Fanatic Feedback – Let’s Talk Pricing
We all want a bargain. Who doesn’t love a sale? But there are some things you’re just willing to pay more for. Is polish one of them?
Let’s hear your thoughts on nail polish prices. What is your limit? How high is too high? Are there some brands/colors that make a higher cost worthwhile? Other than free (obvious answer), what is your ideal price?
Do you think that high end lines have quality on their side to justify the $15+ per bottle? On the flip side do you think that inexpensive drugstore brands are overlooked or underestimated?
Sound off!
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
I’m kind of weird about this. Now that I know I can get OPI/Essie cheaper, I absolutely will not buy them in the store for retail price (even if there’s only one bottle I want, I’ll wait months until there are enough other polishes I want to justify the shipping and order them online, rather than just picking it up right away in the store)…and yet I’ll pay $19 for a Chanel polish if I like it enough.
I will pay $12 for a Butter London polish if I think the color is special enough, but I’ll complain loudly about it the entire time because I hate the bottles so much!
$8 a bottle is pretty much my limit…and now that I know I can buy OPI online, I don’t have to pay that anymore. I’d rather be able to buy three OPI colors than one bottle of $12 – $15 polish. I won’t pay for a name, and I can’t believe that those expensive polishes are any better than OPI, China Glaze, and the like.
I won’t pay for a “name” – I won’t on clothes, shoes or accessories, so definately not nail polish. A girl has to have her limits…(or this one does).
I’d say $10, and it’s got to be something I really love to go that high.
I once paid $18 for a bottle of Givenchy nail polish. When I got it in the mail, it was LITERALLY the size of a thimble and chipped worse than any bottle I’ve ever seen. I am NOT paying $19 for Chanel, no matter what. There’s a greater variety in the more moderately priced brands like OPI and Essie anyway.
Here in Sweden OPI is considered a top brand, and they sell it in stores for $20-22. A polish from Chanel costs maybe $30. So I order tons of nps from H2T and thinks its a bargain
I have bought Chanel, and may again, at $19 a bottle. But that’s a splurge and rare for me. The new $8.50 for OPI is off-putting, but I will pay it if I see it in a store and I don’t want much else from that collection. My favorite way to shop for np is online, where most stuff is $4 and under. But then I buy too much! since I’, saving so much money! My conclusion is that high-end lines aren’t worth the price.
In Norway where I live, the cheapest you get is $6, and $18 is not too bad of a pricing…
So now I just shop from head2toebeauty ($15 for shipping but totally worth it) and I think all of them are cheap, hehehe
I won’t pay more than $8 a bottle, and that has to be for something I really want right away or a gift that can’t wait for a large online order from H2T or 8ty8. I think that salon brand polishes, like OPI, China Glaze, etc, are higher quality than the average $2 drugstore polish and the slightly higher price on them is justified. When you get to the high end $19 brands, in most cases you’re paying for the name, not any substantial increase in quality. Exceptions are very unique colors, where the creativity might justify the price for some people (but is still too much for me).
I’ll spend the $15-20 once if I love the color but if the polish doesn’t last, I’m out. I loved the colors in MAC Fafi but their Moonbathe color barely lasted two days so I didn’t cave. OPI is my fav but I’ll also buy Lippman and trying Butter soon.
I’ll only buy a 15+ bottle of polish if its a really unique color. So I’m not going to get a hot pink or something from RBL, Chanel, of Lippmann. but I do own RBL Recycle and Dead Calm (those colors are just reall special) and Lippmann Rehab. I would order more RBL if they didn’t have such a ridiculous shipping charge. 18 bucks is bad enough bot 7.95 shipping is ridiculous. I’ll pay retail for OPI, Essie, and China Glaze but generally I try to order online and get as good a deal as possible.
Drug store brands, I’m really careful about. Most of the time the color is boring and I don’t bother. But I’ve had really bad luck with bubbles in Revlon and L’Oreal, no real complaints about Sally other than how hard to find their unique colors are.
Art beauty – you guys needs to fix your formula (not just chipping but application too – 3 coats is too much for bottle color for a dark color). I’ve been really disappointed by Zoya. And after placing a huge order at full retail price with you guys, I feel like I’ve been duped. : (
I’ll pay whatever if I really LOVE the color. NP is way cheaper than make-up and I’ve been known to dish out some serious cash for it. I pay $26 for Nars Orgasm blush and that is a small package it comes in.
I’ll pay $8-10 for nailpolish without batting an eye, a price higher than that makes me think twice and the color has to be really something for me to consider it. I find ButterLondon too pricey for the quality and the amount they charge for shipping. Butter feels plastic-y on my nails, so the finish is not my favorite. For $12 a bottle and steep S&H, I rather buy a couple of OPI colors and get them in half the time.
I usually only spend $8 tops on polish. Not that I don’t love the colors from Dior, Chanel, Lancome, Estee Lauder and YSL … but Essie, OPI, Orly and Dashing Diva have all the same stuff and even more, for a heck of a lot cheaper! I feel like once you get above $8 per bottle you’re just paying for the name, not the polish itself.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to pay more than $5 a bottle since I use 8ty8/Head2Toe to order most of my polish. Probably won’t ever buy Chanel, RBL or any of the likes. But then again, I’m just a poor college student.
I’ll pay retail for a color I really like (Chanel Tulipe Noir) BUT and that’s a big one, finding a color I like is getting harder and harder. It seems that lately everything is the same (OPI) and other colors don’t look as good on as in the bottle (ZOYA) I hope things change soon, with all of the creativity out there, someone’s got to come up with something truly new and special. Mary
normally, i won’t spend more than $7 or $8 for a bottle of np but i admit that I do own one bottle of Chanel. I realized afterwards that i shouldn’t have splurged, but i think just once is fine. i’m not going to make a habit of spending the $19, especially now that i’ve discovered 8ty8.com!
I won’t pay more than $7 for a bottle of polish. The limit is a bit arbitrary, but I can’t justify spending more than that. Ideal prices are probably half retail for me. I love H2T and 8ty8.
I think Sally Hansen polish is underrated. I think some of their Nail Prisms are almost dupes of the OMGs- with none of the chipping and wear problems. I’m wearing Arabian Night and I think it’s a very unique color. I have a huge Sally Hansen collection thanks to some Christmas Tree Shop deals (12 for $3.99) and I’ve been really happy with the application, colors, and wear. Can’t beat the price!
I also recently discovered Sinful Colors. They have some great colors and I’ve liked the application and wear. (on sale twice recently for 2 for $3 at walgreens)
In my price range, I can usually count on high quality from Zoya, China Glaze, Sally Hansen, Sinful Colors, and Nubar. I tried a bunch of .99 drugstore polish and I think there definitely is a quality difference between those and what I just named (except for NYC’s Skin Tight Denim).
I think $8-10 is my max. I might pay more than that for a unique shade of green or blue, but otherwise I think paying more than that is ridiculous. I don’t find any of the formulas of the higher end brands good enough to justify being twice the price of OPI. And when I say unique, I mean unique. I love a sparkly navy as much as any girl, but I never ever would have paid Chanel prices for a shade that you can find pretty close dupes for that cost half as much. Even if the more expensive polish is the prettier of the group.
However, if MAC had sold Whirlwind at Chanel prices, I still would have bought 3 bottles. So I can be flexible in price, but the truth is, truly unique shades are few and far between so rarely is there a polish that comes out that’s worth paying more for.
If the color is absolutely amazing I might splurge, I did buy clarins 230 for $15 and once in a blue moon Chanel but I hate to do it!
Honestly, I’ve paid $15 for Lippmann and not been that impressed. But I would probably pay up to that amount for a polish I really wanted or that really lasted well. I want to try Butter London, and I’m willing to pay $12/bottle to try it.
And FWIW, I love Zoya. I’ve had great luck with the colors I’ve tried… although I’m not a fan of the base/top coat.
the most i’ve spent on np is…. 20 dollars for a ysl nail pen.. i never buy drug store brands
Here in Jakarta, the US brands are expensire. OPIs are about $16 now, and ordering online is not much MORE cheaper since polish bottles area HEAVY (wish they have alternative options, e.g. plastick bottles?).
Thank goodness for Asian brands. I’m loving Korea’s The Skin Food brand, which has great formula and colors, and cost <$3. Revlon is a lifesaver for reds (also <$3). The highest I’ve paid for nailpolish is $21, for Chanel Blue Satin, as I thought to myself, it’s now or never for a Chanel buy…
Well, it is the colour that matters. I just paid about $50, yes, that much, for a nailpolish in the wonderful colour green. I would never pay that much for a polish in any other colour. And when it is green I don’t care about brand.
Do you always let companies pimp their product on your site? Zoya please. This isn’t a place for advertising.
In the UK – the good stuff costs. Unfortunately, most American companies either aren’t available or they simply swap the $ for a
Sminkan!
Don’t leave us hanging! What was the green you purchased? We want to know!
Well, I do anyway.
After being on the MUA NB and trying both top-of-the-line and drugstore nailpolish I have found myself so pleasantly surprised with the Milani, Revlon, NYX, Sation, Chelsea & Jade polishes that I see no need to buy more expensive polish unless it is some super unique color. In nailpolish (as well as mascara!) I think a drugstore brand can be just as good- if not better…not to mention way cheaper!
I have my cosmetology license, and I don’t pay much more than 4.25 for it,and most of the time I find something on clearance I like
I like to shop online now since it can be comparable to what I get at the beauty supply…
i can be super cheap
I haven’t splurged on any high end stuff yet..tho, I am not ruling it out!
Oh and I think that the lesser priced brands *can* be comparable to the better brands, but money doesn’t equal quality..and just because you like a color doesn’t mean it is gonna be a nice wearing formula
I never do online orders, so I am kind of sad that I am prevening myself from the discounted prices. I do not buy enough lacquer at a time to justify the shipping costs. That said, the most I will pay out of my own pocket for a lacquer is $10 USD. If I get gift cards for deprtment stores I use those to splurge on the higher end brands. I don’t see how the ingredients are different and feel that with the high end brands we’re just paying for packaging and marketing of the name.
I’d like to say that I would spend $10-$15 for a really special color, but I never have. (I think I’ve paid full retail for maybe two of my 50+ Essies and OPIs.) My true limit is $5-$6 a bottle and if it’s online, that needs to include shipping. Since I *can* buy pretty much any color I might want for that much, I can’t bring myself to spend more. So forget Chanel, RBL, Lippmann or evilbay HTFs.
*iz cheep*
I bought two bottles of Chanel polish and the quality is horrible. They chip and peel, even on my toes and I have never had any polish chip on my toes – and this chipped two days after the pedi!!?? I use the same base coat and top coat (Stickey and Poshe) with Essie and OPI with no problems. I am picky about colors so I look at the colors rather than the price but I will never buy an expensive bottle again without learning more about the quality.
Leah
$8.00 is pretty much my limit–and it has to be a color that catches my eye. I’m not saying I would not pay more–but it would have to be a unique color. But generally I like to wait until the $8.00 bottles go on sale. I am more apt to spend more on base and top coat because I look at that as investment. I have paid $12 for top coat and din’t mind doing so.
I do think some of the less expensive work. I love Nail Paints basecoat at Sally Beauty Supply. And the Sally Hansen top coats are wonderful (though I think their polishes have wear problems.)
I paid $14 for a butter london (Lady Muck – had to have it) but usually I stick to Orly, Zoya (especially during promos) and OPI. I take advantage of buy 2 get 1 at Ulta or Sally’s too. Would I pay more? If the color was really, really special. And if it got great reviews for formula. Oh – I bought one of the Lippmann sets that had 2 colors and base and top coats, but that wasn’t full price – and it came with a free Lippmann color, so technically I have purchased 3 Lippmann colors but I’ve never paid full price for them. Oh – I also bought one with a $10 off card at beauty.com, so it was $8. Totally worth it at $8.