AURA Like a Pro! Nail Polish [112 - Taupe Nude] Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - July 14, 2024

One new AURA nail polish – this is the AURA Like a Pro! Nail Polish, in the shade 112/Taupe Nude!
 
 
I wasn’t planning to buy this nail polish originally. That changed when I saw that DM had some AURA nail polishes 50% off, including a very nice smoky nude that looked like it would be a great neutral colour for pale skin. But I wasn’t going to DM, I was going to BIPA, hoping to find that exact one. So I was going through the clearance bin, rummaging through the AURA nail polishes, and then I found one single 112/Taupe Nude, which, alright, isn’t the one I was looking for, but it looked awesome! It’s a perfect replacement fir the one I wanted – and, it’s on a large discount! Wait... it turns out that it wasn’t, but the cashier was kind enough to give it at a 50% off discount because I found it in the clearance bin (even if it wasn’t supposed to be there, it seems)! The Like a Pro! nail polishes were a bit hit-or-miss... I hope this one is one of the good ones!
 

 
Packaging: very rectangular bottle, it’s got quite sharp edges. I like this, it makes it look modern and cool! The text is black in the front, which is good, it’s easy to read. However, the text in the back is light gray, which is just a phenomenal choice with this greige... it is barely readable, even with good lighting. Was it so hard to make it white? Or black? Anyways, the cap is rectangular and black, to compete the modern, angular look. The cap closes extremely tightly. 
 
 
 

Ingredients: nothing nourishing; 3-free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). The scent is like most other nail polishes. The expiration date is 24 months after opening.
 

 
Colour: taupe nude is a pretty good description; this is a light greige, but it’s also kinda similar to a light taupe gray. To me it honestly looks more beige than anything else, but it definitely has some gray pigments in it, too. It looks slightly ashy; it’s a very neutral colour that goes with so many other colours. It’s slightly warm-toned, so it avoids looking dated. No, to me, it’s freaking cool! Such a good neutral colour that isn’t just your standard light rosy nude. Of course, on my pale skin, it isn’t really nude, it’s darker, but I love this! It really looks classy and elegant! It honestly looks much better than I thought it would when I bought it.
 
 
 

 
The brush is long and not too wide, and it has a circular cross-section. So it’s actually more of a round brush than a truly flat one. In any case, it seems to be slightly frayed and doesn’t look very high quality anyways. It certainly picks up a ton of nail polish, but it struggles to apply it evenly across the nails. This is partly – mostly – because of the formula being just weird, but the brush doesn’t make it any easier. And it isn’t precise at all, so you are likely to end up with a right mess around your nails. Not good.
 
 
 
 
The formula is very weird. It’s not too thin, but it’s very, very watery. It’s runny and not easy to work with at all. I don’t like it, honestly. It is too thick for how watery it is. It’s interesting how the Like a Pro! nail polishes have so many different formulas depending on what the finish is like... 


One coat is slightly sheer, although that varies depending on how thick a layer you apply. If it is a thick coat, it can be opaque with one coat, but it’s hard to make it properly even if you apply thick coats. Because it’s slightly sheer, it looks a bit... dirty... with one coat. With two coats, it is completely opaque but it is actually more uneven. I still have almost bare patches with two coats, which is veeerrry annoying. It might not be very visible in photos, but I can clearly see it irl. The texture is glossy.

 
Longevity is decent, nothing special. I didn’t experience a lot of chipping during 4 days of wearing it, just some corner chipping on a few nails. They still looked in quite good condition, tbh. But you know what really isn’t good? The scratches! It gets so horribly scratched up that it ruins the glossy finish. And not only that, I also had some weird bubbles form on the second and third day. I have no idea what’s happening, but it really cannot be worn without a base and, especially, a top coat! Shame, as it’s a really gorgeous colour...
 
 
 
 
 
It’s very easy to remove. I didn’t have to rub a lot to remove it fully, and it didn’t leave any stains. So, this is good.
 
 
All in all, as the first pure glossy Like a Pro!... not exceptionally good. But also not as bad as the metallic Like a Pro!, that one was just bad. This one is decent, but it has some serious problems. First, the scratching issue. It becomes scratched to hell within 24 hours, so it is absolutely vital to apply a top coat to protect it. Otherwise, it will be full of scratches in no time, and that hurts the nicely glossy finish a lot. Also, the formula is very difficult to work with; it’s runny and quite uneven. And even two coats doesn’t make it even, I still had bare patches on nails even though I really tried to make it look the best. That said, the longevity is quite good in terms of how much it chips. It didn’t chip much at all, it only chipped on the corners of a few nails, which is honestly much better than I thought it would be. And the colour is just beautiful! It’s a great greige that looks warm, but not very orange; in fact, it is not at all orange, and that is exactly what I was looking for! It’s soft and greige and just so great! And it looks awesome on pale skin, it’s such a great neutral colour! But it’s just mid overall, I’ve had many better quality neutral nail polishes before. This one can be good, but it really needs a base and top coat. So, sadly, I will not recommend it. Seems like the glittery Like a Pro! nail polishes are the best, so far...
 
 
 
Rating: 5/10
 
 
Would buy again? NO



 

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