Ulta3 nailpolish in orchid and waterlily review ( . . . and a little bit on the brand overall)

I own two ulta3 nail polishes and the only reason I don't own more is because I’m picky when it comes to nail polish colours. (Read: I have a duochrome addiction.)

 . . . Also because the bottles are often damaged. What can I say, it’s cheap and people seem to think that means they can do whatever the hell they like.  

    I own waterlily, an old colour that I think they don’t make any more, and orchid, which I think is still in production. Waterlily is a dark purple with muted gold-purple shimmer that looks gorgeous on medium skin tones like mine. Orchid is a brighter purple with golden-purple shimmer that’s more prominent, which I originally bought in the hopes of getting a dupe of waterlily.

 

waterlily swatch

    They have a massive range of colours/finishes: neons, classics, pastels, glitters, but I think they have more cremes than shimmers, so creme-fans have at it! (I don’t own a crème finish so I can't vouch for them though) Their colour range does lean towards the bright and fun, but they do have vampy and neutral shades.

orchid swatch

    In a word these nail polishes are great. I started off on these because they're so cheap ($2-3?) and at first I thought all nail polish would be at least up to this standard. Pigmented in one swipe, doesn't stain your nails, smooth and dries fast enough (it's not quick dry but after half an hour you can pretty much do anything). They don't separate easily, and you get 13.5mls in each bottle!

I've never really counted how long it takes before chipping occurs but on two coats I think I can make 5 days before noticeable damage occurs, although the tips will rub off early on. With a topcoat, a week and a half max I think, before you see significant damage.

    The quality is almost the same as that of Revlon nail polishes, which are also good, but at around 1/5th the price, ulta3's nail polishes definitely win. Although Revlon will give you 14.7ml, most other companies give you less and charge more for it.

    On that note, ulta3 is not related to the Ulta stores in the USA, it’s in fact a brand by the Australian distributor of Maxfactor and Covergirl among other brands; another brand they own as well as distribute is Billiegoat Soap. While I haven’t bought other ulta3 makeup products I’ve swatched their lipsticks and they have good pigmentation and go on smoothly and evenly. The lipsticks are $3 – 4 and they have a massive range of colours including a black, which would be great for when you’re in a dark lipstick mood, and this blue-toned red you own would be perfect if it was just a little bit darker . . .

    The eyeshadows are more touch and go in terms of quality, most are pigmented but also dry feeling, and some are really chalky. But they are $5.99 for 4 colours so . . . *shrug*

    Buying an ulta3 nail polish would be a great way to try out a colour, if it works, you have a full sized bottle of good nail polish, and if it doesn't suit, you only paid $2. A rather annoying thing about ulta3 though is that they don’t have a webpage of their own, or at least a catalogue of current colours and products available.

    You can get ulta3 at a wide range of smaller, local pharmacies They also appear to have launched a “pro” line recently with larger bottles and a colour range of mainly pastels, but I haven’t tried those.

Colour range: 8/10

Product quality: 8/10

Price: very affordable

Availability: not everywhere, but relatively easy to find