I’m a huge fan of Formula X line and have been particularly impressed with the way The System works to extend manicure wear. Several of you have asked for a follow up post to my original one back in May wanting to see nail shots of my Formula X manicure through the course of a week. I’ve put the color in Blazing to the test for the Formula X Challenge. My manicure lasted quite well for almost an entire week. My husband and I have been busy packing boxes and bubble wrapping fragile items for our move and my manicure still managed to survive. For those new to the Formula X System, it’s a set that comes with four easy to use items:
- Nail Cleanser – An essential step that frees nails of residue and oil,
optimizing base coat and lacquer adherence - Base Coat – An advanced
adhesive primer containing essential bonding agents that form a sticky
layer to fuse with your lacquer - Nail Color Of Your Choice – Choose from
over 200 Formula X shades and effects - Top Coat – A super glossy,
state-of-the-art, long-wearing final step that enhances your lacquer’s
shine and performance, this helps extend your nail polish like no other
The color I’ve tested is Blazing which is a rich shimmery wine-red. It applies very smoothly with two coats. The first coat will look a bit sheer, but it levels out perfectly with the second coat. Even though it’s more of a metallic, it doesn’t have visible brush strokes which is a huge plus for me. It has a multi-dimensional look because there are different colors of shimmers infused throughout the polish. There’s a mix of deep red, bright red, pearl and plum. It looks different depending on how the light hits the nails. Sometimes it’s clearly red. Other times it looks more cool-toned and more plum. I’m obsessed.
The System is super easy to use and apply on your own. I’ve found the nail cleanser makes a huge difference in helping your polish adhere better to the nail by prepping the surface of your nails. Below are Steps 1 through 4 to apply polish with the Formula X System:
Below is my Formula X manicure over the course of 6 Days. Your mileage may vary with polish lasting power depending on nail length and everyday activity. I usually cover the end/tip of the nail with a thin dab of polish and smooth it with top coat over the edges to help the color last longer. If you type a lot for work, longer nails may be subject to tip wear faster, especially if your nails tend to hit the keys frequently. I try to keep mine on the short side and hold my hands relatively flat when I type, but the tips of my index and middle finger have more surface contact compared to my other fingers and end up getting tip wear first.
Day 4 and still perfect:
On Day 5, I started to see slight tip wear on index and middle fingers, I attribute this to packing boxes and extensive use of bubble wrap and tape for our move:
I’ve had really good results with the Formula X nail colors and System set. I know many of you have chimed in with comments on past posts and also raved. I highly recommend a visit to their dedicated website www.formulax.com. It’s a nail art destination for Formula X fans to browse images and get inspired. It’s filled with clickable images of nail products and looks. You can also click on any interesting color palette for ideas on Formula X shade color combinations. Formula X fans can then upload their own nail looks right to the website, or with tag Instagram images with #myformulaxpic and have their nail look appear on the inspiration grid.
Right now, you can visit their website for a chance to experience The System yourself with the Formula X Sweepstakes. They are giving away 150 Formula X System Kits (terms and official rules apply). Entries will be collected through October 28, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. PST (must be a US resident and 18 years or older).
To stay up to date with the latest and for more inspiration be sure to follow Formula X on Instagram @formulax, Twitter @formulax, Facebook or Pinterest.
Have you tried Formula X? What colors are your favorites?
Many thanks to Formula X for sponsoring this post. For more information, refer to my Disclosures page.
Lovely! I'm hitting Sephora today to search for Blazing! I'm curious how it might compare to Chanel's Malice?
Happy Thursday 🙂
Cheers, Lisa
I think it's similar, I have my Chanels buried somewhere in our boxes, I'll pull the two to compare in the next week or so. We're still waiting on shelving units and drawers to be delivered to our new home so most of my makeup is still in boxes 🙂
I was thinking the same! I love Chanel Malice.
I'm loving the colour of Blazing. Is the nail cleanser something you leave on your nails after application, or do you need to wipe it off?
The nail cleanser is a brush-on kind of product that you can just leave on. It dries quickly and cleans the nail. Sometimes nail salons will just use alcohol to dry and wipe down the nails right before they apply base/polish. Other salons have their own brush-on nail cleaner that removes any remnants of oil or lotion etc from the nail.
I really enjoyed this post! I'm actually thinking about buying this from Sephora. Some people are saying that this made their nails weaker, did that happen to you? This is such a great value set!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ST-v3jzBk
Hi Yeji, I didn't experience this at all, but I have pretty sturdy nails.
I have been looking for a nail colour for graduation day and this just might be it, I haven't seen these nail polishes in the UK though. Not on the high street at least!
Sadly we don't have Sephora in the UK, although Sephora France will ship, they won't ship nail polish and associated hazardous products.
Sabrina, I think this color is gorgeous. My mom loves getting her nails done and I think I'm going to pick this one up for her as she loves beautiful nuanced deep reds like this one.
Is the Formula X line exclusive to Sephora? I always think of it as.Sephora's own nail line.
Thanks for the great post. It was interesting to see how the manicure help up through out the week. I am impressed and the lasting power looks.pretty remarkable.
This colour is perfect on you
♥ themarthalist.blogspot.com ♥
This nail polish looks fantastic!!
Lots of love, xx
http://www.marysreturn.com
http://www.marysreturn.com
This line sounds so, so amazing! Sephora is opening in my country at the end of the year and I can't wait to get my hands on them!
nueyork.blogspot.com
I have debated about purchasing this kit for a little while, but always opt for a single bottle of polish instead. The nail cleanser sounds cool and I am going to give this kit a second look next time I am at Sephora. Great post!
Abby from Abby Talks
Nail polish chips really badly on me, my nails seem dry and brittle and it just peels off, it isn't from normal wear. I had bought a couple of Formula X nail polishes but wasn't impressed with wear time (it would chip on the same day). Now I bought the system and the difference is shocking! I'm on day 4 and some have chipped a little bit on the corners but they're mostly ok!
Do you think the system works with other brands of nail polish?
xx
Ingrid Hughes
http://www.ingridhughesbeauty.blogspot.com
Stunning nail polishes love the deep red colour
Candice | Beauty Candy Loves
xoxo
Beautiful color love! Will have to to try out The System sometime. Lovely xx
Erica
http://www.eggcanvas.me
I picked this set up based on your wonderful review. You have great beauty cred with me. Either I already have many of the products you review or I go and try many of the products you love (like Dior top coat), and they are amazing. This was an utter failure for me. I have tried it 4 times. Yes I just bought it last week. I purchased Alchemy to complete the set. I can not get this product past one day without the polish "shrinking" from the edges. I've never seen anything like it. At least it wasn't an expensive fail.
Hi Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear this. Was the whole set a fail or just the polish? It does sound odd that you got shrinkage, hopefully you can return or exchange it, you should love what you buy no matter what price. I'm not sure what the weather is like where you are, but I have noticed with the heat we have in southern california (it's in the high 80's here this week) some of my polishes seemed a bit thicker even though we do have A/C. I popped mine in the fridge for a couple minutes to make the formula more normal temperature.
Either way, I am really bummed to hear it's a miss for you. Hopefully it's not too much of a hassle for you to return it.