ALU’s 365 of Untrieds – Nails Inc St John’s Wood
365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to.
While I had heard of Nails Inc for quite some time from international Fanatics, it wasn’t until I went to Cosmoprof in Las Vegas a couple years ago, that I actually got to see the polishes in person. At the show I met reps for the brand, drooled over their limited edition, crystal encrusted caps and discovered their amazing Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat. However, until now I haven’t really worn their polishes. Before last summer Nails Inc were pretty hard to acquire here in the US. Unless you found a British e-tailer willing to ship here (ASOS no longer does) or had a friend overseas, it wasn’t happening. While you still can’t find the brand sold on a US website, you can get your hands on Nails Inc polishes at Henri Bendel stores, so that’s something. For today’s 365 I decided I wanted to wear a fun pop of color since I’m going to see Jo Koy, from Chelsea Lately, tonight and I’m wearing mostly black. Nails Inc St John’s Wood is the perfect choice. |
Formula & Application: Nails Inc nail polishes are 4-Free (includes formaldehyde resin). The round glass bottles are topped with a thick, round, smooth cap of the same width. The brush is round and pretty thick with bristles that give some resistance when you try to fan it out. I’m not a huge fan of the brush. Mine had some wonky bristles that I needed to cut and it didn’t give me a lot of control in laying down the polish. I made more application errors than I have in a long time due to the brush.
The formula itself is AH-MAZING! In spite of the brush issues this color is so pigmented I only needed one coat. No, that’s not a mistake, I said ONE COAT! Fabulous, right? Plus it leveled out perfectly. The only odd part was that it dried with a satin finish so you definitely need a top coat.
Nails Inc St John’s Wood walks the line between blue and purple. It’s like a deep violet hue but it has too much blue in its base for that. It’s a hard color to describe. If violets and cornflowers cross pollinated, this would be the result. At first I thought I might be looking at a RBL Purple Haze dupe because in sunlight it’s very purple but next to each other, St John’s Wood looks incredibly blue.
Bottom Line: A cool toned, one coat purple or should I say burple? Um, sign me up. I hate hate hate the brush but the color and formula are so good, I can almost forgive it for sucking so bad. If you have the means, this one won’t disappoint.
365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: An easy decision. STASH!!
Nails Inc nail polishes are available in the US exclusively at Henri Bendel. International Fanatics can find their polishes online NailsInc.com and ASOS.com.
Thoughts on St John’s Wood? If you had easier access to it in the US would you buy a bottle? What has your experience been with Nails Inc polishes? Are they all this pigmented?
Disclosure: A sample was provided to me by reps for Nails Inc. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
I have over 70 nails inc polishes, they are amazing, aside from the crappy brush!
I love colors like this! It kind of reminds me of Misa- Throw Me Something Purple Please.
Very pretty! If it was more easily available I would definitely buy it; for one because it’s an awesome color and for two my maiden name is St. John!
Wow that’s an amazing color! I saw Nails Inc at Bendel but hadn’t heard of it yet, so of course I hopped on the web looking for swatches
At the time though it must have been a traveling showcase or something… I do hope to see it again at Bendel!
The color is super cute, but the name totally had me thinking something filthy.
I blame television.
Nooooo, I didn’t know ASOS didn’t ship here anymore!
I guess I’ve been out of the loop for awhile though. I don’t know who Henri Bendel is or where to find him, he certainly doesn’t live anywhere near me, so I guess this color is a no go for me! 
They ship everything except nail polish. Bummer, I know
Burple is a good name for it..LOL. I’d wear it.
That color would be Perriwinkle
http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ffmoTZlzpteIAqS1hZgP&ved=0CDQQvwUoAQ&q=periwinkle+color&spell=1&biw=1152&bih=554
I love the Nails Inc line. Were their polishes always Big 4 free? I thought they used Big 3 in their polishes, so I had never considered buying them.
I love Jo Koy! He’s so funny! Great nail color!
looks exactly like a burple. a bit too red for me but interesting…
i’m really enjoying all your untrieds!
I’m in the UK and I have over 80 Nails Inc polishes, their colours are awesome. I’ve never considered the brush to be that bad but thinking about it it’s a little blunt. I’m like you I have St Johns Wood but have never worn it! I’ll be busting that out of my stash soon!!
I have plenty. They are ALL good quality and the pigmentation is excellent. I’ve never needed 3 coats of anything and I’m an habitual 3-coater. But then I’m in England so they’re easy….
I’m loving this new series!
I love this color and the bottle!
This is pretty. It sucks when international polishes are difficult to get. When I get my tax refund I am going to order some Barry M polishes and dazzle dusts.
So, if you love a color and hate the brush, is there any way to use a brush you like to apply the color? Crazy question, I know, but since I’m a polish newbie I thought I’d ask if this is a solution that wouldn’t cause you to want to tear your hair out accomplishing it.
Thanks!
Nice one but I think its more on the grape side, I’d have to see it in person. I have three nails inc polishes and tge brush is the problem on my coloues too. I have to do 3 coats to get it half decent, they are expensive too. I prefer China Glaze, Butter London, BarryM, Sally Hansen, Rimmel Lobdon so I won’t be buying anymore Nas Inc.
That name sounds dirty to me.
I agree, it’s very interesting and looks gorgeous on you
This looks really similar to Sally Hansen’s Pacific Blue! only more purple. I like it.
Gorgeous color! But are those little bubbles I see? (Sorry I just hate nail polish that dries with bubbles).
Also, I looked on the Henri Bendel web site & couldn’t find these for sale.
I wonder if Sephora will sell them on their web site?