Brand Review: Dr. Dana

I have a big nail polish collection, but I will always find space for one (or five) more. I love beautiful colors, I love the look of freshly painted nails, so I'm always open to try a new nail polish brand that would look better, last longer, have better ingredients than the ones I already own. When I came across Dr. Dana (link) nail care products, I was happy to see that top and base coats as well as nail polishes are 9-free. Usually when something sounds very good ingredient wise, I have a little doubt about the quality. However, Dr. Dana products very just as amazing as they sound.

 

I love using Hydrating Base Coat* (link) as it dries almost instantly. It leaves nails matte, but doesn't dry them. I know some people use only base or top coat as a clear nail polish option, but this base coat wouldn't work for that. However, it works perfectly as a base coat.

Though Quick Dry Top Coat* (link) could be used by itself. It makes nails very shiny and looks like you've just got a gel manicure. Dr. Dana nail polishes dry quickly, but this top coat helped in cutting down extra time.

The first two colors I've tried are Quincy* (link) and Gayle* (link). Quincy is a very light pink that looks white-ish once applied on the nails. Since this shade is sheer, it didn't apply completely evenly and even with 3 coats it's still somewhat see-through. I like Gayle a lot and I've worn this perfect nude shade a few times already. While the color is light, it gives a very even application. I used 3 coats in this photo, but this shade can be applied in 2 coats.

I broke a couple of my nails badly, so to let them grow back and get stronger, I got gel manicure. I was taking these photos right before my manicure appointment, so as you can see my nails don't look their best, but I still wanted to show how the colors look on. By the way, the nails on the left are in Gayle and the nails on the right are in Quincy. 

I'm not into orange nail polish, but I might wear it for pedicure in summer. Hannah* (link) looks darker in the bottle, but applies brighter. Just like the next two shades, it applies very evenly and is creamy. I'm so into red nail polish, so it's no surprise that Judy* (link) is my favorite color of these all. It's such a classic red shade that would go with any skin tone and would look beautiful for any occasion. Another color that would be perfect for summer is Kelly* (link). It's a lively pink shade that looks fun, yet sophisticated.

Dr. Dana nail polishes and base/top coats have a simple, but nice packaging that makes it easy to see the colors without opening boxes. While most people don't keep the boxes, a drop design is still a very nice touch.

The brush is comfortable for both smaller and bigger nails and gives controlled nail polish application. I didn't try too hard to apply nail polish for these photos, but it went on smoothly and I didn't get any nail polish on the cuticles.

As you can see in the photos, the nail polishes are very glossy. I didn't apply any top coat in order to show how they look by themselves. However, I apply both base and top coats when doing my nails.

These nail polishes have are free of harmful ingredients, but that doesn't interfere with their performance. They wear for 5+ days without chipping. They also remove easily without staining cuticles and fingers.




* marks PR samples received complimentary