When the lovely people from UK brand Sleek Makeup read about my yearning for NARS Zulu (which has been fulfilled!) they were kind enough to share with me a gorgeous green polish from their NAILED lacquer line.

The shade, Poison Ivy, is a blackened forest green shimmer. It’s probably one of the truest deep forest greens I’ve seen. Unlike CND NFS it doesn’t lean towards teal. I’d say that it’s OPI Jasper Jade’s vampier older sister. The shimmer is pronounced enough to make my tips resemble little jewels but not so over the top that it looks like I’ve dipped my fingers in glitter.

The formula is Big 3 Free, highly pigmented and thick in consistency. Yet it applies like a dream. I only needed one coat to achieve bottle color and it was very easy to control. Since Nailed by Sleek is a new brand to me, I decided to give it a full trial run and my findings are puzzling.

I wore Poison Ivy for 5 days with just a base coat (Nubar) and no top coat. It lasted the full 5 days with just the slightest bit of tip wear. Next I decided to wear it again with Nubar’s top coat to help keep the lacquer’s luster. This time the polish was peeling and lifting after only 2 days. I really can’t explain it. There must be something in the combination of ingredients that didn’t mesh well the second time around. Regardless, this color and formula get two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Since I knew my fellow greenies would be asking, here are some comparisons.

Nailed by Sleek polishes retail for £2-£3 and can be found in independent beauty supply stores. The rest of the Sleek Makeup line can be found at SuperDrug.