I’ve been meaning to get to this review for some time now, but my first quick swatching session with this polish left something to be desired. Finally, I brought myself to try it again, with more success – though I’ll warn you first off that flakie polishes aren’t my favorite to begin with. So take that knowledge into consideration while reading the review, because it’ll mean a bias toward the product.
It sounds silly that I bought a polish that I may not have liked from the get-go, doesn’t it? I do have a method to the madness though – despite my ambivalent feelings about flakies, I’m smart enough to know how much other people love them, and I figured for $4 I could afford to pick this up so I could showcase it on the blog. Unfortunately, Joe Fresh polish seems to be a bit of a hard find, even for those of us in Canada, but if you get an opportunity to try them somehow, I’d say check them out because they do have some neat shades (some in which I’ve reviewed, here and here).
‘Twilight’ has a sheer black jelly base with primarily green-flashing flakies encapsulated within the polish. In the right light you can also see red, yellow and orange as well, which makes it pretty neat to look at. This polish makes me think of Halloween in a big way, though it’s wearable all year round. 
If you have a black or near black polish on hand, I recommend applying a coat of that first before moving forward with ‘Twilight’ – for two reasons. One, this polish is relatively sheer, and while I only used two coats for the swatches you see here, I could have used a third. Using a dark polish first will help give a deeper, darker look. Second, these flakies were the absolute WORST to remove, and an extra coat of polish after the base coat would have probably helped with the removal process. And, it stained my nails, so there’s that too. Lastly, another thing to keep in mind is that even though $4 seems like a bit of a steal, these bottles are only 0.2 oz, which means you’re paying $20 per ounce, which is greater than Zoya, OPI and Orly polishes (on average). So it’s not as great a deal as it seems. Sound like a polish you wanna have, right??
I took this shot next to the kleenex box in my room – bizarre, yes, but the colors reminded me so much of Twilight! Don’t you think?
Despite the irritation aspect of ‘Twilight,’ if you’re a flakie fan then I think you’ll be willing to put up with the downsides. As you can see, the effect is really noticeable in all lighting, and quite striking. The jelly finish of the base gives it a really murky look and allows the flakes to shine through rather than dull them at all. I’m still not a fan of these Joe Fresh bottles – being so short and stubby with a rather large top makes it tricky to see where you’re applying the polish, though it wasn’t a deal-breaker.
Overall, I like the uniqueness of this polish but that’s pretty much it. I’m tempted to put it up for swap because it’s unlikely to get much play in my world (except for maybe near Halloween). I feel like I need to give flakies a real chance, but so far I’ve really not been into the effect all that much. How do you feel about flakie polishes, yay or nay?
#1 by Eugenia on December 5, 2011 - 8:51 pm
Ahhh, Toya….personally, while I love the look of glitter polishes, I don’t know if I like them on ME (it’s an age thing, I guess), but flakies – now that’s another story. I really love the way light plays off them and the prismatic effect they give off – mesmerizing! I haven’t been able to find this one near me, but then again, I haven’t looked all that hard either! I’m surprised to hear you say it was hard to remove; the two flakie polishes I own, were not an issue to take off at all. As to your nails staining, that, my dear, is a result of the dark base you wore, and definitely not the flakie…maybe another combo would win you over? I sure hope so, because in my humble opinion, I think flakies are really unique. Plus, I think it looks really, really great on you!
#2 by Latoya on December 8, 2011 - 9:31 pm
Thanks so much Eugenia
It was very strange that it was soo hard to remove, even more so than glitters – and, I’m not sure I told the story correctly, as in the swatches and when I wore it, I didn’t have a dark base – I was just suggesting it would be a good idea as the polish is fairly sheer. So, sadly, the staining was all due to the polish itself 
In any case, I’ll hang on to it for a while and see if the flakie mood strikes me again. I don’t hold a lot of hope though, because I don’t even love flakies on others (except that fantastic mani you did earlier this Fall with the black polish and HT on your tips – soo gorgeous!).
#3 by Liz (Beauty Reductionista) on December 6, 2011 - 4:01 pm
I keep forgetting to go to Loblaws to scope this out! I’m not entirely sure that I’m on board with flakies. First instinct is YES YES YES! but only because flakies are so strangely rare around here. I was looking at the Nails Inc. duos in Sephora but really didn’t want to pay more than $20 just to experience what flakies were like. So the Joe Fresh option is perfect!
As for removal, I recently saw a short clip where a sales associate demonstrated using baby wipes in conjunction with nail polish remover and a Lippmann glitter polish came off without a problem almost instantaneously! We have to try it out… because if it works? GENIUS.
#4 by Latoya on December 8, 2011 - 9:38 pm
Whoa, baby wipes eh!? That does sound genius, count me in!! I gotta try this trick ASAP. I don’t have a ton of hard-to-remove polishes…or maybe it’s more that those babies don’t get a ton of play, for that exact reason! Anything that helps in that area is a major plus, thanks for the tip!
I’d certainly say check out the flakie option somehow – it’s worth giving a shot, I’m just not sure I’m the right person to review the ‘style.’ I’m really more of a creme girl, with holo’s and the right shimmer or glitter thrown in the mix. But every so often, gotta break out of the routine, right?
#5 by aliciab on December 16, 2011 - 1:04 pm
There are a lot of polish companies coming out with flakies now… A couple months ago I found flakies hard to find and people would always comment on how ‘weird’ or ‘different’ my nail were when wearing them. But it seems like now flakies are becoming the new crackle… Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, I am glad drugstore/grocery store brands are coming out with good stuff now.
#6 by Latoya on December 16, 2011 - 11:15 pm
Sounds like you were ahead of the trends Alicia
I can’t say I had the jump on them myself, but I had heard a lot about flakies before it started to become mainstream. As a whole I’m not totally on board, but polishes like this that have flakies within (rather than having to apply a top coat) are pretty cool. And some of Nfu-Oh’s flakies look absolutely ridiculously amazing. Maybe if I had my hands on one of those I’d change my tune!