Review: Salon Outlet Nail Art Case

Hello!!

I was recently contacted by Dana of Salon Outlet about reviewing their portable nail art case. Since I'm always looking for good ways to organize my nail art supplies, I'm sure this is a big issue for you, too.

No matter what, we can all agree that whatever solution we find, it's gotta be cute. This one definitely lives up to that! The exterior is pink faux-croc, with aluminum accents--and it's a good shade of rocker pink! The top picture is the one that's color accurate; I had to take some of the pictures outside of my lightbox (like the second picture) and the color isn't true in those.

Salon Outlet nail art case, from the side

Salon Outlet nail art case, from the top

The case is large; it measures 9 3/4" x 5" x 5 1/2". The large interior compartment (which you'll see below), measures 9 1/4" x 4 3/4" x 3 7/8".

I've seen other cases like this (and always loved them), but what makes this one special is what the interior does. The lid is like one of those amazing contortionists in Cirque Du Soleil; that allows you to protect your nail art brushes (or other supplies) in the lid, and then prop it open so you have everything at your fingertips with super easy access:

Half of the lid has a specially-designed sponge insert that holds your tools securely in place; the foam is very flexible, so it will hold a small bush in place (see the top brush, but also even accomodates my much thicker nail-art pen. From top to bottom I have my (1) a striper nail art brush (2) Mash nail art pen (3) nail art detail brush (4) cuticle oil pen (5) cuticle clean-up brush and (6) dotting tool. And notice below that when the lid is closed, my brushes are tools are protected:

The main interior compartment comes with a removable spongy-foam insert perfect to hold polish, each opening has diameter of 13/16":

I tested out the insert with a selection of different polish bottles to see if they would all fit, including Sally Hansen Insta-Dry triangle bottles, Sally Hansen Prisms oval bottles, Julep's rectangular bottles, Indie square bottles, standard polish bottles from Zoya, China Glaze, and Sinful Colors, and even a Butter London rectangle polish:

All of these fit just fine, snug as a bug in a rug (the Insta-Dry bottle looks like it doesn't fit, but the triangular bottom holds it firmly in place), with the exception of the Julep bottle ; it was just too thin. But, two of them together would fit nicely in one opening. :)

Or, you can choose to remove the insert, and you have a very spacious compartment that will fit tons more polish, or other types of nail art containers (wheels, tubs, etc.). The first picture shows how much space you have in terms of length and width:

And the second shows that you have plenty of height for your pretties:

I think a very important part of a case like this is the connective tissue--the latches and bolts and rivets that hold it all together. I was very impressed by their quality:  

Salon Outlet nail art case, from the front end

These were all very solid-looking, with corners reinforced near the edges, and a strong-looking latch. These seem like they'll take a fair amount of abuse, which means this should hold up if you want to use it to take your nail art places. 

I was less impressed with the lining. There were gaps at the corners where the cloth was glued into the metal, and some of the glue was visible on the lining itself. Those issues are mostly cosmetic--I put my nail into that gap you see near the metal, and pulled on it a bit, and it didn't move much. If I had been determined to rip it out I certainly could have, but for normal use I think it would be okay.

Less okay was the lining in the bottom of the main section; one of the corners, top left here, wasn't fully attached, and I could slip my finger under it. I don't know if I happened to get an off one, because the other three corners were glued down well. For me, this was not a big deal because I'm a crafter and have about 5 different craft glues that can fix that in a second. And, to be honest, I'd love this box just as much if it had no lining at all. 

So, overall, what do I think? This is a great case for storing or carrying nail art supplies, and I will be using it on a daily basis. I love that it gives me super easy access to my nail tools; when my nails are wet, I don't need to be digging through a bunch of stuff to get my hands on what I need, I can have my supplies sticking out of the special section and grab them with no smudges. I don't use mine to store polish, I use mine to store my nail art supplies (my rhinestones, nail tape, nail decals, nail art wheels, that kind of thing), but if I were going to someone's house to do nail art for them (girls night or something), I'd put that insert right back in and throw a few base colors and stamping polishes on in there. This would also be a great cosmetics case for traveling or home use, and I can certainly see myself using it for that in the future as well.

I think the price on this is a steal. I was recently looking at a nearly-identical box that had no special inserts, and it was twenty dollars more than the $39.99 price tag on this one. I'm really impressed that for this price, the hardware on this is pretty hardcore, this box certainly can take a hit without falling apart.

Salon outlet also has a ton of other cool things, including other make-up bags and cases with a zillion compartments and very on-trend colors, as well as other hair-care and make-up equipment. Check them out!

I hope your week is off to a great start! Hugs,

M.