Collection: Nails Inc. 2016 Fall, Gel Effect All Fired Up Charcoal Nail Polish

Today’s polish, Argyle Street, is a 5 mL mini that I got in a set last fall. The formula is one of Nails Inc.’s many, inconsistently named Nail Fuel polishes, which include random ingredients from popular “superfoods” and other trendy substances.

This particular line is called Gel Effect All Fired Up Nail Polish, or All Fired Up Fuelled by Charcoal Gel Effect Nail Polish, or…I don’t know. Some retailers just label it as Charcoal Nail Polish, too.

Activated charcoal is an ingredient that has been popping up in skincare and haircare products. It’s normally used in water filters and other purification systems, since it adsorbs a variety of organic and inorganic impurities. Nails Inc. claim their charcoal polish will “protect your nails against harmful pollutants”. They don’t tell us what kinds of pollutants these might be, of course. Frankly, if the charcoal is mixed in with the polish and just hardens into it, I don’t see how it’ll be doing much adsorption of various substances from your nails (or is it adsorbing substances from the polish itself? Heh).

Anyway, Argyle Street is an opaque, soft pastel pink with a peachy undertone. It’s quite a lovely neutral for warm-toned skin. Incidentally, in this creamy polish, I see zero hint of black charcoal. Can charcoal be ground finely enough that it’s not visible in a pastel-colored nail polish? I’m curious!

This polish applies very smoothly and surprisingly evenly for a pastel cream. The formula is so nice: not too thick nor too thin, and with a nice amount of “pull”. Argyle Street is fully opaque with two coats.

The bottle and brush design are very nice for a mini sized polish. You can check out my review of Nails Inc. Mayfair Market for an extended review.

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Nails Inc. Gel Effect Nail Polish contains 14 mL and retails for GB£15 / US$15 / CA$16. The formula is free from toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).

Nails Inc. was launched by fashion editor Thea Green as a chain of nail bars in 1999. Founded in London, England, the company currently has 60 locations in the UK.

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