A few weeks ago I received an email from Dr.'s Remedy about their new line of colors for the early 2011, called 'Winter Wonder-Nails.' I had never even heard of Dr.'s Remedy nail polish before, so I was interested in what they were about. I emailed them back and asked about receiving some samples to test out and review, and they were more than happy to do so.
Since then, I've had a chance to play around a bit and try them out.
Dr.'s Remedy enriched nail polish
Left to right: Revive, Healing, Desire
What it is: Dr.'s Remedy says it's a "line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients." They use natural ingredients like tree oil, garlic bulb extract, vitamins C and E, and wheat protein, and their nail polish is approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association.
Interesting! I've only used drugstore nail polish before, so this is a welcomed surprise.
Price: $16.00 each/0.5oz
Availability: Online at http://www.remedynails.com.
There are a total of four colors in this later winter 2011 collection, but they sent me three of them for review.
Healing- Heather grey creme with blue undertones
Revive- Ruby red shimmer
Desire- Deep dark brown creme
Nurture (not pictured)- Nude pink creme
Healing, Desire, Revive
Revive, Healing, Desire
(Sorry the polishes in my pictures aren't in the same order!)
Color range: I love that they added the ruby red shimmer for contrast, even though I don't care for reds. I love Desire, the dark brown, the most- it's almost black on fingertips but it has the smoothest color! The light cement grey is a little overdone by companies at this point, however it balances nicely with the rest of the collection.
Formula: Having never tried any nail polish from outside the drugstore, these were beautiful to work with. Revive took two coats to completely "finish" it, although it was almost opaque with one. Healing needed two coats to reach full opacity and had the weakest pigmentation, but it was perfect after two. Desire took the prize for best pigmentation and was fully opaque with one coat- I did two for good measure. They apply smooth, the formula isn't too thick or thin (it doesn't "glop" up on me during application or run all over my nail like Revlon), and it dries by the time I finish my other hand.
Brush: This is your standard nail polish brush, except it's not as long as some are that I've tried. I find the length of it works well to give me good control, and the width is narrow enough to fit along the sides of my nail. Those newer, flat and short brushes are nice sometimes, but I still love this longer/thinner version better.
Quality: Before I start talking about wear time, I should note that I'm currently without a good top coat. When I tried Desire out as a full manicure I did it sans top coat. I'm not terribly careful with my nails, even shortly after painting them, so take that into consideration as well. With that said, I experienced minor chipping with Desire after one day of wear. It was mostly tip wear but on my thumb nail I had a few small chips along the sides. I'm sure that with a good top coat these would last longer, although I was pretty let down to see such heavy tip wear and minor chipping after only one day.
As for the "natural" part of these, I can't say I see or experience the difference- as compared to my other drugstore polishes. They do apply 10x better than my Wet n Wild or Revlon polishes, but aside from that I wouldn't be able to tell they were free of so many harsh chemicals.
Still, I think it's a great thing Dr.'s Remedy takes the time to formulate them without so many chemicals. I just don't know if it's worth paying $16.00 for, unless you really lean one way or another.
Swatch of Desire
Pros:
-Beautiful, smooth, shiny color
-Flawless application
-Normal brush
-Full-sized bottles (0.5oz, not the skimpy 0.4 or 0.3oz some companies are coming out with- I hate that!)
Cons:
-Colors aren't original
-Price ($16.00 puts it in the more high-end category)
-Only available online or over the phone
-Chips sans top coat quickly
Overall, I did really enjoy these nail polishes from Dr.'s Remedy. I've never tried enriched or natural nail polish, nor have I used anything over about $6.00. I think it's up to you whether or not the extra $10 or so is worth paying.
