UPDATED! Review: Blackheart Beauty Stacked nail polishes

Hello!!!


UPDATE: I just want to let everyone know that I called Hot Topic about a replacement for the polish that arrived mixed up, and they sent one out no problem. Great customer service! :)

UPDATE: These polishes contain lead. While it seems that this is probably in trace amounts such that it doesn't need to be disclosed in most states, it does contain some, and you should be careful to not bite your nails or put your fingers in your mouth while wearing polishes from this line.

I was recently contacted by a reader asking me if I'd had any experiences with the new Blackheart Beauty 'Stacked' nail polishes. "New Blackheart Beauty stacked polishes?!" said I, "No I haven't, but I'm sure gonna!!!"...and off I ran to order some since they were having a sale. I did manage to keep myself under control, and only bought four of them...>.>...:

Blackheart Beauty Bruiser

Blackheart Beauty Dark Alley

Blackheart Beauty Iridescent

Blackheart Beauty Bright Stick (note that this bottle arrived mixed up and not properly stacked)

The concept behind the 'Stacked' (also called 'stackable' on some of the bottle labels) nail polishes isn't really explained on the site, which makes the idea mysterious and intriguing, but frustrating. There are several different coordinating colors of nail polish 'stacked' on top of one another in the same bottle, and the implication is that this will create some sort of interesting effect on the nail, when the polishes in the bottle somehow work some magic with one another. Of course, after you sit and think it through for a few minutes, you start to come up with some potential problems. What if the colors just streak and look like crap? Does it do whatever it's supposed to do in one coat, and if not, how does a second coat not mess things up? And what if it all just muddies together and turns brown?

These were questions to which I needed to know the answers. I am nothing if not dedicated to the search for information, and selflessly devoted to helping others. Those are definitely my motives. Of course this does not have anything to do with some polish addiction/obsession that I have. Not even one teeny bit... ::clears throat:: #TwelveStepProgramForNailPolish?

I tested each bottle out on one nail. In each case I started out with a base coat of white, so that the colors would show up as clearly as possible. I didn't pay much attention to perfect application or cleaning up my cuticles, as I wanted to just get a down-and-dirty test of how these polishes work. First I'll show you the pictures, then I'll discuss my findings. :)

Blackheart Beauty Bruiser

Blackheart Beauty Bruiser

Bruiser was definitely my favorite in the bottle. As you can see from the pictures, the colors stayed separate to a degree, and there was some differentiation of color. In the closer-up picture, you can see what happens when they blend, and you can see the pretty sparkle in the polish.

Blackheart Beauty Dark Alley

Dark Alley is the one I was most worried about, given the sharp contrasts between the pinks and the black. You can definitely see the color differentiation even though it melds a bit, and the glitter does add an interesting dimension. I'm on the fence, however, about whether or not this just looks too messy for my taste.

Blackheart Beauty Iridescent

Iridescent gave my favorite result. The colors go on the nail and settle to give a cool dimensional effect--the purple layer with the smaller glitter seems to go to the bottom while the blue glitter stays on the top. I couldn't capture it easily in the picture, but there is a very slight blue-green duochrome aspect to the glitter in the right light.

Blackheart Beauty Bright Stick

 As you can see in the bottle shot above, Bright Stick showed up at my door all mixed up, so I wasn't able to test out the 'stacked' effect. I will be calling Hot Topic on Monday to ask them to send me a new bottle, and I'll update you here about the customer service I get--I think it's a lot easier to take a risk on these polishes if you can feel secure knowing that they'll arrive at your door in their proper state or be replaced. In the meantime, the silver lining to the situation is that I was able to see what the polish looks like when all mixed up, and the good news is, the final color is very pretty, certainly something I'd buy on its own. Plus, I love that the finish on this is the 'rubber' sort of finish, not just a typical creme or jelly finish--that's a fun bonus in my opinion.

Okay, so overall, what do I think?

These polishes were neither as good as I hoped or as bad as I feared. They don't give super dramatic rainbow effects like part of me had hoped they would, but they do give subtle rainbow effects that are pretty cool. Each type gave me a somewhat different effect--Iridescent was a uniform effect over the nail, but it had amazing depth (this is the sort of gorgeous glitter you usually only find in Indie brands). Dark Alley was a more marbled/streaked effect with a glitter accent--this would be a tough look to create another way (although as I mentioned, for me personally, I'm still on the fence about it). And Bruiser gave more of the rainbow-stripey effect I had been anticipating. All three were cool, and I'm glad I got them.

Bright Stick eased my fears about what these polishes will eventually look like when they've been used enough to mix them up, which is inevitable, no matter how careful you are with them. I don't know exactly how long it will take to lose what differentiation there is, but I do know that the bottles say 'do not shake' clearly on them, and that every time you open the bottle and dip the brush in and out, you're going to get some mixing. So, what will you be left with? In each case, it seems fairly clear to me that the color you'll be left with is an attractive one, not an unpleasant mosh of ick. Bright Stick is a pretty deep grape purple when mixed that I'd be glad to wear in its own right. Bruiser looks like it will turn into a sparkly deep blurple, also pretty judging by the area on my nail where it mixed a bit more. I'm not sure Iridescent will change much at all once it gets blended, since its effect seems to be more of a settling of colors on top of one another across the surface of the nail. And Dark Alley looks like it will turn into a pretty muted dark-lavender purple with glitter. I think this was a very smart choice on the part of the developers, to ensure a beautiful final color.

A couple of words of advice if you decide to get these. I found I got the best results when I abandoned the standard application method of putting a dot of polish at the base of the cuticle, pulling it to both sides, and finishing up the middle. I got uneven, streaky results when I did this. Instead, I used even strokes starting on one side of the nail and working across toward the other. I tried to minimize dipping and swiping off polish on the side of the bottle, as well. Last but not least, I do recommend some sort of underwear under these, so you can get away with one coat; two coats is going to minimize any color differentiation you get in your first coat. Plus, if any of your undies end up showing through at the edges (like you can see on my fingers) you can always clean it up with a little acetone and a nail brush. Regardless of your method, you'll want to apply these slowly and carefully for best effect.

So, do I recommend these? I do, with conditions. If you like the effects I got above, you'll enjoy these. Beware that you may get a bottle that is too mixed up to get any special effects--but I'm hoping Hot Topic will make that right, and I'll let you know if they do. Finally, be aware that you aren't going to get the specialty look for the full bottle; I'm not sure how long it will last, maybe for a lot of manicures, maybe for only a few. So I'd also recommend that you pick a bottle where you like the ultimate potential color of the polish when it's mixed up, so you get your full use out of the bottle. From what I can tell, each bottle will turn into a pretty color even once the stacked effect is gone, and that's good news.

When I bought my polishes (you can find them and other Blackheart Beauty polishes by clicking here), they were selling for $5.00 each, but were on sale buy-one-get-one-50%-off. Shipping was $4.95, although they do periodically have free-shipping specials. But if you have a Hot Topic near you, these would be a good thing to pick up in person, because then you can be sure your bottle is stacked properly. :)

Let me know if you have any other questions, and my deep thanks to Blue Violent for bringing these to my attention! :)

Xoxox,
M.

(The polishes in this review were purchased with my own money.)