Review: Sally Hansen Golden Cinnabar

So for my first real polish review, I'm going with an older Sally Hansen color of mine: Golden Cinnabar, from the Nail Prisms line.  When my Seche Restore came in the mail, this was the one I first thought of trying to salvage.  I've had the thing since high school, it seemed a shame to see it go to waste.  I think it could still use another drop or two, but overall Seche Restore seems to be just as magic as Seche Vite!

Disclaimer of sorts before I continue:  I have been a loyal follower of All Lacquered Up for several months now; as such I feel like it's kind of inevitable that my reviews will end up being similar.  I'm not aiming to copycat, I just find the separation of the review into separate categories like application and color to be very helpful.  Also it will become painfully clear that I am nowhere near as informed or professional as Michelle, so there's nothing to worry about.

Additionally, apologies for this being later than I intended; I was waiting for some sunlight so I could get a decent picture, but sunlight is something we have not been having an abundance of lately; ironic given that I live in Florida.

Now that all of that's out of the way, I shall proceed.



Application: I never really considered things like brush and bottle shape before starting to pay attention to beauty blogs, but now I'm realizing just what a lifesaver wide brushes are, because this one is way too tiny!!  I ended up overcompensating and my second coat was too thick, leading to brush strokes and a few some bubbling.  Golden Cinnabar's bottle is fine, but since it was a Sally Hansen color I decided to use my old Sally Hansen topcoat - that bottle is SO awesome.  I tend to hold the bottle in-between my fingers while I paint, so the nearly-flat shape is perfect for me.

This was taken after several days, as evidenced by the tip wear.

Color: Golden Cinnabar is a duochrome.  It goes from a subdued gold to a shimmery purple that I cannot for the life of me get a good picture of, and usually hangs out at something of a purpley copper (as pictured).  It's a bit of an odd combination, and in some lights the gold gets an almost chartreuse tinge that isn't very pretty.  It looks really good on tanned skin - my feet are darker than my hands due to work, and the polish looks totally fabulous on my toes.  It also looks really nice under a matte coat - this is what it looks like last time I wore it that way.

Apologies for chipped nails and shoddy polish job.

Work Appropriateness: This is not a factor for everyone, but for me it's pretty vital if I want to wear a color for longer than my 2-day weekend.  Golden Cinnabar skirts the edge, going into the "it depends" category.  Certainly not when it's showing as purple, but on the gold/coppery side, if you've got medium to medium dark skin it can blend right in.  So it's a matter of how strict your own workplace is.  I'm surprised that no one has said anything to me given that the purple tends to come out more often in natural light, and I work outdoors.

Rating: 4.25/5 stars.  The color combo is really unique, but I'm deducting a quarter point for that chartreuse edge, and another half for the brush.  I should probably take away an entire point for the brush, that thing is truly terrible, but I'm willing to chalk part of it up to my own clumsiness.  Additionally, I've had the polish for so long that nostalgia plays into it, as well as the fact that I am hopelessly addicted to duochromes in general - I love looking down at my nails and never knowing exactly what I'm going to see!  Definitely a keeper.