Elf Nail Polish Set Review: Summer Collection 2012

e.l.f. Nail Polish Set at Target

L to R
Smokin Hot, Flirty Fuchsia, Coral Dream, Party Peach

 I was so excited to purchase my first ever e.l.f. nail polishes in a set at Target a few weeks ago, and especially with such bright & fun summer colors!  As you can see above I had a blast photographing them in the bright sunlight of course next to the pool because I figured that is where I would do the most gazing at my new brightly polished fingers & toes the most this summer!  Alas, the positive comments in this review are going to come to an end, because although these polishes look pretty, the formula on three of them that I experienced (Flirty Fuchsia, Coral Dream & Party Peach)  was not what I was expecting.

Overall

• The polish was thin and messy.
• It would bubble up when I put it over my usual base coat (I used my Palladio at the time, so after that occurred, I applied it to my bare nails).
• Even after two streaky/gloopy coats I could still see unevenness on the nail which would require third coat.  
• It also behaved poorly with my usual Seche Vite as the topcoat.  It had a strange "cracking" reaction to it after I applied it on the edges.  
• I am not a fan of the applicator.  The top is short and therefore awkward for my hands to hold which makes it difficult to be precise as I am painting my nails.

Wear Time
I usually don't consider the wear time on polishes to mean much because I have "mommy hands" so usually I'm happy if I get a good 2 1/2 days without wear, but these polishes chipped off the very next day of application, so that is also a negative for me.

Swatches
Okay, one more positive thing I can say about three of the polishes is that they are gorgeous shades!  I wore the two orange ones in two of my OOTD posts here if you'd like to see them:

• Coral Dream
• Party Peach
• I wore Flirty Fuchsia below (It will be in an OOTD post coming up soon).  I think this was my favorite color because it is a pink like none other in my collection! (Although you can see it wearing off the tips of my nails the very next day after application because I didn't have a basecoat that it behaved well with, so I applied it onto my naked nail.)

e.l.f. Flirty Fuchsia

Oh but wait, you could be wondering why I didn't comment on Smokin' Hot!?  Well, this is what happened to that one:

Now before you say anything, I am totally not bothered that the white lid came off.  The problem is that the  black top would not twist off at all!  It seems completely "fused" to the bottle!  At this point I could have taken my hubby's pliers to twist it off, but being that I was disappointed with the other three in the collection I didn't bother with the last one. Meh.  I might yet pull out the pliers and try this color out on my toes...we shall see if I am that motivated! :)

Conclusion
Is it possible that I got a bad batch of these polishes?  Possibly... so I would love to hear from you if you have tried the set and if you like it!  I was excited because I heard such great things about the e.l.f. polishes, but this experience has kind of turned me off.  If you have a favorite e.l.f. polish please let me know in the comments below and maybe I can try purchasing a single polish to see if that changes my mind! As for these polishes I will probably use some of the shades on my toes because they aren't so easily noticeable, and I still like the colors! :)