American Apparel Nail Lacquer Swatches & Review
EDIT: Looks like these have been pulled. Different stories are going around about why they have been recalled, but here is an article someone posted in a comment.
Hallo Mates!
As you might be aware of, American Apparel the clothing company recently released a line of nail lacquer. The company sent me one to review, but I really wanted to check out their other colors and formula a little more in depth, so I ordered six more. I am NOT disappointed in what I got, they are really great!
The formula on these is totally outstanding. They are really smooth, no cuticle drag, not too thick or thin and opaque (most of them) in two coats. I am really impressed, I wasn’t expecting this great of quality from a company that doesn’t specialize in cosmetics, to be honest.
Have a looksee!
Mouse
Mouse is a mouse taupe creme. Yes, this has the mushroom thing going on also, which is great. This one is a lot lighter than other mushroomy taupe’s we have recently seen. It’s not a dupe for anything I own, but very similar to Orly Country Club Khaki. Some other taupe’s you can compare this to are: Rimmel Steel Grey, Orly Country Club Khaki and OPI Over The Taupe. If you look at pics side by side (open two browser windows and compare) you will see they are all different. This was two coats.
Factory Grey
Factory Grey is a blue/grey creme. This has a lot of blue in it and almost a hint of purple, which makes it very unique. The only other color I have that remotely looks similar is Dashing Diva Astor Place. Astor Place has a lot less blue/purple in it though. This was two coats.
Office
Office is a light mint green creme. This one is really great on my skin tone, it doesn’t make my hands look red, like MAC’s Peppermint Patty did. There have been a ton of mint green’s lately, and this one could actually be a dupe for Essie’s Mint Candy Apple. Compare it to Illamasqua Milf, RGB Minty, China Glaze Re-Refresh Mint and Essie Mint Candy Apple. It is very close to Essie’s Mint Candy Apple, I would say if you own that then there might not be a need for Office. This was two coats.
Coney Island
Coney Island is a cotton pink, almost pastel, creme. LOVE IT! Usually these don’t do much for me, but this one looks really great. It was a bit streaky so I needed three coats to get it nice and even.
Peacock
Peacock is a brilliant peacock blue creme. This is a really pretty color and I don’t really have many like this. I can’t think of any dupes that I own. This was two coats.
Hunter
Hunter is a deep hunter green creme. This is a really nice vampy green. I kind of like that there is no shimmer and it’s a true hunter green. This won’t look black in low lighting, like a lot of deep greens we’ve seen this winter. This was two coats.
Berry
Berry is a slightly sheer berry creme. I had a little trouble with this one, it was too sheer for my liking and even after three coats it wasn’t totally even. I’m not really a fan of berry colors either, so this was my least favorite of them all.
Overall I am really impressed with this collection. I think a lot of these are definitely worth owning if you can get them.
I bought these on American Apparel’s website (except Berry which was sent to me gratis), for $6.00 each. However I do not see them on there right now, and I’m not sure what exactly that means. I haven’t heard that they were limited edition or anything, so if you are interested and want to know the scoop, you can call their customer service line at 1-888-747-0070.
What do you think, are you digging these?
-VV
2010
On another subject, I like the new hair color Kelly. Keep it for a while. it’s mysterious, sexy even..!
2010
Those colors are so rad! Especially that blue, love it.
Chris´s last blog ..Bridgestone Motorcycle Tires
2010
Hmm. None of these colors look terribly unique to me. It looks like AA just picked the colors that have been most popular lately and made their own versions of them. The three that I would be most interested in look too much like colors that I already own for me to want to buy them;
Office (looks like Essie Mint Candy Apple)
Peacock (looks like Orly Calypso Blue)
Hunter (looks like Orly Enchanted Forest)
-Kelsey
P.S. Did you color your hair brown? It looks darker in your new comment thumbnail pic.
2010
Hi Kelsey,
You are right, they do have a lot of colors that are similar to others, but most aren’t dupes. The formula was really spectacular though, only needing 2 coats for most.
I had low-lights put in a couple months ago. Going lighter again though soon!
2010
These are some great colors!
marisol´s last blog ..Tequila & I Are Still Friends
2010
I like Hunter and Peacock
TipsToToes´s last blog ..Zoya Raven & Layering
2010
I’ve never tried any of these polishes. My favorites here are Factory Grey, Peacock, and Hunter.
2010
These are all wonderful colours! Thank you for swatching them
2010
Hi Kelly:
I love them all! I want them all! Love mouse and factory Grey is such a sexy dark Grey color. Office Teal is so blue teal and I would even be bold to wear Conney island pink or peacock blue; and why not?
I adore the hunter green shade and berry reminds me of a bowl of cherries. These are beautiful and gorgeous colors. How can we all decide which polishes to buy and use then another set of gorgeous and beautiful colors come along. There must be a system for having a collection of polishes in one’s own collection. Otherwise every woman (and man)m would go broke buying all,these gorgeous colors.
The desire to have all of these is amazing. They look so gorgeous on your amazing nails it’s like Wow! I must have that color. What do other nail polish fanatics do? How do they spend there money and their budget wisely?
((((Love Kelly)))))
Mc Huggs
Mc Huggs:)´s last blog ..Project Runway Season Six: Episode Eight
2010
I just want to help clear things up a little. I’m an AA employee in Montreal. The reason they were pulled from stores was because there was a problem with the packaging. AA obsesses over quality, and wanted to fix the problem ASAP. There is nothing wrong with the nail polish itself.
As far as the ‘hazardous material’ – As environmentally friendly as our polish, no one wants 280 stores putting a bag of bottles in the garbage. So they company was careful to make sure it would get disposed of properly.
Hope this helped to answer any questions!
2010
Hey, guys! I’m an American Apparel employee and the issue is actually just in the packaging. The nail polish is totally safe and we’ve been getting tons of feedback about how great it is. AA is really careful with quality, so they just wanted to get the bottle right and make sure the problematic bottles get safely disposed of.
2010
Mouse was on my wishlist and after seeing the swatches, still is! (even though I got Rimmel Steel Grey yesterday, heh)
december3rd´s last blog ..And the answer is…
2010
I do think that the colours are just amazing. They are true to the American Apparal Brand. Bright bold, odd, all creme colours. I do hope that they fix the product or bottles (which ever the case may be) because these are colours that are just fun, unique and easy to fine in Canada
2010
Great swatches! I hope these return soon. VV, what is your Mac foundation shade? I wonder if we are hand twins….
2010
Hi DadaCerise,
I don’t wear their foundation, but I am an NC20.
2010
Some great colors but nothing that I absolutely need
rijaH´s last blog ..China Glaze Up & Away Collection, Happy Go Lucky, Heli-Yum & Four Leaf Clover
2010
Peacock is my favorite. Very pretty color and unlike anything I have! Your swatches, as always, are beautiful. Thanks!
2010
I was told by an AA store employee that there was an issue with the bottle glass.
2010
I decided to ask the company about this issue and here is their response. http://concreteandnailpolish.blogspot.com/2010/01/american-apparel-has-not-been-recalled.html
April & Ashley Brooks´s last blog ..American Apparel Has NOT Been Recalled
2010
Hi April & Ashley Brooks,
Thanks for the link!
2010
I bought four of these, Office, Hunter, Palm Springs, and Dynasty. I didn’t get to try them yet however the recall is having me questioning what this whole “recall” is about. Even after reading the article I’m a little confused. Are they hiding something from us!? =O
Gladys´s last blog ..Lippmann Collection Don’t Tell Mama
2010
I love them all and hope they ae able to be placed back on shelves/online. I doubt a company of AA’s stature and the scrutiny that it’s typically under would claim make a 3-free polish and it’s not I’m sure the hazard is probably a container issue ( fingers crossed). I’m not sure what the letter to the employee means, but it may very well be just a bottle/glass issue. I’ll personally hold off before making won’t make any snap decison.
Kasey´s last blog ..Event Alert: Slow and Steady Win the Race Winter Sample Sale
2010
I hope they get everything sorted out, and put them back up/out for sale! I’ve wanted their NP for awhile now and never got around to ordering them because I hadn’t heard very much about their formula, quality, etc. Hopefully they put them back up and my procrastination won’t be in vain
Thanks for the swatches/review!!!
2010
From an MUA poster: They recalled them because the bottles were mislabelled. They’ll have them back up soon as the problem is fixed. It looks like only some of the batches were wrong though. I hope they come back soon. I really want some of those.
Perry´s last blog ..OPI She’s Golden
2010
http://jezebel.com/5457127/does-american-apparels-new-nail-polish-contain-hazardous-material
Uh-oh. . .looks like they’ve been recalled.
2010
These are awesome! The first four are must haves for me. I am not a huge fan of American Apparel and their slutty image, but these colors are too good to not buy!
2010
Cool colors, and they look super shiny! My favorite was Coney Island, probably because it looks like a spring color and I’m soo ready for spring (in Sweden it is snowing yet again). How were they in durability do you think? Did they stay on long without chipping?
2010
I love this line! I really need to get Peacock! Thanks
Cindy´s last blog ..China Glaze~Light as Air
2010
I love them all. Seriously. And the other ones too.. I went on their website but couldn’t find them.. Somebody help me please?
Michèle´s last blog ..OPI – Gargantuan Green Grape
2010
Hey Kelly, great swatches! I can honestly say i think im going to buy most of them. One question, you said they sent you one – which color?
2010
I really like the look of Mouse and Factory Grey! Thanks for the swatches. I didn’t even know they had nail polishes!
2010
Whoops I meant packaging
SoVeryFabulous´s last blog ..LUSH Oatifix Face Mask Review
2010
I have been seeing swatches of these AA polishes and have wanted to try them out but heard recently that they have been recalled from the stores because of the packing. Something about them leaking easily? Anyway, I hope it’s sorted out soon so I can get my hands on some!
SoVeryFabulous´s last blog ..LUSH Oatifix Face Mask Review
2010
I really like Peacock and Factory Grey. Really interesting.
poc´s last blog ..Urban Decay : Stardust Eyeshadow – Nouveauté Printemps 2010