Designer vs. Drugstore Nail Polish

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When looking at nail lacquer, the point of difference is not necessarily designer versus drugstore, but professional-quality versus not.

— Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, executive vice president and artistic director of OPI

Worth the Price

Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, an executive vice president and artistic director of the nail lacquer manufacturer OPI, has a long background with nail polish. In her opinion, drugstore polishes are not on the same level as the designer versions.

“The point of difference is not necessarily designer versus drugstore, but professional-quality versus not," she said. "Professional-quality lacquer is typically more expensive because it’s heavily pigmented; this super rich formula will stay on the nail longer. Inexpensive lacquers use less pigments, which leads to watery color and quick chips.”

For Weiss-Fischmann, it always comes down to quality.

“I always recommend making quality the No. 1 choice criteria," she said. "Today, nail lacquer is sold in so many colors, you shouldn’t have difficulty finding a well-formulated lacquer in a color you like.”

Designer nail polish lines are often more alluring than their cheaper counterparts. Their close association to the fashion industry makes them “quicker to embrace or set new trends,” Weiss-Fischmann said.

Drugstore brands have begun to follow the trends. They produce look-a-like polishes just as stores like Forever 21 and H&M turn runway looks into fashionable clothes for everyday people.

Mid-Price Options

It’s hard enough to get a manicure that lasts more than a week. Even though you might find a great color in a $2 bottle of polish, it might be worth an extra $5 to $10 to prolong the life of your manicure. Part of the whole search for beauty is about the time it takes to do it, and few people have the time to do their nails twice in one week.

Sure, you can extend any manicure with a base coat, a top coat and two coats of the color. However, as Weiss-Fischmann said, a super rich formula will make the biggest difference in the life of your nail color.

Brands like OPI, Sephora and Essie might be the solution. They are high on quality, provide edgy, fashionable colors and round out at a comfortable mid-range price point.

“Most nail salons use recognizable brands like OPI, China Glaze and Essie," said Paula Pryor, owner of Perma-Youth LLC of Torrance, California. "Actually, if they use a cheaper polish, it’s probably a salon I won’t try. I am very into health and wellness, so I am very careful about the beauty products I choose to use.”

Most drugstores and beauty supply stores carry mid-price-point brands. Designer brands are available only in certain upscale department stores, such as those that serve as anchors for larger shopping malls. A new color showcased in a fashion magazine article may sell out quickly and thereafter be purchasable only online.

Professional quality also refers to the type of ingredients not included in a product. Less expensive nail polishes could have toxic ingredients, such as dibutyl phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde. Dibutyl phthalate is a plasticizer used to prevent cracks and chips. Formaldehyde, which has been classified as a known cancer-causing substance by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, is present in some nail hardeners. Toluene is a solvent that makes polish easy to apply. Needless to say, you definitely don’t want these chemicals being absorbed into your body.

The addition of these toxic additives is another reason not to jump for just any nail polish because it happens to be cheaper. There are many brands free of these ingredients that won’t break the bank. Some of the best beauty brands, such as Oil of Olay, La Roche Posay and Neutrogena, may be found in many drugstores. They may cost a little more than some of the other options, but cheap does not always translate into a bargain.

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