The Best Nail Polish for a DIY-er

Before I cared about the state of my home and what it looks like, I was obsessed infatuated with beauty products (makeup and nail polish).  Needless to say, I tried all kinds of brands of nail polish (Zoya, OPI, Sally Hansen, Deborah Lippmann, Butter London, Essie, Revlon, China Glaze...).  During college and grad school, these polishes worked fine and I never had a real problem with chipping.  However, it wasn't until I started working at my current job that I noticed some brands chip more easily than others.  Then, when I started working on my house last Fall, I really noticed that most brands I used didn't last more than 2-3 days.

I was nail polish-less (I know that's not a word) for a loooong time until I found these....

They are the Formula X for Sephora line.  They are awesome!  

I first got this color as a 100-point perk from Sephora:

It's only a small sample-sized bottle in the color Perfection, but that's all it took.  I was hooked and bought 4 other colors a few days later.  

Tornado/Perfection/Thrilling

Bombshell/Chaotic

Bombshell and Chaotic are Xplosives Top Coats and they give a cool paint-splatter effect on the nails, but I rarely use them because they are a pain to remove.  The plain polishes are as easy to remove as any other nail polish brand, but they apply evenly and I have not had a problem with streaking with any of the colors I own. 

I know this all sounds too good to be true so let me show you what my nails look like after 5 days of unpacking my office, installing a Rubbermaid closet system, and spray painting (in addition to doing daily chores).  

There are signs of minor wear at the tips, but there aren't any huge chunks of nail polish missing yet. For my standards, my nails are still presentable. This, to me, is impressive.  A top coat isn't necessary, but I've always used Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat with all of my polish.  These polishes aren't indestructible, but they are the best polishes I've used so far.

The regular polishes are $10.50 and the special effects polishes are $12.50.  These polishes are a little more pricey than other brands I've tried, but the pay off is worth it to me.  The price is also a reason why I don't have way more than 5 colors.  But if you're curious, I think you should venture into a store and try these polishes out.  They have testers for every color in the stores.  

I know this was a bit of a random post, but I was getting frustrated with having to compromise beauty for the sake of home improvement.  Why can't I hang a door, install trim, and close a doorway AND still have pretty nails?  Let me know if you would like more reviews of beauty-related products I've tried!