Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Polish
I recently decided to ignore my disdain for drug store nail polish and pick up some of the new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes. I bravely looked past the hideous 1984 looking triangle shaped bottles and saw some truly gorgeous looking colors. The fact that they are cheap ($5.49) and quick drying didn’t hurt either!
One thing that was a little strange at first was the brush. It’s very wide and tapered and I thought there was no way I could get it to apply nicely. I was wrong, it actually worked out perfectly. The polishes were all opaque in two coats. I must let you know that I wore Jumpin’ Jade recently as a mani and it chipped within 24 hours. However, I wore Uptempo Plum as a pedi for a good 2 weeks with no problems. Other people have said these can last up to 5 days, so I think it all depends on the person wearing it (and how much you wash your hands, which I do A LOT). Check ‘em out!
Blue Streak is a very nice shade of icy blue. The finish is shimmery yet also metallic. I didn’t have any streaking issues with it, which was great. They aren’t kidding when they say “Insta-Dri” these dried seriously quick, like within 2 minutes!
Pronto Purple is fabulous! The purple is kind of a grape/wine color and there is so much shimmer! The shimmer is red and blue and in the sun this baby really sparkles.
Jumpin’ Jade is THE reason I decided to try these out. I had seen this color swatched on someone else’s blog awhile back and had been jonseing for it ever since. I think this is now in my top 10 best green’s. True to the name, the color is a jade green shimmer and I cannot begin to describe how great it is. If you are a green fanatic you MUST own this!
Mochachino is one of those lit from within colors. It’s a brown base but has very small gold shimmer that looks almost buried DEEP within the brown and that’s what causes that glow. I love it and know I will be wearing this a lot.
Blazing Blue is another “glowy” looking color. It’s a dark navy blue with light blue shimmer. I can think of a few other colors similar to this, so it’s not totally original, but still really great!
Uptempo Plum is my second favorite of these. This is a vampy dark plum with pink shimmer. It does tend to have that blackened look when not in the sun though so if you don’t like that, then this might not work for you. I however loved it!
You can find these colors and many more at various drug stores such as Walgreen’s, CVS, Wal-Mart and Target.
oooh, I really love these! It took a while to adapt to the tapered brush, but is all good. The clear topcoat works pretty well too
Hey great pics! I love Uptempo Plum, but I’ve been afraid to try them because of all the bad stuff I heard about the brush and that they are difficult to apply because they dry so fast. I’m glad to hear that you didn’t have those problems
Why do you have a disdain for drugstore polish???
Hey great pics! I love Uptempo Plum, but I’ve been afraid to try them because of all the bad stuff I heard about the brush and that they are impossible to apply because they dry so fast. I’m glad to hear that you didn’t have those problems
Why do you have a disdain for drugstore polish???
My God these are all gorgeous colors. I love that brown and the green. I’ve just started using some drug store polishes. The Sally Hansen and Revlon habe been really nice. Guess I can’t be a brand snob anymore.
Hi Marianna,
They do dry fast but I really didn’t have any problems!
I just am turned off my most drug store makeup because of the ugly packaging. I am a total package snob! BUT I am trying to look past that now.
Hi Lucy,
I am totally with you about being a brand snob. Plus I am all about how something looks for first impressions and most drug store polish bottles are sooooo 80′s!
Yay! Aren’t they pretty? Which ones did you get?
Hi Steph,
I think I got them all!
Thanks for the lovely swatches. I always appreciate your reviews. Could you tell me how you get such a neat line at your cuticles? I feel like the polish near my cuticles always looks like a mess. Thanks!
These are really pretty colors! I love Pronto Purple and Blue Streak is popping off the screen. It’s a really vibrant blue. I can get Insta Dri’s for about 3.71 + tax here, they must be worth the try, I’ve been seeing them everywhere!
Hi Teresa,
I use a small paint brush dipped in remover and go around my cuticles after I am done polishing. I got it at Michael’s craft store for only a few bucks!
Hi Lachelle,
They are definitely worth trying out and the new summer colors are out now too. I just got ‘em this afternoon
Every time I see that green swatched, it makes me drool! But the only thing preventing me from buying it is because of the long wand. I opened one up to look at it in the grocery store, and lots of nail polish seems to collect at the mouth of the bottle. SIGH…I’d buy it in a heartbeat if only that was different. Maybe they’ll repackage it – the colours are fab!
What a beautiful colors ! You did a great job choosing those color -they are absolutely gorgeous
I love Mochachino! How does it compare to Zoya Kalista?
Whoa. I didn’t think I wanted any of the other shades, but now that I’ve seen your pics I want them all!! Awesome swatches, thank you for posting them!!
Hi Casey,
You know I just compared them side by side in the bottle and I cannot see any difference at all between them! I can’t tell for sure on the nail though, I would have to do a side by side swatch.
Hi Scrangie,
I know I am telling you these are really cool! I thought the same thing haha!
thanks – it looks like a budget friendly dupe!
Hi Vampy!
Thanks for this post. I bought Mochachino and Uptempo Plum. I got a mani/pedi today with Plum. My manicurist didn’t like the brush. But the colour looks super cool! I’ll let you know how long it lasts. I did 2 coats with a base and topcoat. My mani’s usually last about 5 days before they chip.
Love your blog!
Hi Vicki T,
Yeah I can see how a lot of people won’t like the brush, but it did work out well for me in the end. Let me know how long it lasts on you!
Great article. My mom bought a bottle of this and said how great it was, I tried it as a pedi first and it’s excellent! It stays on forever.
I’m having some trouble with it on my fingernails, though. I can never get the right amount of polish on the brush – if I put too little on it’s streaky, and if I put too much on it takes forever to dry. The brush doesn’t help, either. How do you go about it?
(I probably should have tried it on my fingernails before I bought more colors!
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