Not for perfectionists (Boots No7 Stay Perfect Nail Varnish)

Member Name: sweet_decline

Product:	Boots No7 Stay Perfect Nail Varnish
Date:	17/05/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Rich, glossy colour

Disadvantages: Chipped in record time

I'm a bit of a nail varnish junkie, and have a range of shades from budget buys to designer brands. So when my Mum was given a No7 gift set for her birthday (she's not a painted nails person), she knew exactly who to pass on the rich dark reddy pink nail varnish on to.

This review is for a 10ml sample product of the Rose Truffle shade that came in a No7 gift set. The varnish usually retails for around £6 and is currently part of the 3 for 2 on No7 deal... but I wouldn't waste your money, as I'll explain below.

The varnish comes in a simple bottle, with the classic black No7 branding on the lid. The bottle itself is nicely shaped and the lid containing the brush is easy to hold.

The Boots website blurb promises "beautiful glossy colour that stays perfect for up to five days". I'm usually dubious about such claims, as nail varnish only lasts two or three days on my nails before chipping. And once it chips slightly, I have to take the whole lot off and start again.

I tried this nail varnish for the first time this morning at around 9.30am. I shook the bottle first, and it gave a satisfying rattling sound as the product mixed.

The brush isn't the best I've ever used, it is quite thin so you have to use a number of strokes to cover the whole nail, but it does the job. The varnish itself is quite thick and gloopy. I usually prefer to give my nails two thin coats as I find it gives a more even finish, but my nails looked fine after one coat with this varnish.

Perhaps because it was so thick and gloopy, the varnish took a while to dry, and even after 45 mins I was concerned about picking things up. To be honest, a Sunday morning would be the only time I could wait this long for nail varnish to dry, and the waiting was still irksome.

The colour dried a little darker than it had looked in the bottle, which I wasn't too bothered about but wouldn't be ideal if I'd specifically bought it to go with a particular item of clothing. It dried to a glossy finish with nice even coverage of each nail. So far so good, although it didn't feel as hard as some varnishes do, it is almost putty-like even now. If I run one nail along another, it leaves a groove in the polish.

The varnish stayed in place until I was washing up after lunch at around 1.30pm. I didn't have anything to scrub particularly hard - just plates, mugs and cutlery - but the varnish seemed to just come away from my nails, especially on my right hand. The nail on my index finger is now only half-covered in varnish - not a good look - and the varnish has scuffed off the top of all my nails. It looks a complete mess and my mother-in-law couldn't believe I'd only done my nails this morning. It is still flaking off my nails even as I type this.

I'm certainly glad that I didn't spend any of my hard-earned cash on this product - it would have been a complete waste. I expected a far higher standard from a No7 product - I'm a big fan of most of the range, but I won't be buying this one. It's not exactly cheap, and I've had better results from budget brands such as Rimmel and Boots 17. Since I have the product now, I will give it another try in a few weeks with a top coat and see if that helps - but it really shouldn't be necessary to use a topcoat with modern nail varnishes.

So, this 'stay perfect' nail varnish actually only stayed perfect for a couple of hours. What a waste of time!

Summary: "Stay Perfect" - only for a few hours