Customer Reviews

Acquarella Nail Polish, French Vanilla

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I use Acquarella nail polish and wanted to share my experience after reading a negative review from another customer. My guess is that they did not follow the directions on the product. I must admit I did the same thing at first. I received my polish and went ahead and applied it like I am used to applying regular nail polish. I did find that it did not wear as well as I hoped and was pretty disappointed. Determined to get my money's worth, I took the time to read and follow the directions as far as buffing and preparing my nails with Acquarella Remover to remove chemical residue from past manicures with regular nail polish, as well as using the Acquarella Conditioner as instructed before wearing the colors. The difference in the performance of the nail polish was dramatic. It lasted much longer before showing signs of wear, the color was even, it was shiny, not streaky, and best of all no horrible chemical smell. The buffing is really helpful the first time you switch to Acquarella. I still use the conditioner as a base coat for some colors like Plasma, though. I'm hooked. I would definitely recommend this product, but you have to follow the directions.

This is the best nail polish I've ever used. It does require you to follow the recommended steps of buffing the nail and rinsing with the Acquarella polish remover; but this isn't that different than what I was doing anyway, so no biggie.

Its the application where this nail polish really shines. It goes on very smoothly, with no gunkiness that can happen with traditional nail polish. And no odor whatsoever! Acquarella says the drying time was 3 minutes, but I found it quite competitive with some 60 second traditional polishes that I've had. And the coverage is very, very even and smooth. My nails have never looked as good as they do with this polish.

The closest I can come to a complaint is that the "Tickle me" color was significantly more pink on me than I expected, closer to the "Pink a boo" (a bubblegum pink) color. This might be because I'm ultra (ULTRA) pale however, and I don't fault the company for it.

I've now tried the quinceanera and sparkling cider colors as well. Quinceanera is a very, very pale transulecent purple, and is nearly the natural color of my nails, so it looks wonderful on me. Its much lighter than the picture of the bottle would suggest, and I'd say it was also lighter than the color sample. It has a tiny bit of sparkle to it - I'd like more, but thats me.

I LOVE the sparkling cider color. I put three coats of it on and its a bright metallic gold. Just goregous, I hope Acquarella will be coming out with more metallics. It does settle (all the colors I tried that have sparkle settle) and takes a bit of mixing, but doesn't seem much worse than traditional polishes with sparkle. I didn't have much of a problem with the little bubbles, I just wiped them off on the lip before application. Like I said, I love this color.

All together this is the best product I've ever found for my nail, and I'm glad to give it five stars.

I'm not big on manicures, but I enjoy a pedicure and polish on my toes when I don my summer sandals. And as a cancer survivor, I love the idea of a nail polish without harmful chemicals and toxins, so I decided to give Acquarella a try. I purchased a bottle of clear conditioner, a bottle of Tickle Me pink and a bottle of remover, which was quite an expensive investment - I could have bought several colors of regular polish for what I spent to prepare my nails for one color of Acquarella. I buffed and cleaned my nails as instructed on the packaging, applied a base coat and then applied a coat of Tickle Me. The color in the bottle is a horrid Barbie Doll pink; on the nails, it is kind of a watery see through pink. I applied a second coat. It still looked watery and streaky. I've had it on for several days and it is holding up fine. No chipping or peeling. But the color and streaky looking coverage just isn't very pleasing to me. I guess you don't know how these things will turn out if you don't try them, but my personal opinion is that this was a waste of my money. I'll go back to regular polish and pass this along to my niece for her four year old daughter.

Revised Opinion: I later purchased another bottle of Aquarella polish in the color Aristo, which is a dark reddish pink color. I am very pleased with this shade. While I wouldn't recommend the color Tickle Me Pink, I give a thumbs up to the color Aristo. I took this with me when I had a professional pedicure and had the nail technician apply it and I like it a lot. I'd change the number of stars on my review from 3 to 5 if I could.

After reading about this polish on EWG/Skin Deep website, and learning Acquarella is the best rated ( meaning lowest in toxic chemicals) I had to try it. Plus most important to me is that the company does not test on animals. I bought Wicked, a cheery sparkly green, along with the remover and conditioner, and buffer. I have not used the remover yet, but I did follow the instructions regarding buffing and then used the conditioner for a couple days. By the 3rd day, I was ready, and painted 2 thin coats of Wicked. The color goes on so thin and smooth and covers well! Dries very fast and stays shiny. It has been almost a week, and there have been teeny chips but I just painted over those and no problem. I did add a 3rd coat and the color looks even better. I love this polish! No smell at all... I ended up buying a few more, a red and the baby blue. I figure I can buy a couple colors every month until I have a whole new " wardrobe". Oh I also painted the toe nails too. I have had so many positive comments and compliments from women AND men!
I have short nails, by the way. I think the crazier fun colors look better on short nails.
I had a question and contacted the customer service by email. I got an answer right away with very helpful info, so I wanted to add how great their customer service is.
I hope you try it, we need to not only to stop the awful use of innocent animals being tested on, but stop the use of dangerous toxic chemicals. Also their packaging is assembled by handicapped employees! For all those reasons I am more than happy to pay 18 dollars for an excellent product.

Like other people mentioned, it is very light, odorless, dries fast and looks great. Colors on the website and the brochure do look slightly different, but I understand how hard it is to match the color, so I won't complain about that.

I was so happy to have purchased this product for a little while. However, my nail polish did not last very long. To be precise, it lasted for a whole day.

Since this is a water-based product, any contact to water softens the surface fairly quickly. I take bath daily, wash dishes with hands and go swimming often. After one of these activities, my nail polish chipped or peeled or no longer shiny.

I tried different ways such as not soaking my hands while bathing, putting rubber gloves on when I wash dishes, let the nail polish dries & harden for a whole day before extended contacts with water. None of them worked to my satisfaction.

I love this product for its strengths, but loath it for is weaknesses. I literally have to apply a fresh coat before leaving the house everyday. Also, it takes at least 3 times longer to remove this nail polish than conventional one.

I purchased Acquarella Remover, 3 different colors of nail polish, Conditioner and Moisturizer. That's $90 investment. They need to come up with a strong top coat to meet the investment.

After 9 years of silk and acrylic nails, I decided to take my nails off for 2 reasons: they were starting to lift off the nailbeds since the acrylic is so hard and I am on a PC for a living; and, I have an autoimmune illness and decided to reduce the level of toxin exposure that I regularly put myself through.

Anyway, I still love my nails polished so starting researching water based nailpolishes and came across Acquarella. They seemed to be the front runner in the water based polishes (judging my multiple reviews on multiple sites) although have not tried the other brands as of yet.

I decided to go full force and ordered the conditioner, which is basically their version of clear, the nailpolish remover and the Prissy color nailpolish which is an opaque bright pink. I also received their buffing set since I ordered a minimum of $25 on their site.

When my goodies arrived, I followed the directions exactly however, did not do a 3 day prep and cut it down to the same day. The first thing I noticed was the almost complete absence of an odor. What little scent I did pick up is an almost fruity smell although so slight as to be almost insignificant. The second thing I immediately noticed was that the polish is not near half as thick as putting on traditional nailpolish; it really is like putting on....er, water. The first coat when I rather sheer, but not the least bit streaky. I couldn't believe that the second coat really did bring my nails to the color polish in the bottle! What I really like is that it doesn't look as thick as traditional polish (base coat, 2 coats color, top coat), definitely dried faster and looks just as good if not better than traditional. I also find that it wears quite a bit better and does not chip off the hands the same way traditional does, particularly when you pound a keyboard for a living.

So why only 4 stars? Price. Acquarella is significantly pricier than its competitors and only time and trials will tell if their product justifies that increase. However, if there were no other products out there, it would be a 5; the healthiest nailpolish on the market to-date, great color selection, quick shipping, and lovely looking hands.

This review is showing up in Bliss, which I haven't used. When I was 21, I developed allergies to fragrances and chemicals in cosmetics, inherited from both my grandmothers. I was able to find cosmetics but even the fragrance-free cosmetic lines had nail polish with formaldehyde and toluene, which broke out my skin in a rash. My cuticles stay much more healthy when I wear polish but for years I had to go bare-nailed. I used traditional polish on my toes, but even then I had problems because of peeling and cracking and taking off layers of nail with it. Finally I found Aquarella, which I love. There is no smell, and on the odd occasion when the polish lifts at the cuticle or peels off at the ends, it doesn't take bits of fingernail with it (I find that it lasts a week to ten days, and then it might start to peel a little). I used the conditioner as instructed, and I have a few colors I use regularly. It lasts forever on my toenails, which I didn't expect. I use Aristo and Vixen on my toenails, and on my hands, I layer a semi-opaque, like French White or Demure, with a layer of translucent shimmer, like Celestial (probably my favorite) or French kiss (another favorite). It is nice to cover my nail with a shade that is opaque or semi-opaque, because it isn't thick like regular polish, but it covers nicely. Sometimes I'll wear the translucent alone. My next purchases will be Bliss and probably Winsome, since I wear copper eyeshadow and berry-colored blush and lipstick. One thing I really like about these is that you get to use the entire bottle. It took me two years to use the first bottle of conditioner, and unlike regular nail polish that gets thick in the bottle, I'm not throwing away a 3/4-full bottle of thick gooey nail polish. One reason they last so long is because if they do start to thicken, a couple of drops of distilled water will thin them out again. I think that for those getting the streaky effect, either the nail hasn't been prepared and buffed and conditioned, or the polish is slightly thickened from contact with the air. Using a dropper and some distilled water will thin the polish out and make it glide on a well-conditioned nail. I am so grateful for this polish because I do feel much better when I have it on, it holds up well, my nails are protected and they grow out well and stay long if I want them to, and they look very healthy. When the ends of my nails have taken a beating for some reason and the polish comes off, I just touch up. And I love how the remover makes my nails feel when I take the polish off; it does take a little extra work, but it is so worth doing to have healthy pretty nails. Thanks Aquarella! I've turned my mother and my niece onto it! When I first started buying Aquarella, it was through their website because it wasn't on Amazon yet. It is so nice to get these through Amazon...I bought Quinceneara, Celestial, and Demure through Amazon and it was wonderful. Some have commented on the colors; it is best to go to the Aquarella website and read the descriptions. It describes which of the reds are orange-based and which are blue-based, what the pinks look like (including the one that is a bubble-gum pink. The aquarella site has great descriptions of the colors, including which are translucent, which are opaque, which are metallic; I'm amazed at how many options there are). Some are for fun and some are more glamorous; and they are often not as bright after they dry. Demure took some getting used to, but after it settled down, it was a pretty pink. Thanks!

I felt compelled to write a review about this polish because I love it so much! I've been on a mission to remove harmful chemicals and preservatives from my food and cosmetics but its been very difficult to give up some of my favorite products. After finding this polish on the Skin Deep database (rates cosmetics and products based on toxicity and danger to health) I thought it was too good to be true. I ordered Bliss and the conditioner(which I used like a base) and have been wearing it continuously for about 3 weeks and haven't had to remove it yet! I am having great results with Aquarella. No chipping or peeling like I was used to with my old polish (I religously wore OPI). Every few days I apply a fresh coat and on alternate days I buff the polish with the buffer and it shines right up like a fresh coat of polish. This stuff is awesome!! It is definitely different than regular polish in that it is softer, almost like it isn't completely dry even though it is. Harsh soaps or shampoos can dull it a bit but a quick buff will bring it back to its shiny old self. I believe that having nails prepared properly before application may be the difference between absolutely loving this stuff with excellent results and having a bad experience. I actually had polish-free nails for a few weeks before application of Aquarella. My constant manicures and polish changes had weakened my nails terribly and I was so disgusted by all the chemicals I had to use all the time that I went bare before stumbling upon Aquarella. So my point is, I'm guessing my nails were properly prepared and rid of whatever residues would cause the polish not to adhere properly. You must try this stuff. I feel that it is worth the price all things considered...like my health!

I have had problems in the past with regular polish and remover degrading the condition of my nails, making them dry and prone to peeling. This is eliminated by using the Aquarella polishes. Although the first few times I used these products, I did exactly as instructed, with all of the prep work, the correct remover, etc., now I do not do any of the preps at all, and it still lasts fine on me!As to the remover, I find that plain rubbing alchohol (99 cents per bottle!) works as well as or better than the Aquarella remover. I pour a little into a small bowl, and briefly soak my fingers (or toes!) and then remove with a cotton pad. I pour the remaining alcohol back into the bottle for next time. Works great, really cheap, and not hazardous to my health!!!

A couple of years ago I decided to quit using cosmetics that contained toxic chemicals. But I LOVE nailpolish for my toenails in summer. So this product really cought my eye. The quality is great in terms of color and wear. Removing it is always more difficult than with the toxic stuff, but I can live with that for a tradeoff. The price is pretty steep (the 5 bottles I own cost me over 100$ when you factor in shipping!), but nail polish bottles last for very long and I absolutely love this stuff.