The Face Shop - Lovely Me:ex - Yogurt Nails

Hello! Today I did swatches for this cute little collection by the Face Shop called Yogurt Nails (typo included). They are super cute, but there are many sacrifices.

The formula is horrible. Horrible. Maybe that's why they are not available here in Singapore.. (I ordered them straight from Korea for SGD1.80 per bottle) They are jelly sandwiches, and the base is really the jelly kind of squishy shiny formula.

When applying, it drags, streaks and bubbles, though the glitters spread out pretty evenly by themselves. They are worth the effort and hard work because they are so cute and affordable, but you need to be very patient with the formula.

What I found works best is to put 2 thin coats, and then 2 very generous coats. You need to put generous coats for the last 1-2 coats to avoid streaks and to make sure you have good coverage without patches. Thin coats for the 3-4 coat will just streak and get very messy. It also helps to use a very light hand when brushing it on your nails.

Dry time: don't get me started. I applied the Vanilla and went to the park to cycle just now. I was out for 2 hours. It is now 3 hours later, and the polish is still not completely dry! It's like wearing play-doh on your nails, awful.

They dry up shiny, but super chunky, so you'll need a generous layer of top coat as well. So, that's a lot of thick coats + slow drying time = not a good combination. Definitely would recommend using a fast-drying top coat for these. (I didn't do that today.. hmmpff should have..)

Update: I tried using China Glaze Fast Forward topcoat, dry time is still pretty long because even though the top layer is dried properly, the layers underneath are still very fragile and will damage if you are not careful. Drying time is still really long, like 1-2 hours to completely dry. The only bonus is that you won't smudge your nail polish onto your clothes, furniture, etc. by accident.

So sad, I really wanted this to work. I wear them on my toes now too, and with the fast-dry top coat they are all right, really. I am amazed I have not heard anyone complain about the formula yet in other reviews.

As you can see in below photos, the Strawberry, Grape and Apple Mint are pretty chunky. As I was doing these swatches in a bit of a rush, I did not use top coat (dry time was just too long and it would just drag and ruin my nails) so some look horribly chunky in the picture. Don't worry, this is solved with a nice top coat, as you can see with the Vanilla. Another reason for them being chunky is because I did not wait in between coats to dry, I just kept going :x So the chunks are partially a result from dragging.

So far The Face Shop polishes are 3-free, but I can't guarantee these ones are. I have not seen any ingredient list for these. But I'll risk it.

On to the pictures then, shall we? (All pictures are taken in natural light)

Yogurt nails collection

From left to right: Vanilla Sugar Yogurt, Lemon Candy Yogurt, Apple Mint Yogurt, Strawberry Milk Yogurt and Grape Juice Yogurt.

Bottle shot Vanilla Sugar Yogurt

First one up: Vanilla Sugar Yogurt. I did my manicure with this color, and still waiting for it to dry wearing it. This is my second favorite of the collection. There is so much to see! The bigger hexagonal chunks are sky-blue, indigo blue, green, red and yellow. the smaller hexagon chunks are orange, green, sky-blue, purple (yes, purple!) and white. The base is a bright white jelly, which helps to make all the colors stand out lovely!

Vanilla Sugar Yogurt - 1 coat

Vanilla Sugar Yogurt - 2 coats

This is 1 and 2 thin coast, you can how streaky it is, but how well the glitters spread themselves. This is the same for all 5 colors.

Vanilla Yogurt with top Coat

Here is the result with top coat. 2 thin and 2 thick coats. And a generous amount of top coat to make it look shiny and smooth.

Vanilla Sugar Yogurt - Full hand

You know I like a full hand shot, so here you go. Shiny and clean. I should do a comparison with China Glaze It's a Trap-eze. I like the Vanilla Yogurt glitters more, I like how they are spread out over the nail and how the white makes your nails look so clean. But China Glaze formula is 10 times better so I will still prefer using that one.

Next up: Lemon Candy Yogurt. This is my favorite of the bunch, it is unique, fun, and reminds me of ginger Chistmas cakes and vanilla yogurt. They should have called this one Vanilla Yogurt instead! It's the tiny glitters that really makes it look like yogurt, you know how real vanilla yogurt has those brown vanilla powder scattered inside? It really reminds me of that.

Lemon Candy Yogurt - Bottle shot 

There are copper orange, lime green and golden yellow big hexagons inside, and very small yellow and and lime green hexagons. The base is a lovely pale pastel yellow. How cute is this?

Lemon Candy Yogurt - 3 medium coats

Lemon Candy Yogurt

This is without a top coat, but it is not so chunky as the next 3. I am not sure why. Even though this is a yellow AND a jelly, coverage is pretty good, 3 generous coats. Really love this one!

Next up is Grape Juice Yogurt. A lilac base jelly with big  lilac, magenta, mint green and soft yellow big hexagons and small magenta and purple hexagons. This is very sweet and will look good on anyone!

Grape Juice Yogurt - Bottle shot

Grape Juice Yogurt - 3 generous coats

This one was pretty chunky somehow, I did not put a top coat but I think you might need 2 coats to smooth-en it out. The color makes up for you trouble, though.

Grape Juice Yogurt - Full hand shot

This picture makes it look more grey-toned, but it's really the lovely lilac grape purple with a tinge of pink you see in the second shot. (Matches my wall, too! Hehee.. so lame)

Next one up is Apple Mint Yogurt. I was most excited for this one but ended up liking some other colors more. it's still lovely. In certain lights it looks baby blue instead of green.

Apple Mint Yogurt - Bottle shot

The glitter in this one is totally cute, pale pink, mint green big and small hegaxons. Yes, this is really a nice color as well! There is a reason I bought the whole collection.. I just couldn't chose and they were all so cute and they were only 1 dollar 80 cents each and, and.. I forgive you your awful application issues! Amen.

So chunky.. =(

This one definitely needs a base coat too.. my goodness how embarrassing and messy does this looks.

Apple Mint Yogurt - Full hand shot

Looks better from a distance =x This shot is quite close to real life. It is a little dusty, which is what I like about it.

Last but not least Strawberry Milk Yogurt. This was my least favorite of the bunch and I couldn't decide whether or not to buy. But since I decided on the other 4 already I just got them all, and now I tried it I quite like it! It looks like strawberry milk and looks literally sweet, like sugar candy.

Strawberry Yogurt bottle shot

Pale cute pink jelly base with mint green, pale pink and purple big hexagons, tiny magenta and purple hexagons and - for some strange reason - white square glitters. It is actually very nice and seemed a little less chunky than the Grape and Apple. More smooth like Vanilla and Lemon. Very girly!

Strawberry Milk Yogurt

Strawberry Milk Yogurt - Full hand shot

Have you had any application issues? Which are your favorite colors, do you have any?