American Apparel Nail Lacquers Review and Swatches (Factory Grey, Office & Mouse)

36 unique shades of high-quality color. Manufactured in the USA. DBP, toluene and formaldehyde-free.

0.5 oz (15ml) bottle

Ingredients: Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocelliulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Isopropyl Alcohol, Camphor, 
                                                                                                       Benzophenone-1

Source

Product: 5/5

Value: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

Will I repurchase: Yes

 

What to like: Beautiful creme finish, precise brush, great polish formula, Big 3-Free(?), the cuboid bottle design makes it easy to store

What to not like: Not available in Malaysia, certain shades are quite streaky, the square bottle makes it difficult to roll it between palms to warm and mix the polish

Where to purchase: American Apparel stores are available in the US, Canada, Europe, United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, and Australia. You can also shop online but Malaysia isn't one of the countries they ship to :( The nearest would be Singapore.

How much: Price varies. In Australia (which is where I bought mine), AUD15 each, AUD 22 for 3. In the US, USD 6 each, USD 15 for 3.

***

In a nutshell, I really like how these polishes apply. I thought the bottle design was really edgy and modern but not so fun when I need to warm and mix it. I especially love the formulation - on the thinner side but not sheer at all, applies smoothly with good opacity in just 2 coats. They dry pretty quickly, quite glossy without a top coat and last. All the shades I picked are of creme finish and creme is actually my favourite polish finish. This line has  got quite a variety of creme shades to look at so I would definitely want to own more. I won't say I know a lot about the Big 3 but I can definitely say these polishes don't smell too strongly and they don't give me a headache which I really like.

Review and swatches after the cut!

From left: Factory Grey, Office and Mouse. This picture was taken from an iPhone so the colours looks a lot more saturated than they actually are.

Here are swatches of all three, 2 coats each with OPI Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat:

Factory Grey is a cool grey which leans towards both blue and purple depending on lighting. It's my favourite out of the three I picked. The colour stands out against my yellow, fair skintone without shouting "HEY LOOK AT MY NAILS" and gives a clean and sophisticated feel to my fingers.

Ok please excuse the disgusting, dry cuticles and fingertips and I admit that is the most horrible looking nail swatch ever. Office is a mint green which looks a little dull against my skintone but it's still a nice pastel shade. This particular nail polish out of the 3 I picked, is the most opaque but also applies the most streaky.

Mouse is a true taupe. It appears very neutral, doesn't have any cool or warm tone in it. I thought this would be my favourite shade but sadly it isn't. It's the reason why I wanted to buy American Apparel Nail Lacquers, the other 2 shades were to add into the 3-Pack deal. Don't get me wrong, it is a gorgeous colour and  has great formula but against my skin, somehow it just could not stand out.