Collection: Claire’s 2017, Unicorn PWR

It has been ages since I bought anything from Claire’s, the girls’ jewelry and accessories store that seems ubiquitous in North American malls. (I just took a peek at their Wikipedia page and it turns out that they may be fairly ubiquitous in European malls, too! Are there many malls in Europe? There are some photos of standalone Claire’s stores in the UK and France on that page—it’s hard for me to process a Claire’s that does not reside in a mall!)

In any case, I stopped into my local Claire’s on a whim a little before Halloween to check out their nail polishes. To my surprise, there wasn’t much in the way of seasonal collections, but I did spot emoji and unicorn collections, so I snagged 6 of them. The deal was buy 3, get 3 free; for a while, I considered just getting two polishes, but then I would only be one away from three free ones, so obviously I got suckered into the whole shebang.

Claire’s polishes are pricier than I remember, but I guess it’s been probably at least five years since I’ve shopped here. The special collection colors were also a little more expensive at CA$7 instead of the regular CA$5.50.

Today, I have one from the unicorn collection, Unicorn PWR. Party Like a Unicorn (21780) is described as a “rose gold shimmer.” It’s actually a sheer, medium rose pink shimmer with gold shimmer/microglitter. Still pretty, but not technically like rose gold.

The polish is surprisingly decent for the price. The brush is flat and paddle-shaped, with nicely flexible bristles. It’s not precisely cut so it’s a bit uneven and asymmetrical, but at least it’s not all wonky like the brushes of some more expensive polish brands.

Party Like a Unicorn is sheer, so I used three coats in my swatch. I think I’d prefer using this as a topper, but it’s still quite pretty like this.

All in all, this is nothing crazy special, but for the price (when half-off), it’s not a bad buy. It’s also more than serviceable as a polish marketed to young girls.

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Claire’s Nail Polish retails for US$4.50–$5.99 / CA$5.50–$7.00 and contains 0.33 US fl oz / 10 mL. The polishes are made in the USA.

Claire’s was founded as Fashion Tress Industries in Chicago, IL, USA in 1961, and grew into the world’s largest wig retailer. In 1973, it acquired a small chain of jewelry stores called Claire’s, and as Claire’s Accessories, the company moved into jewelry and accessories. The company’s famed ear piercing service began in 1978. Claire’s currently operates nearly 3,500 stores in 36 countries. It remains based in Chicago.