polish packaging – does it matter?
Square, circular, big, small, bedazzled. When it comes to nail polish, do you care about the packaging? I have to admit, I most certainly do. I’ll gladly hand over $14 for polish in Butter London‘s chic, square bottle, but I wouldn’t bat an eye at the same shade in generic drugstore packaging. Their bottles draw me in every time.
I love RGB‘s angular bottles, and I’ll often overlook brands like Orly, whose packaging doesn’t strike my design fancy, even if the product itself is great.
Design choices can make a polish tricky to use, too. I can’t get a clean paint job with the large, unwieldy cap on Models Own Pro for the life of me.
Does bottle design matter to you? Do you have a favorite or least favorite design? Let me know in the comments! And don’t forget to enter my summer travel giveaway to win some goodies from OPI!
Yep, my least favorite design is by “Zoya”… dont know why
I suppose it is what’s in the bottle that matters most, but I would be being dishonest if I said that packaging didn’t get the better of me on occasion. Although I don’t own any at present (I hope to change that soon though), I think my favorite nail polish bottle would be the Megan Miller collection. It’s just so unique and I love the eco friendly cork bottle top. I think Nfu Oh deserves an honorable mention though, you’ve just got to love the lace up corset bottle top and the dress train on the back of the womanly shaped bottle. On a side note, the Bootie Babe bottles are just hilarious, but all I could think when I first saw them was how impractical they are.
Oh goodness, those Bootie Babe bottles are ridiculous! I agree that the Megan Miller bottles are gorgeous, I’ve never seen them in real life nor tried the polish, but that cork top is amazing. Apparently Anthropologie carries them so I need to keep my eye out…
Although I’m new to the polish collection game, I’m yet to spend over $10 on a bottle. I’ve seen the Megan Miller’s at Anthopologie and they are very purdy but the price tag isn’t. So far I’m an OPI/Essie girl.
i’ll buy any brand if i really love the color… but the size and shape of the brush and the brush handle are important to me because they determine how easy it is to apply the polish. i love the brushes and handles on essie, deborah lippmann chanel polish bottles, but for some reason OPI’s handle is hard for me to hold and the brush is too fat for my fingernails and i always make a mess when i use it!
xoamy
http://www.cupcakesncouture.com
Hey Amy! I totally agree about OPI – I always need to do more cleanup after using OPI than I do with Essie or others. Thanks for commenting!
I agree with Amy. It has more to do with the brush and the handle (and formula of the polish itself). Fat brushes are too unwieldy and make a mess. Large handles are hard to control with your non-dominate hand. Butter London and Essie are my favorites but I love the colors Nars comes up with even though their handles are a little harder to use.
I agree with Kristen about some wide brushes, such as with OPI. However, here in Germany Essie became available at two drugstore chains just within the past few months and when I bought my first bottle here (I usually would have them mailed to me from friends and family in the States) I noticed that the brushes were totally different. It seems Essie has revamped their brushes and they are in face a wide flat brush now, but this brush is AH-MAZING! I’ve never been able to achieve such an easy, even, flawless application with virtually no clean up as I have with these. Not sure when they’ll arrive in North America, but trust me ladies, you want them to.
Absolutely! I’d rather have small bottles, and square is key. They store better, and I’ve NEVER used up a whole bottle of anything. And I prefer a slightly rounded brush, if that’s a consideration (it is to me!)
this is a great post! i so agree with you about overlooking orly and trying to paint with unwieldy caps. why don’t polish companies think like GIRLS!?
I guess I am in the minority but I am too brand loyal to OPI and China Glaze (because of formula, availability and color selection) to really say that pretty packaging affects me. I only notice if the handle is hard to use as it is with some of the fatter bottles or something else that would affect the polish once on. I find the OPI for Sephora handles kind of annoying but not bad enough to stop me from owning a few of the colors. I also think those rhinestone caps from Nails Inc. that they charge more for are ridiculous.
I’m a new reader! I’m with Natalie on the first comment. I love Zoya’s bottles! I also love their formula…but I wonder if the bottle design impacts my judgement!
I like China Glaze the best. Simple, and the no slip grip cap is great. Orly’s bottles aren’t particularly cute but you also get way more polish!
Love your blog, btw!