Claire's Mood Nail Polish in Daring/Innocent - $5 at Claire's

I'd been seeing so much on the web about these polishes from Claire's, but I was loathe to really get into them because of all the experiences I've had with "mood" polishes in the past. I had a couple Toma ones and they were sort of bunk, but I've read about how much people like these, so I bought a couple to give them a shot. These are the same price as the regular Claire's polishes; $5 and usually BOGO 50% off. However, they're quite a bit smaller.

I was shocked at the application! The exclamation point is not used lightly. I had zero problems with these polishes. They applied beautifully opaque and streak-free in two coats. This particular polish of course applies grey, but as it starts to cure it begins to turn peachy at the base of the nail and keeps changing from there. Since I've got a fair amount of free-edge to my nails, the very tips remained grey which makes for a neat sort of funky french look. I was also surprised at the immediate changing of shades when run under cold water, and then hot.

I thought that the color combination was a bit squirrely, but it's definitely interesting. I like the contrast of two shades that are so absolutely different with a soft delineation between the colors. In some of the other polishes that have two similar colors, the effect is more like a gradation, or even might be considered ombre,  but this one has such a weird contrast. That said, I freakin' love these polishes. I've only tried two, the second is soon to be posted, and now I want all the others.

After running under cold water; not really that wild, but very pretty!

After running under hot water; Innocent looks a bit more maize-y than the ivory the label leads you to believe.