Beauty Product Reviews

I'm using O2M polish to keep my toenails healthy, but there are tradeoffs

I only wear nail polish on my toes, and only during the summer. I consider OPI nail polishes to be the gold standard and love the range of colors and textures on offer. However, at the end of last summer, I removed my nail polish to discover white opaque patches on the nails of both of my big toes. I searched online to figure out what could be the problem, and I learned that this was just an indication of my nails becoming dehydrated. I was able to treat my bare nails with petroleum jelly and reverse the white spots, but I wondered what to do the following summer, because I consider painted nails to be part of looking well-groomed during sandal season.

I learned about Inglot O2M breathable nail polish over the winter, and I was able to go to a boutique on a trip to Montreal to see the colors in person. I chose 612 as my first color (as you can see, O2M nail polishes are quite a bit more costly than other brands). 612 is a nice solid creamy deep fuchsia, not as bright pink as it might appear on your monitor, but definitely a cheerful summer color. Beautylish offers the full range of colors, and they all are solid colors, no metallic or shimmer or other special effects. If you want those effects, you'll still have to go to OPI or other brands (and, of course, those are not breathable nail polishes). I've decided that I will alternate my OPI nail polishes with O2M so that my nails can breathe more, and I'll see at the end of the summer if that keeps my nails in good shape.

Besides the price and the more limited palette, another limitation of the O2M nail polish is that it does not seem as durable as OPI nail polish. OPI nail polish can look as good as new for almost three weeks, even without a top coat. However, O2M started getting scratched up after about a week with no top coat. So I ordered the Inglot O2M top coat from Beautylish and am currently testing that out. I suspect that the breathability of O2M probably does make it less durable, and so even if the O2M top coat isn't harder (but it includes diamond dust, so it should be), it is at least one more layer that has to come off before the color can get damaged.

Despite these tradeoffs described above, I'm happy that Inglot O2M nail polish exists because it appears that my toenails need to breathe. I'm glad that I can keep them aired out while still being presentable when I wear sandals during the summer.

Hmm, maybe it's more effective for something else?

I don't know, maybe I'm not using this brush correctly, but it didn't seem to pick up any of the RMS Living Luminizer when I tried it. The luminizer is solid at room temperature, with the texture of a lip gloss. So I've been applying the luminizer with my fingers, which is obviously not going to give me the most precise application, but I should give this brush another go. The effect of the luminizer is supposed to be subtle so that your face looks fresh and dewy, after all.

It is a nice adjustable brush that extends and retracts when you twist the handle, presumably to allow more precision with the bristles either held close or more splayed out.

Very durable eyeliner, nice color

I tried 78 because I have fairer coloring and feel that the 77 black would be too strong for me. I've been using MAC Fluidline eyeliner gel in Blitz and Glitz (black with some sparkle in it, which softens the contrast), but it's kind of the "crunchy" flavor compared to Inglot's creamy eyeliner. I'm using this eyeliner with the tiny Wayne Goss 08 brush to do tightlining, and once it sets, this eyeliner stays put! The buttery texture of the gel makes it easy to pick up as little as you need to load that tiny brush.

Fortunately, before the Inglot eyeliner sets, it's also fairly easy to wipe off (a good thing, because I'm not that great at tightlining yet and have to have do-overs). The deep bluish-gray cast of the eyeliner reminds me a bit of my high-school days in the 1980s when I wore blue liquid eyeliner with blue mascara - but with a more subdued grown-up look, and of course this gel eyeliner does not flake off like the liquid eyeliner of yore did. I've rubbed my eyes multiple times, and nothing comes off. Yay!

Necessary to keep your O2M nail polish lasting longer

I learned about Inglot's O2M breathable nail polish line recently after I had discovered that my nails on my big toes seemed to be drying out at the end of last summer after spending most of their time covered by OPI nail polish. My largest toenails had opaque white patches, which I could reverse somewhat by applying petroleum jelly and covering with a bandage, but what to do during sandal season? I consider color on my toenails to be part of looking well-groomed in the summer.

Though I love OPI nail polishes, I want to keep my toenails hydrated and healthy. I decided to try the Inglot O2M line of breathable nail polish so that I could do this without sacrificing dressed-up sandal feet. Because these nail polishes are more expensive than OPI, I initially only bought the O2M breathable base coat and an O2M color. However, though I can get away without a top coat on my OPI polishes, I found that the O2M color started to scratch off a bit sooner, like after a week or so (my OPI polishes can look almost as good as new after nearly three weeks). So I decided the O2M top coat was necessary, and so far it is doing an admirable job of protecting my nail color after my last painting.

Yes, it's a bit more costly than conventional nail polishes, but I consider it a small price for keeping my nails healthy underneath. Your nails have to be able to breathe, too!

Gives more color to lips than cheeks

The color of RMS Beauty's Lip2Cheek in Promise is as advertised - a salmon color with a bit of shimmer. I bought it to enhance a sunbaked look this summer, and it does look like pictures taken at the golden hour before sunset.

The creamy texture of this product is great and feels like applying a lip gloss. I feel that the color stays on my lips better than on my cheeks. Maybe I need more practice, but I feel that the color seems to disappear from my cheeks sooner than the MAC powder blush that I've been using for the past five years. Perhaps this is because I rub it in a bit more as I apply it. Perhaps going over it a second time will do the trick, or maybe I should combine it with powder blush.