Sephora Formula X Vortex – Swatch & Review

I was absolutely certain that I’d reviewed the Sephora X polishes that I bought in New York in January – I only picked up two, and I re-pulled them out of my collection this week to remind me what I did or didn’t like about them and discovered that I hadn’t reviewed either of them, despite I know I’ve worn both multiple times

Vortex was the one I picked up on a bit of a whim, I’m a sucker for a glitter and I love a bright blue, it definitely one of the colours that sits really well on my skintone. In the bottle it looks like it has a heavier silver hue than it does when it’s applied to the nails. There are a few hints of silver, green and even purple that lift it from looking like a totally flat blue, but you’re only really able to notice them if you’re looking at your nails super close up.

Sephora officially describe it as an ocean blue with a rainbow shift… I think that’s a bit of a misleading description from Sephora, the rainbow effects (which isn’t a true rainbow – just green and purple) definitely don’t show up as a shift and are barely noticeable. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for me as it actually reminds me of one of my favourite polishes from OPI which I had years ago and was discontinued – Absolutely Alice from the Alice in Wonderland collection in 2009. Man I wish I had a back up of that…

Credit All Lacquered Up
Credit All Lacquered Up

This applies really well to the nails, it’s almost opaque in one coat – but I applied a second just to make sure there were no patches being hidden. It dries quite matte, with a scratchy texture to it – it definitely needed a layer of topcoat to it to help make it look great again – one coat didn’t quite cut it, so here it’s pictured with two coats of Essie Gel Couture Topcoat.

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I remembered from the past that this didn’t last well on the nails at all, I was hoping that Essie’s wonder topcoat might be the trick to getting this to last a little longer. Sadly that wasn’t the case. This, no matter what I do seems to chip heavily in under 2 days. The bottom layer of this sticks to the nail like tar and is so difficult to  actually remove, despite that the top chips so quickly,

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I like how this looks on the nails, but I wish it lasted better, I can’t see me reaching for this very often as it chips so quickly and it’s a nightmare to remove. I think I’ll have to invest in a peel off base coat for this polish to get it off all in one go – if you have any recommendations of a good one please let me know.
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I’ve got a similar problem with the other Sephora X polish I bought (also a glitter) which applies so nicely and opaquely, but doesn’t stay on the nails – that one is less of a nightmare to remove though. Are all Sephora X polishes like this, is it just the glitters? Or have I just picked a bad couple of shades? I was thinking of buying some more in Milan, where I am when this post goes live, but I’m unsure as to whether I should or not!

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Helpless Whilst Drying

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10 Comments

  1. September 26, 2016 / 10:44 am

    This colour is gorgeous! I’m a bit of a sucker for glitter polishes too x

  2. September 26, 2016 / 3:28 pm

    Really pretty shade! It’s really such a shame that it doesn’t last on your nails, especially as glitters usually don’t tend to chip that easily!

  3. September 26, 2016 / 7:47 pm

    The color looks great – too bad it chips 🙁

  4. September 26, 2016 / 8:18 pm

    Lovely colour. So weird it stays like tar but yet chips! I’ve been curious about those peel off base coats for glitter polishes. Let me know what you decide to pick up! I have a few shimmers from Sephora Formula X line and they’re not bad to remove – I think it’s these glitters that are a pain in the butt!

  5. kathy
    September 30, 2016 / 7:55 am

    I’ve never tried Formula X nail polishes despite my love for nails!
    Kathy x

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