Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a Red Hot Milani Manicure
One of the first things I told the boyfriend about being with me is to keep the flower buying to a minimum (seems like a waste) and to NEVER EVER get me a Valentine’s Day gift. Not to be all Debbie Downer about VDay but it’s just not my thing. People put so much pressure on one day and I’d much rather get a surprise from my man because he wants to, not because Hallmark told him to.
Even though we don’t celebrate the holiday, like most men, the BF really loves the color red, especially on nails. As you know, the official colors for today, red and pink, aren’t exactly faves of mine but I may as well indulge him, right? And Milani just happens to have perfect budget-friendly reds to get the job done.
New shades from the Milani High Speed Fast Dry and Jewel FX lines paired with a One Coat Glitter will send Cupid’s arrow straight to your lover’s heart. Or make you the envy of your BFFs when you go out to celebrate the joy of being single.
Side note: There is one thing I look forward to every VDay. My friend HisA sends out an annual email to her girlfriends on this day to share what the past year has taught her about life and love and loving herself as a woman, relationship or not. It’s an amazing gift and something I encourage all of you to do.
Formula & Application: Milani nail polishes are 4-Free (including formaldehyde resin). The bottles have a tapered, shiny plastic cap with a long, thick, round brush. The round brushes on Milani polishes are bigger than most and combined with the flexible bristles they allow for optimal coverage of the nail plate. The High Speed Fast Dry line sports a wide flat brush that is pretty dense and thick. It really holds the polish and covers the nail plate though people with narrow nail beds might find it a bit too big.
The only downside of the One Coat Glitter it that it’s kind of thick so it just of plops on the nail which doesn’t really allow for phenomenal control but glitters are pretty forgiving so any uneven brush strokes around the cuticle aren’t noticeable. Regarding the “one coat” coverage promise, Milani comes close but doesn’t quite hit the mark. The first coat definitely covers better than most glitter polishes but it’s not completely opaque. Applying two thin-medium coats will give the best results.
The High Speed Fast Dry formula really impressed me. It’s so packed with pigment that I thought the bottle was a solid color, not glass. That does make the polish a bit thicker in feel but it’s not gloppy so you can easily control it. The bottle claims a one coat application, 60 second dry time and high gloss finish. It lived up to the one coat claim and while it was mostly dry after a minute, I wouldn’t go reaching in my purse. The finish was a bit more dull than I expected but it’s nothing a top coat can’t remedy.
Milani High Speed Fast Dry Rapid Cherry is a super pigmented, blue-based red creme. As the name implies it has a maraschino cherry hue that is very true to the bottle color. Even though I don’t wear this type of shade very often, a one-coat red nail polish is pretty impressive.
Now I couldn’t let this manicure fly without a touch of glam and I’m a fan of the accent nail so I debated between Milani One Coat Glitter Red Sparkle and Jewel FX Red. Ultimately I liked the evenness of the one coat glitter. It feels a bit more chic and subtle even though it’s full coverage. Application tip: This polish eats top coat so I used a spackle coat of Gelous underneath since I don’t use thick, quick dry top coats.
Though because I just had to know what Milani Jewel FX Red would look like on my nail, I added a coat to my thumb. It’s a clear-based red glitter with big hexagonal sequins that look pretty identical to Deborah Lippmann Do Ya Think I’m Sexy. They just aren’t as dense. It’s hard to evenly place this type of glitter and that’s why Little Miss Meticulous over here prefers something more uniform like the One Coat Glitter formula.
Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a fab one coat red, jump on Rapid Cherry even if red isn’t your thing. You should also check out the rest of the High Speed Fast Dry line while you’re at it. The One Coat Glitters are totally my jam, I love them ALL, but if you prefer something more fun and carefree, the Jewel FX will do you right. They’re not ideal for full coverage as you need a lot of coats but for layering, totally party worthy.
Milani High Speed Fast Dry, Jewel FX and One Coat Glitter nail polishes are available at drugstores nationwide and online at MilaniCosmetics.com and CherryCulture.com. Milani nail polishes retail for$4.99/ea for a .5oz bottle.
Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day with your sweetie or are you anti-VDay? What colors make up your ultimate sexy red manicure? Do you plan to pick up any of these Milani shades? Who else is loving the High Speed Fast Dry line?
Disclosure: I purchased the Milani One Coat Glitter. The rest are product samples provided by Milani. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
My sister shot me a photo of that red one glitter top coat, I need it in my life! It is amazing! Gosh, I love red polishes <3
I love reds
Not initially though because it took some time to find the right red for me, and now I absolutely love how chic and classy they look on my short nails, especially as a half moon mani 
And I too am anti-Vday! I agree with everything you say, my man spoils me aplenty throughout the year – we constantly treat each other just ’cause, so it seems silly to do it just because a Hallmark holiday says to! xx
Beautiful festive mani:) Thank you for sharing. Also thank you for not pressuring your man into this obligatory “holiday” of gift giving. I’m completely with you on this one & my husband sure appreciates it;)
I want them all!! I have been dying to try the new Jewel FX collection. Are you going to have swatches of all the new shades?:)
Simply gorgeous!!!!
xxx
Miss Starshiny
So glad to see your perfectly polished nails again! I had been trying to substitute with other polish blogs, but it wasn’t the same. Very happy to see you back!
So pretty. Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
I’d love to see the hex glitter over the one-coat glitter-I think that’d be HOT! Love me some red glitter!
All three are lovely shades of red!
My husband and I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, either. It’s so contrived. But I did paint my nails red, too. Zoya Diana over here! I wanted to do a red glitter accent nail but I didn’t want to buy a bottle to paint 2 fingers for a holiday I hate. Next time…
My husband bought me some shoes, and I made him a special dinner. Seems like a fair trade to me!
We usually buy a giant heart-shaped box of chocolates to share, but it slipped our minds this year. He told me this morning that he forgot, but he would run and get it right after work. I just laughed and told him not to worry…they’ll all be on sale tomorrow!
Oh,all of them are so pretty! But as always, i love the glitters more.
I’m totally anti-VDay but i like to see the manis, they’re always pretty, i loved your, simple but great.
I also once told N not to get me flowers. Now I end up picking up fresh flowers once a week for our home!! (but those are like $5 vs $50 for a bouquet ; ) )
nice reds liked the creme more
I did Milani today too! Great minds. =)
I think red looks great on you!
My husband booked the day off work to spend Valentine’s day. We had breakfast together at a restaurant and then went shopping where I got a magnetic nail polish.
We had lunch together out and picked up the kids from school. Then he cooked me a lovely dinner and we spent the evening together after the kids were in bed. He got me flowers, card and presents too. I made him a special card and presents. We like to spend the day as a couple.
Yes I painted my nails an Orange red colour for the evening meal.
The one-coat glitter is so prety – I’ve been trying to find these in the store but no luck
Guess I’ll have to order online!
I love the Milani One Coat Glitter Red Sparkle and Jewel FX Red!
I love a red nail and wear it often, so I am all over all three of these polishes. I have lots of reds, but I really like Essie Forever Yummy, which is the perfect red to me. I suppose it seems kind of boring but it goes really well with my skin tone and it just feels right. It took me a long time to find it.
My favorite of these three is the One Coat Glitter and you can rest assured I will be picking that up as soon as I can find it. Then I’ll be sporting an accent finger mani, too.
PRETTY! So you put Gelous underneath your glitter polishes?
Sorry, I guess I didn’t make that very clear. I put Gelous between the glitter polish and my top coat. I find that the Gelous fills in the texture of the glitter making the final result smoother
I adore Gelous – it helps so much with glitters and also making my polish jobs (non glitter) last a whole lot longer – but then so too does my at home version of the new LED lamps. All I need to do is be sure to use a UV/LED top coat – all my other polishes work under that just fine!
My VDay mani was Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Wine Not.
Lovely! I like how the glitters do well with layering-although the mixed mani trend is fading, it’s something I still prefer. : )
I love the red glitters and the last combo is stunning
I want all three of those reds!!
I love red polish. Although, I’ve seen old ladies wearing it, and that seems weird to me. Sorry, I know it’s a classic color but that’s just my opinion. I feel like red polish and gray hair don’t jive, ya know?
ooohhhh… gorgous reds! I love to do gradient nails on this one. I’ll use the rapid cherry as my base color, the glitter red as the middle base and then I’d put the jewl fx on the tips of my nails. ahhh! I want to paint my nails now!
My husband loves red on nails too. Why is that?
I am also not a V-Day gal. I did not like it as a kid and that has continued to my adulthood. Back when I went to grade school, there were not the teacher controls or awareness of all the forms of discrimination going on in the school place. I HATED how we made our bags for valentine’s to get deposited in., then hung the up in the classroom on the window ledges in my case. When V day came, it was this popularity contest to have everyone get them and count how many they got, and who’s had the ones that were considered the best ‘collection’ based on glitter and color on the valentines. There were always the out-casts in our classroom who maybe got 1 or 2 cards only. THAT’s what made me feel bad. You were put up on a bag person kind of status if you dared to give the outcasts a valentine and if you dared, it better be the worst and ugliest in your collection your mom bought that year. I ALWAYS put a valentine in every bag. It bothered me so much. But I grew up in the late 50′s and 60′s. Times were different. I was however hooked to the news then and to LIFE magazine. I knew what was going on down south with Jim Crowe laws before the start of the CR movement. Dad also had strong words for me as did mom about how wrong all this was. Dad was still bothered from being in WWII and having to serve in a segregated Navy. He was not raised that way. I know it’s better now in school and everyone gives everyone else V-day cards. But that set the tone for me for life and it has not changed. I also always tell any new man in my life NEVER waste you $ on red roses – they are $$$ and I don’t really like them. One rose of another shade or a bunch of daisy’s is much more appreciated by me. I even love getting carnations. They get a bad rap as a cheap flower.
Oh and these are lovely reds…I have always been a fan of great red polishes first above all other colors…it you had to limit me to only one hue it would be red – yet I love wearing purples and all kinds of other colors. We don’t have Milani where I live. Closer by towns (I live in a semi rural to rural area) have a few at times…but we don’t get the huge new ongoing collections that I always see on web blogs. Sad as it looks along with many others we don’t get, are really pretty – long as they don’t rip the moisture out of my nail or chip the first day or 2…otherwise I feel it’s a waste. I did my nails ever night before the next day in HS in the 60′s and I am not ever going back to that. I had that time for the ritual in HS but not now. Milani & other brands are too inexpensive to pay the up prices on eBay for me to get hold of or use an etailer.