Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Cobalt Coat

Ok, I know what you’re thinking. Insta-Ombre? What? How the…? What!?!

I had that same exact thought process. But my curiosity got the best of me so here we are.

Sally Hansen is never a brand to shy away from putting out new and different polish products. Cobalt Coat is from the new, 8 polish Insta-Ombre Special Effects collection for summer 2015. The polishes are designed to create an easy, sparkling ombre manicure.

The directions are pretty straight forward:

First, apply one coat to clean, dry nails. Next, apply a second coat from mid-nail to the tip. Finally, apply a third coat to only the nail tip. Voila: A radiant, wash of ombre color at your fingertips.

After playing with this polish a few times I did end up with a manicure I really liked. My full review and swatches are under the jump!

The product(s) used in this post were provided to TDV for review. For more information check out our disclosure policy.

Cobalt Coat is a mix of small silver and blue glitter suspended in a clear base. Sally Hansen claims Cobalt Coat takes blue from barely there to intense.

The formula is quite wonderful. The glitter lays flat, isn’t goopy and distributes evenly on the nail.

For my first manicure I used Cobalt Coat over the new Sally Hansen Big Peel Off Base Coat. I followed the directions and ended up with a gorgeous manicure but the ombre was subtle. Like, really subtle. If I didn’t know my manicure was supposed to be ombre I would have no idea. So back to the drawing board.

The second time around I decided to try using a dark base. So I started with just one coat of deborah lippmann Rolling In The Deep. Then I applied Cobalt Coat, again following the directions, but making a point to really wipe the brush clean for the first coat. The resulting manicure was gorgeous but the ombre was subtle. It was more noticeable than Cobalt Coat just on its own but still not the stand out ombre I was expecting (er, hoping).

Now, all this being said I really do love this glitter polish. It’s absolutely gorgeous and looked amazing with a navy base. Plus, it was just SO SPARKLY. I couldn’t stop staring at my nails.

So, this creates a problem. While, no, I don’t think this is an ombre manicure in a bottle as it is advertised I do think this is a great glitter polish that I’m happy to have in my collection. But if you purchase this thinking you’re going to end up with an awesome ombre manicure you will be disappointed.

Just a note: when I followed the directions for this polish the amount of glitter at the tip of my nail did get pretty thing. This, of course, causes a slow drying time and it chips pretty easily.

Anyhow, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this polish. And if you have any suggestions or tips on what to do to perhaps get an ombre manicure out of this polish let me know.

The Insta-Ombre line is currently available at Ulta.