CND Claret

Monday, I went to an important meeting with my boss. Since I'd never met the folks we were meeting with, I wanted to do a nice, classic nail color. It turns out that one of the people we met with is a budding nail polish fanatic as well, so we got to have a nice chit-chat about that.

Creative Nail Design Claret is a true dark red shimmer. It's really just a leeetle darker than I'd call "red" instead of "dark red," and it's very balanced between the blue and yellow undertones. Color-wise, I think it's something a lot of people would be able to wear well.

I should mention at this point that Claret is an older polish. I don't remember when or where I got it, but this is one of the polishes that was hanging around in my "collection" before there was a collection. As far as I can tell, CND stopped using this bottle design about 2008, so it's at least older than that. It's now discontinued, but still seems to be readily available online for about $6. I was pleasantly surprised with the application given the age of the polish. It wasn't thick at all and flowed on very smoothly. It has a very thin brush, which I find I have a harder time using, but that's a matter of preference.

The real problem though was the dry time. Even with a layer of Out the Door fast drying topcoat, it seemed to take about an hour to feel dry. Then, I woke up with sheet marks, even though I went to bed at least two to three hours after doing my nails. Even after 24 hours, I could press one nail lightly on another an make a dent.

I assume the drying problem is a result of its age and there's nothing I can do about it, which is a bummer because it's a pretty (if not all that unique) color. Does anyone have any suggestions for me on how I could wear this without belonging in the dented can aisle?