Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Review & Swatch

Arden: We're suddenly trying out new products left and right here at the Casa de Polish!  Today we have one of Sally Hansen's new Sugar Coat polishes.  These are being marketed right along side the new Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coats, which we swatched here. This was the first texture coat I've ever tried (other versions include OPI Liquid Sand and Zoya PixieDust) and I didn't really know quite what to expect. 

I'd always assumed before that these kinds of polishes contained some sort of special chemicals that bubbled up as the dried, but it turns out that there's actually some kind of grit in the polish in the bottle.  It applies just like normal, but then other things in the polish evaporate as it dries, leaving a rough texture.

This is Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Sour Apple, two coats, no top coat.  The sugar coats come in a variety of colors, but due to our love of greens, we opted to get the mint green one first to try out and see how we liked it.

I'm not gonna lie, the reason this was the first gritty texture coat I've ever tried is because they never really appealed to me.  "Why would I want gritty nails?" I would ask myself every time I saw an OPI Liquid Sand polish discounted at the local beauty supply store.

Well, after trying out this Sugar Coat, I get it.  Textured nails are actually pretty fun!  And this shade would work great if you were painting on a design that involved grass-- it would really make the grass stand out!  I actually might go see if I can get the yellow shade to use when making a sand design sometime.

Application was great-- two thin coats and you've got some excellent textured nails!  The only thing you should watch out for is to not smudge any of your nails.  I accidentally smudged my middle finger when doing these swatches, and painted a little more Sour Apple over the spot at the tip of my nail.  As you can see in the pictures, that layer of the polish didn't dry like the rest, and isn't as textured.  So learn from my mistakes!  Be careful!

And since I was curious, I decided I'd see how the Sugar Coats would look with different kinds of top coat.  Below is my experiment.  On my pointer finger, there's one coat of Essie Good to Go on top.  On my middle finger, there's a coat of Essie Matte About You.  And my ring finger is the control: just the sugar coat without any top coat.

Verdict: I didn't like it at all with the matte top coat.  It kind of dulled the texturedness of the nail, without really making it seem that mattified.  But I did like the regular glossy top coat on top.  It was still textured, but not quite so fine a grit, plus it was glossy!  If you think the Sugar Coat is too gritty for you, definitely try it out with a top coat to see if you like it better! 

Have you tried out any of the new Sally Hansen Sugar Coats?  Let us know what you think!