Drugstore Week, Day 1: NYC

I've decided to do a drugstore week with some of my favorite, affordable nail polishes that are available at any drugstore or major retailer like Walmart or Target. The selection is huge and overwhelming, so I'm hoping to narrow it down and show you guys my absolute favorites. Eventually I'll be adding this list to the blog tabs, and I intend to do a post on possible dupes/so-so-so-close polishes.

Today, we're going to start with NYC cosmetics. NYC is one of my favorite brands. They have amazing cosmetics - highly pigmented shadows, lipsticks and glosses and amazing mascara. My favorite mascara is an NYC brand that I feel is comparable to Bobbi Brown mascara. It's called "City Curls" and it comes in a pink tube. I love it!

Anyway - on to the nail polish.

NYC has a few different lines of nail polish, all of them under 2.00. The Long Wearing Nail Enamel is .99 cents and the Quick Dry Minute Polish is 1.99. The Quick Dry often goes on sale for .99 cents, or if you can catch them on clearance you have an even better deal.

Here are my favorite NYC polishes, all of them happen to be from the Quick Dry Line.

West Village

Oh, hi. I'm that beautiful subtle sparkly sapphire-navy you've been searching for all your life. Where have I been? Just hanging out on the very bottom shelf in the corner of the cosmetics aisle. You always walk past me just to stare at the Essie...

This is a BEAUTIFUL shade of navy. I feel like it's a jewel on my nails. I didn't even notice the slight sparkles until I took a macro shot. This is a beautiful true navy. It doesn't lean towards the teal side, it's just navy. This one seems like it's similar to Zoya Ibiza, but more on those maybe-dupes later on in the week.

Like all NYC nail polishes I've used, the application was easy and smooth. This is two coats. What I love about this polish is it does not stain my nails or skin like I anticipated.

MOMA

Moma is a happy, pink. It isn't quite bubblegum, it isn't quite fuchsia. The application for this is also amazing. I used 3 coats to get this color. I have to say, I'm a huge fan of the brushes in the NYC quick dry polishes as well. They're not too big, not too small. They're perfect for my nail and really help cut down on any mess I make. This color is currently on clearance at Target.

I think MOMA might be very similar to Zoya Morgan.

I should add, my middle finger in the macro is all bent in because of a scar, lol. I always see it in my macros and it just sticks out when I hold my finger at certain angles. When I was 2 I fell off a bar stool and it cut my middle finger in half so I had to be stitched up and now I have a scar in the shape of a half moon.  Anyway, now that I've fulfilled your daily gore quota, on to the next color.

Times Square




I've said it many, many times. I love red nail polish. It's my favorite color to wear. It brightens up any outfit or dreary day, it's sophisticated, sexy, fun, flirty - it's all those things in ONE color. This is one of my favorite shades of red. It leans a bit more towards coral, but not completely. I used 3 coats in this mani.

I really like how "thin" the NYC formula is for their nail polish. It isn't so thin it's watery and unmanageable and it isn't so thick that it's goopy and impossible to use without making a mess. It's the right consistency for a beautiful manicure in two coats, tops - unless you have a red. In my experience, red always needs more coats.

 Prince Street

 

This is one of those polishes where if you don't have it, you need it. You need it now. Get up, throw your hair in a bun, drive to your local drugstore and buy Prince Street. Put it on, and tell me how absolutely royal and elegant you feel. I swear, this color matches all skin tones and sweat pants.

Prince street is beautiful and bright. It's this rich shade of purple with high shine. I used two coats in the photo above.

I think this shade might be close to Zoya Hope.

 NYC just has it right - the formula, the brush, the colors, the cute little bottles, the price. How could anyone say no? The dry time on the quick dry polishes is truly like none other. They do dry in less than 5 minutes. The bottle says 60 seconds and while they are partially dry after 60 seconds, I always wait a bit. After 5 minutes I'm good to go. I painted my nails with one of these colors and shortly after my toddler needed her diaper changed. Not a single smudge.

Bravo, NYC. Bravo.