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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