to get this set of Lylaa polishes from BeautyBigBang. I’m not familiar with the brand, and most chrome polishes still have a brushed metal look rather than the mirror shine of it’s powder and gel combo counterpart, but this one does pleasantly surprise.
The set is a base coat and chrome polish duo. Each bottle contains 6 mL of polish, so the bottles are on the small side. The good thing is that hardly any product is used when you apply the formulas.
This set of chrome lacquer and base coat comes in a small plastic bag. BeautyBigBang stickers are applied to the bottoms of the bottles. No ingredients are listed.
The brush in the bottle is flexible and somewhat wide, so it is easy to paint your nails in about 2 strokes.
Bottle shot of the silver chrome nail lacquer. Notice how you can see every bristle on the brush because the silver formula is so thin.
The base coat worked really nicely. The formula does not have a strong odor, but it does smell faintly fishy. This base coat really smoothed out the ridges on my nails and made them look really healthy. If you had any idea how damaged and dry my natural nails are from constantly doing nail art, you would realize that the way they look with this base coat is nothing short of a miracle!
One coat of Lylaa base coat was applied to achieve this smooth and healthy gloss to my nails.
In order to successfully achieve the chrome look, you must fully allow the base coat to dry, otherwise the polish will distort with each brush stroke and look chunky once the chrome lacquer is applied.
Speaking of, the chrome varnish is very watery in appearance and smells strongly of paint. With one layer applied, you can see a smoky metallic finish start to appear, but ideally two coats of lacquer should be used to achieve the look below. Each layer of the chrome lacquer dries nearly instantly, which is another huge bonus.
These nails are impressively shiny and reflective with 2 coats of chrome nail lacquer applied over Lylaa’s base coat.
Honestly, I have never seen a chrome polish really look like chrome. These nails got many compliments because they really stand out compared to your basic colors. It’s so rare to see shiny silver nails without having to use a gel polish and powder. I’m sure this will appeal to the many people who do not want to have to get a curing lamp or go to a salon to get this look!
On the downside, a lot of top coats tend to dull down the reflectiveness of the lacquer. I tried several different ones (Glisten & Glow, Seche Vite, Ya Qin An, and Dazzle Dry), and none seemed to preserve the original luster of the chrome look. The nails were still very attractive, but they achieved more of a brushed metal finish in the end.
You can try to wear the polish without applying any top coat, but the chrome lacquer rubs off throughout the day. Even with a top coat applied, the lacquer does not last very long. Something about the pigments in the chrome varnish make the top coat peel away fairly easily, and you will find it hard to survive a full day without some form of peeling happening. The actual silver color does stick somewhat to your nails so it doesn’t look as obvious as chipped polish does, but the smooth finish is ruined.
The polish can be removed with regular acetone, but the base coat does act a little funny and becomes slightly balled up and rubbery in texture as you try to dissolve it. You may need to use a little more elbow grease than usual, but it is nowhere near as hard to remove as glitter or gel polish!
In the end, if you love the look and don’t want to go through the hassle of a gel polish application or you don’t have a lamp to cure it with, you can go ahead and try this mirror effect nail polish out. If you don’t mind the wear and tear that can happen to the finish of the polish throughout the day, then you will absolutely love it. But if you want to go the distance, I suggest you try the original gel polish and powder method of getting the mirror effect.
If you also like holographic & matte nail polish, get it here.
Article By: finepolish
