New! Nails Inc Nailkale Nail Polish Swatches & Review

Watching kale, the vitamin-packed superfood, go on the food trend roller coaster from “oh so popular” to “oh so over,” it was only a matter of time before it became a buzzed about beauty ingredient.

While I’ve seen face products infused with kale, Nails Inc is the first nail brand to embrace the benefits of the leafy green. The Nails Inc Nailkale line not only brings us a new, nourishing formula, it also introduces new packaging, including a way to try on the polish before you buy it. Keep reading to see what I mean.

Formula & Application

Nails Inc Nailkale is 5-Free (Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP, Formaldehyde Resin, Camphor). The weighty glass bottles have a concave design that feel very expensive in the hand. The chrome finish cap is removable, revealing a plastic, ribbed inner cap to use for polishing.

One of the benefits of the new bottle design is that you can place your finger underneath to see how the polish will look with your skin coloring.

The brush is also new, with a wide, flat paddle design that is curved at the tip. The bristles are dense and somewhat flexible, allowing you to get very close to the cuticle, creating a clean line. I’ve noticed that I get better results when I float the brush over the nail.

The polish itself is silky smooth and pigmented. Both colors applied flawlessly in two coats, drying with a high gloss shine.

The Kale Extract Claim: Kale is packed with high levels of vitamins A, C and K to stimulate advanced keratin production, hydrate and nourish nails.

Nails Inc Nailkale Colors

Nails Inc Nailkale Westbourne Park Road is a pink-based nude creme, exclusive to Sephora. It looks dusty compared to L’Oreal Doutzen’s Nude, like a pale grey-d version of Essie Ladylike.

Nails Inc Nailkale Bruton Mews is an existing shade, released in Fall/Winter 2012. It’s a deep, forest green creme, not quite hunter, and more saturated than Orly Enchanted Forest. This is what I wanted the super sheer NARS Zulu to be!

Wear Test

I wore Bruton Mews for 5-days using Nubar Foundation Base Coat (I don’t have the new Nailkale base coat) and Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat. It looked great, only minimal tip wear, until tailgating on Day 4. Being more active, like playing giant Jenga, led to scratches and a chip.

Bottom Line: The bottle is a real showpiece and I like how the color is reflected in the bottle base for a built-in “try it on” experience. The formula is a pleasure to apply and, even though I’m a thin brush girl, this one would have made me re-think my Top 10 Nail Polish Brushes list. The wear is decent but, since wear is such a subjective thing, your mileage may vary.

The color range is pretty limited at the moment but will expand with time and I’m sure we’ll see existing Nails Inc shades come out in this formula and packaging as they are re-produced.

Nails Inc Nailkale is available at Sephora stores in the US and online at Sephora.com and NailsInc.com. Nailkale polishes retail for $14/ea for a .47oz bottle. There is also a Nailkale Superfood Base Coat ($15) and Nailkale Illuminator ($14).

What do you think of the new Nails Inc packaging? How about kale as a nail polish ingredient? Will you check out the Nailkale line?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for Nails Inc. Affiliate links appear in this post. When you purchase through an affiliate link, you help support this site. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.