I love Miami!! (17 High Gloss Nail Polish)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	17 High Gloss Nail Polish
Date:	11/04/08 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great high gloss colour, lasts ages

Disadvantages: none, buy it!!

Nail Varnish brand OPI have recently brought out a new, shocking pink nail varnish as part of their India collection, named 'I'm India Mood for Love'. It's an extremely popular colour for this season and many celebrities including Madonna had apparently been on the waiting list for a bottle when it first came out. I have a bit of an obsession with nail varnish, I always have my toes painted no matter what, but although I do own some OPI polishes, their £9 price tag is a bit off putting. As much as I wanted a bottle of this hot pink polish, I managed to be sensible, reasoning that I would probably wear it once before putting it in a drawer and forgetting about it, so I could not justify handing over the best part of a tenner.

Waiting for a friend a few weeks ago, I decided to shelter from the rain in Boots, when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted it. A bottle of nail varnish an almost identical colour to the one I had been lusting after - and best of all it was part of the 17 range, so I guessed it would be cheap. I was right, at only £2.59 for a 12ml bottle, I would be saving over £6 on the price of the OPI version, so it would have been almost rude not to buy it!

~The colour range~

The colour I chose is called 'Miami', but there are approximately 13 different shades in the range, from deep chocolate browns, to pearly pinks. The colour dooyoo have pictured is the one I have, but in real life it's brighter than that (and more pink, less red), so if buying from the Boots.com website, be wary if you havent seen the shade close up.
It might be worth noting, that 17 have three different nail polish ranges - Lasting Fix, Fast Finish and High Gloss. The one I am referring to is part of the high gloss range, and as I haven't tried the other two ranges, I can't comment on how good or bad they may be. I think it may also be worth saying, that the colour I bought was a matt colour, whereas some of the other high gloss polishes are pearlescent - it may just be me, but I have always found I have better results with matt nail polish as pearlescent polishes seem to chip or smudge more easily.

~Packaging~

The polish comes in a clear glass bottle, with a lid which appears to be navy blue, but could equally be charcoal grey - it's difficult to tell in this light! The label features a shiny silver '17' logo and the name of the product at the bottom. I actually think the bottle looks quite stylish for a cheap brand.
On unscrewing the lid, you will find that the stick (sorry, I can't think of the correct term!) which holds the brush is flat on each side, which seems to prevent drips, and the actual brush itself is quite short, but with neat bristles - in other words they don't splay out, meaning you wont get polish on your skin as well as your nails when using this.

~Application~

The instructions on the bottle state that you should shake well and apply two coats for maximum coverage. I actually found that just one coat was enough to give a fairly good, even coverage, but I followed their instructions anyway and added two coats.
The polish glided smoothly onto my nails, and despite not using a base coat, (nor preparing my nails in any way before application as I know I should have done) the polish did not seem streaky or patchy in anyway.
I thought the polish was a good consistency - not so thin that it was watery or runny, but not so thick as to force you to drag it across the surface of your nail, which can cause the polish to streak.
Strangely, when applying the polish I did not notice that it had a strong smell, as some nail varnishes can have a very overpowering scent, but when I lifted my hand towards my face when my nails were still wet, I could smell that very obvious nail varnish smell. This did disappear once my nails were dry though, it has to be said.

~Results~

I found that the polish dried really quickly, I normally manage to smudge it from touching things when my nail varnish is still wet, but I didn't have that problem here, and I think it was mostly down to the fast drying time.
As I have already mentioned, the polish did not look streaky at all once applied and the colour was exactly as it looked in the bottle. So many times I have bought a deep coloured polish only to apply it and find the colour is really wishy washy. Also, when they say high gloss, they really do mean high gloss. I have never come across a nail varnish as shiny as this one - my nails had such a sheen they were almost reflective!
All well and good so far, but the most important test of a nail varnish for me is it's staying power. Even when a polish looks great, it's no good if it chips or smudges after a few hours. With a bright colour like this, any chips would show up instantly too.
I only wore the polish for about 24 hours on my fingers, as I had to go to work, and thought the colour was a bit OTT for the office, but in that time I didn't get a single chip. On my toes however, I have now been wearing the polish for over a week, and I am amazed to say, that I have not one chip, smudge or any other blemish to my nail polish - and the bright colour looks great on toes too!

~Conclusion~

What can I say? I love Miami! I am so impressed with this it's ridiculous. This polish is one of the best I have ever used - OPI included. I would thoroughly recommend it, and I can't wait to get down to Boots and get myself a couple more colours! Five stars - but only because I can't give it more!

Summary: My new best friend