Sally Hansen Barracuda

Isn't it always the case, the ones you love the most will hurt you.  Barracuda is that for me.  The color is to die for.  Perfect for summer; perfect for my skin tone.  It almost takes the place of my top blue polish - that would be RBL 360, unless we count teals too, then OPI Catch Me In Your Net gets involved.

Anyway, let me tell you first what I love about this polish.  I love the color.  It's a creamy light blue, with barely any green in it (just enough to make it look not washed out and super summery).  It just screams put on a cute sundress and go for a stroll on the beach.....

And then, there is the formula.  Honestly, it's crap.  You open the bottle and the formula and consistency looks great, but 1 coat in, it's uneven, refused to flow, and starts to lump up.  I needed 3 coats, and by coat 3 it was a blobby mess.  I literally took it off and restarted this mani 3 times, each time putting in more and more thinner.  I still wasn't happy at the end, but I got tired and gave up.  You should be able to see the uneven generally crappyness in these pictures.  To top it off, with layering on three thick gloopy coats that weren't even on themselves (the polish literally just stays where you put it and refuses to flow across the nail no matter how hard I try), I got MAJOR cracking along the edges the next day.  UGHHH!  Ironically no tip wear though...

Last gripe is about this brush.  So this is my first Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure.  I heard the brush was huge and paddle shaped, but had never seen it in real life. SERIOUSLY?!!!  Who likes brushes like this. OK, well I'm sure some people do, but I am not one of them.  I'm all for a thick brush (love the OPI Pro-Wides) but this brush has no give at all.  I honestly think I'll put this polish in the next top coat bottle I reach the end of, I hate the brush that much.

Alright, enough of my complaining - onto the polish!

Sally Hansen Barracuda
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Sally Hansen Barracuda - slightly different lighting
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Sally Hansen Barracuda - after 2 days of wear - HELLO cracks! Can you spot them?
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The Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line is available at Target and Drugstore and usually retails between $7 and $8 dollars.  It's supposed to be used alone without basecoat or topcoat.  I ended up not using a basecoat (no staining!) but did put some Seche Vite one (after 3 failed manis I was tired and wanted to go to bed).  Barracuda is part of the Limited Edition Summer 2011 Series designed by Tracy Reese.  It's pretty hard to find (it took me 5 stores before I found a display that still had Barracuda in it), but it's technically still available.