Brand: L’Oréal

Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque is drugstore stalwart L’Oréal’s foray into “gel-like” nail polish. It’s part of a three-step system including base coat (“primer”), nail color, and top coat (“glaze”) for long-lasting performance.

Right off the bat, I’m letting you know that I am only reviewing the nail color, not the 3-step system. I didn’t buy the 1st and 3rd step products.

I actually wasn’t at all interested in this line, until I spotted the display in-store and for some reason, the shade Meant To Be (706) called to me like crazy. I didn’t even buy it on sale (~CA$7.99): that’s how much it appealed to me.

It’s an intense, deep cranberry sauce red that seems to glow in the bottle. I’m a big red lover, and this bottle instantly jumped into my shopping basket.

Sadly, however, I didn’t like the formula at all. I found it thin, with a tendency to pool up against the cuticle, and coverage was quite uneven. You’d think that a formula aspiring to be a gel would be…more gel-like! Two coats (as pictured in my swatch below) didn’t give me the anywhere near plush look I wanted for a color of this richness. I think I would probably need four coats to get close to that kind of look.

So, despite the luscious, autumnal berry red color, I don’t recommend this polish. I suppose if the 3-step system works as well as L’Oréal claims, it could be worth the hassle of using four or more coats of polish. I’m not keen to spend more time or money on this line, however.

L’Oréal Extraordinaire Gel-Laque Gel-Color is 0.39 US fl oz / 11.7 mL and retails for US$7.99 / CA$8.99. The polish is free of toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). It is made in the USA.

L’Oréal was founded in 1909 and is the largest cosmetics company in the world. It is based in Clichy (a suburb of Paris), France. Its first product was a hair dye called Auréale, which presumably led to the development of the company’s present name. The company currently owns a number of brands, including Biotherm, The Body Shop, Clarisonic, Decléor, Essie, Garnier, Kérastase, Kiehl’s, La Roche-Posay, Lancôme, Maybelline, NYX, Redken, Shu Uemura, Urban Decay, Vichy, and YSL Beauté.