lacquered up // fragrance-free nail polish

First and foremost!  Remember to enter the current blogiversary giveaways for a photo shoot and a whole bunch of awesome ad space on your favorite blogs!  The ad space giveaway ends Wednesday!  :)

You may remember this post from June in which I discussed some options for fragrance-free nail polish.  Albeit belated, I'm now following up on my promise to review these polishes.  Today's post features Acquarella.  The polish I tried was "Vex," a metallic, gunmetal gray shade.

Also, please forgive me -- I got lazy with my Mani Monday photography this week.

As you can see, I couldn't resist going without some flair in my manicure, so for my accent nail on my ring finger, I used "Bastille My Heart," a metallic fuchsia shade by OPI, and added polka dots in "Don't Touch My Tutu," a light pastel matte gray (also by OPI), with a dotting tool from Sephora.

When the Acquarella polish came in the mail, I was a little surprised because I thought "Vex" was closer to black.  It's difficult to tell on the Acquarella website's shopping page, but I could've done my homework a bit better by checking out the Color Selector, which goes into more detail about what to expect from each color (since it can be difficult to tell online).  Since I was kinda hoping for a true matte black, I would've been better off with "Void."  Anyway, I digress.

My review: Acquarella definitely held up to its odorless claims.  Absent was the "dreadful smell of chemicals" because it's completely water-based -- Acquarella says "no" to formaldehyde, phthalates, toluene, and other petrochemical solvents.  This is part of what makes nail polish so stinky and I think we can all agree that products without something like formaldehyde are a good idea, yes?  They also make nail conditioners, remover, and other chemical-free goodies for your digits.  They are also vegan, which means no animal testing, which I love.  :)

The polish also dries fast, and according to the Acquarella website, it's unnecessary to use a base or top coat, but I'm kind of stuck in my ways on that one, so I used both anyway (if you try it without, let me know!).  I polished two days ago and I'm already experiencing what I would consider normal chipping, so don't let its "no chip" claims fool you -- it's just like any other nail polish in that regard.

     ♥ Pros: truly fragrance-free, goes on like any other polish, chemical-free, vegan, great selection of colors

     ♥ Cons: expensive ($16 a bottle), not widely available in stores (to my knowledge), and not necessarily chip-resistant, as the website claims.

I'd also really like to try Scotch Naturals polish, and will probably snag one of those soon -- the only reason I haven't already is because every time I go to their website, I get lost in the colors and have trouble narrowing down which one I want to try.  I get frustrated and give up (haha!).  So I'll try to work up some decisiveness and make it happen.  I'll let you know how it goes.  :)

Remember to visit the other awesome Mani Monday bloggers!  Thanks to Heather at Glitter and Gloss & Heather at Just Love.ly Things for hosting!  Be sure to also visit Vicki and Tara at The Nail Files, hosted every Friday.  :)