Summer of Nails with Urban Decay

Urban Decay Summer of Love Nail Kit ($28.00) includes seven miniature-sized bottles of nail polish in summery shades. Each bottle contains 5ml/0.17 fl. oz. of product in it.

• Shine On is a brightened bronze with gilded bronze shimmer. You can see a few brush strokes in this one, but they’re not too bad. I found the formula on this one to be a little goop-y but watery. You can’t rush this one — you have to let it dry quite a bit between coats. I found three were necessary for overall smoothness and color.
• Woodstock is a bright neon pink. Like most neons, it’ll dry on the matte side, but a shiny top coat like Seche Vite will give it a glossy look. This went opaque in two coats, and it was a fuss-free formula.
• Love Light is a sheer champagne shimmer. Even with three coats, you’ll still see the nail beneath it, but there’s plenty of shimmer here. The formula is sheer but easy to work with.
• Hashbury is a magenta-fuchsia purple. It has a lot of red in it, and in the light, it looks much lighter than it does in the dark (where it looks more like an eggplant-y purple). Compared to the other two shimmery/metallic shades like Shine On and Aquarius, this one was easy to use and was just a bit on the runny side but not difficult to work with.
• Magic Bus is a darkened neon orange. It’s like construction cone orange to me. Like Woodstock, it has a very smooth, easy to use formula that applies opaque in two coats.
• Aquarius is a metallic-y aqua blue with teal sheen/shimmer. This one is both a pain to photograph and apply. It applies sheerly, so you need at least three coats for an opaque look. The problem with the formula is that it’s both goop-y and watery — it’s difficult to get enough for a thin coat, because if you do a medium-thick or thick coat, you’ll end up with goop-y looking nails (see my index finger in the swatch) that looks terrible. This was the problem child of the bunch for sure. Like Shine On, make sure you give each coat time to dry.
• Psychedelic Sister is a neon coral-red. Again, like the other two neons (Woodstock and Magic Bus) in this kit, Psychedelic Sister applies smoothly and evenly without any work.

Three of the seven shades have an excellent formula–Woodstock, Magic Bus, and Psychedelic Sister–while three aren’t so hot–Shine On, Hashbury, and Aquarius. Love Light was neither excellent nor problematic; it just was, you know? Shine On and Hashbury weren’t too bad, but the formulas had a bit of a goop-y yet watery feel to them. Aquarius had this issue, but it also showed brush strokes the most and required nearly four coats to look right. With my larger hands, I found the tiny bottles harder to work with (I felt like I had meathooks!), but I was able to get used to that pretty quickly so it wasn’t a huge issue.

I like that it comes in a cute little bag that you can reuse later on for whatever makeup essentials you might want to put in it. It’ll fit your 24/7 Eyeliners, a few eyeshadows, glosses, and a blush. It’s not huge, but it has enough space for an overnight adventure.

If it was just the neons, these would be an A! Unfortunately, the metallic shades are harder to work with, and between Shine On and Aquarius, they have more of a low-B/mid-C formula, respectively, to me.  The kit, in total, is thus somewhere in between–just to clarify how everything came together.  I didn’t feel that comfortable rating it as a whole, just because some were great, some weren’t so great!

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

• Product: 25/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

Recommendation: If you love trying lots of shades at once, this nail kit is a great way to grab some metallics and neons without breaking the bank. If you don’t mind a little patience, the metallics are workable, while the neons apply like a dream.

Availability: UrbanDecay.com on March 30th

See more photos & swatches!

Nail Lacquer: Shine On, Woodstock, Love Light, Hashbury, Magic Bus, Aquarius, Psychedelic Sister

Nail Lacquer: Shine On, Woodstock, Love Light, Hashbury, Magic Bus, Aquarius, Psychedelic Sister

Nail Lacquer: Shine On, Woodstock, Love Light, Hashbury, Magic Bus, Aquarius, Psychedelic Sister

Nail Lacquer: Shine On, Woodstock, Love Light, Hashbury

Nail Lacquer: Woodstock, Love Light, Hashbury, Magic Bus, Aquarius, Psychedelic Sister

Urban Decay Shine On Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Shine On Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Shine On Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Woodstock Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Woodstock Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Woodstock Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Love Light Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Love Light Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Love Light Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Hashbury Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Hashbury Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Hashbury Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Magic Bus Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Magic Bus Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Magic Bus Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Aquarius Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Aquarius Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Aquarius Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister Nail Lacquer

Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister Nail Lacquer