Lise Watier Light Cap Nail Lacquer

I received my bottle of Lise Watier’s Light Cap Nail Lacquer in Stiletto as a thank-you for providing some feedback on a couple of the company’s new skincare products. It arrived along with a tube of Power Kiss Gloss and no note or other packaging, which is why I only just learned this product’s “secret.” But before I get to that, let’s talk about the polish’s actual performance.

The polish arrived a couple days before Halloween weekend and right away I wanted to try it. However the colour, a coral-tinged red, wasn’t quite right for my fingernails since I was going to be spending that Saturday night dressed up as the “Silver Glitter Fairy,” (yes, that’s something I made up). So instead I applied it to my toes.

At first, I was really impressed with this polish. Its formula wasn’t too thin or too thick and went on smoothly and easily. On some toes, one coat did the trick but out of habit, and because some other toes needed it, I applied a second, and times a third coat. As always, I used a base coat and wait until each coat was almost dry before I applied the next. Then I covered all of my toes with a fast-drying top coat, waited 20 minutes, and put on my socks, after first checking that my polish was dry.

Prior to putting on my sock, I checked out my work and was quite happy with what I saw: Bright, shiny colour that looked fantastic. I remember thinking that I might have a new favourite nail polish line.

But then, some nine hours later, I took off my socks when I was getting ready for bed and I discovered that while my nails might have felt dry, they definitely were not. All of my toes were decorated with sock impressions in the polish and on four toes, the lacquer’s distribution had somehow shifted from smooth and even to lumpy and weird. On those toes, the polish was actually still so soft that I was able to scrape it off with my fingernails.

So the next day, I started over again on most of my toes and this time, I applied as little polish as possible. I also waited a whole hour before putting on my socks and before I did that, I pressed down on my toes, to make sure that the lacquer had dried all the way through.

All of that did the trick. It’s now been over a week since I redid my toes and they look amazing: Vivid, glossy and completely chip-free. So yes, if you apply this polish properly, it can be very impressive.

All right, now onto that “secret” I mentioned earlier. Before writing a review, I always look a product’s web page up. When I did that with this product I not only learned its real name, which was not on the bottle, I also learned that the cap contains a light that, “… illuminate the nails for a more accurate application.”

When I first read this, I went, “WTF?” and then I went to investigate the cap. Sure enough, the top of the cap contains a rubber button that when pushed the right way, turns on a light. While sort of gimmicky, it’s also sort of a cool idea and certainly a feature that I’ll use when I apply this polish again.

Would I buy this product: Yes. While this product does require that you apply it with a light touch, once it’s on, it’s on and it looks great. It’s also reasonably priced at $13.

Should you buy this product: True, the colour range for this line isn’t particularly original but it does offer some good basic options. As long as you’re conscientious about applying a light coat, this polish is worth picking up.