A little while ago, the owner of nailgirls contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in trying out one of her nail polishes. How could I resist? (I couldn’t!)
Before I knew it, I was tearing open a surprise package. Inside, I found a bottle of nailgirls Aqua 1, which is a great pastel blue that’s perfect for the spring and summer.
Prior to this, I don’t remember hearing about this brand or seeing it, so I was really curious to try a new-to-me nail polish!
So how did it fare? How was the formula? Allow me to tell you!
nailgirls Aqua 1 Pictures
Flash
Natural Light
Flash
Natural Light
nailgirls Aqua 1 Ingredients
nailgirls Aqua 1 Swatches
All swatches have:
- Nail Tek Foundation II Base Coat
- 2 coats of nailgirls Aqua 1
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Flash Photos
Natural Light Photos
Claim: TRUSTED
√ Blue gingham pastel
√ Quick-dry 2-coat formula
Key Notes
- Name: nailgirls Aqua 1
- Amount: 15 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
- What I Paid: Nothing! (This was sent to me by the company. Retails for £10.50.)
- Where to Buy: nailgirls website
nailgirls Aqua 1 Review
Colour
Aqua 1 by nailgirls is a milky blue, but it’s not one of those anemic pastels – it has enough colour so that you know it’s a pale blue and not a white with some blue. I think that’s what keeps it looking crisp and fresh.
This type of colour is great for the spring and summer, especially, and because it’s light, I can picture this being wonderful if used as a base for nail art. 😉
Finish
Aqua 1 by nailgirls has a simple creme finish that I appreciate. It’s clean and modern all on its own. And, of course, the beauty about creme lacquers is that they’re so easy to remove. You don’t need to scrub and scrub and scrub!
Application & Formula
Since this was my first ever nailgirls London nail polish, I was really curious about the formula. To my delight, it was extremely opaque with just a single coat! I was expecting sheer streakiness, but that wasn’t the case at all.
With one medium coat, you could probably achieve full opacity, but I used two to even everything out. The pigmentation was incredible!
The consistency of the polish was on the thick side, but it was easy enough to work with. It may thicken even more over time, but it’s nothing that a drop or two of polish thinner can’t fix.
Are There Any Dupes?
When I saw this colour, I immediately thought of OPI What’s With the Cattitude?, but when I compared the bottles, it seems as though Aqua #1 has a touch more green. Then I thought Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Pool Boy (which I used in my snowflake nail art tutorial) would be a close match. Nope! Pool Boy is brighter, and Aqua #1 is dirtier.
Maybe there is a dupe, but the colours I could think of weren’t exactly the same.
Pros
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Cons
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Final Verdict: 9/10
nailgirls Aqua #1 was a real treat because it wasn’t a fussy polish in any way. The application was smooth and pigmented, and clean-up was a breeze!
I was very pleased with this polish, and now I’m curious to find out if their other colours also apply as beautifully as this one did.
Have you tried any nailgirls nail polishes? If you live in the UK, what are some of your favourite local polishes to use?
Very pretty pastel blue!
Jim recently posted: BB Couture – Dark Passage
Hey Jim!
Thanks for visiting! 😀 I’ve heard a lot about your blog. I’ll be checking it out soon. It’s so refreshing to see a guy’s take on polish! 😀
I have been looking for this color for a while now.
I keep finding blue-er versions, green-er versions, everything! except this shade. I LOVE it!
I like your review and I definitely am going to figure a way to put my hands on this babe!!!
Thank you so much!!!
Jin recently posted: My First Stamping
Hey Jin!
Thank YOU! 😀 I’m glad that you found this review helpful, and I hope that you can track it down. It’s so pigmented and pretty!
Very pretty! I love colours like this. It’s so fresh looking.
I’ve heard of Nailgirls but even in the UK they don’t seem to be that easy to get hold of. I think they’re only really in big department stores.
Sophie recently posted: My First Water Marble
Hey Sophie!
Oh! You’d think that this polish would be easier for you to get hold of since it’s a local company! It’s too bad…but maybe they’ll branch out more to get the word out. They seem to have lots of diverse colours available, and if more people only knew about them, I’m sure they’d buy a bottle, two, or ten. 😉
You know me, I’m a sucker for pastel blues… Usually they come with baggage (needing multiple coats for full opacity). I immediately looked to how many costs you used in your swatches!
Lovely lovely shade. I haven’t heard of this brand either!
Marta recently posted: Divas & Drama Final Thoughts
Hey Marta!
Yep, a lot of pastel blues are divas! 😉 I think you’d be floored by this one. When I painted the first nail, I thought that there was no way it was THAT pigmented, so for the next finger, I used less polish. It was still heavily pigmented! 🙂
Pretty! It’s nice that it’s so highly pigmented, might work well for stamping!
Hey karen!
Good idea – it probably would work! It’s so creamy and on the thicker side.
I’m sold that this one is a one coater! I’m with Marta, pastel blues tend to require additional coats so this is a real treat! Not too keen on that price tag though..
Carmela recently posted: First Ever Birthday Month Giveaway!
Hey Carmela!
Yeah, the formula HAS to be excellent with that price tag. 🙂