Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Review #CSMTKO

Posted on Jan 23, 2014 in Manicures, Reviews |

Is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure a TKO to other polishes?  Pretty damn close!  The good folks at Influenster decided that I was a good candidate for their #CSMTKO Vox Box, and I was very happy to give the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes another shot.  I have one that I love, Mermaid’s Tale (click for picture), but I never really thought of it as not requiring a base or top coat since it’s a glitter polish.  When Sally Hansen first launched this line a few years ago I bought a bottle while on a business trip and needing a quick manicure and it wasn’t really all it was cracked up to be.

Sally Hansen #CSMTKO Vox BoxSo, when I got news that I’d be receiving the new Vox Box, I was happy to give it another shot.  Like I said, the last time I tried it was right when they were launching the product so it was an easy decision to want to try it again.  Surely they’ve made some improvements on the formula in the last few years since I tried it.  Besides, aside from one disappointing endeavor with Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat, I’m pretty loyal to this brand as a great go-to drugstore brand.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Jaded

Results

I was very pleased with the opacity of CSM (I decided to go with Jaded as it was brighter than what I’ve been wearing lately).  It took 3 thin coats to get a creamy consistency that actually looks like what’s in the bottle!  My aim was to get the job done in 2 coats, but after starting on the first couple of nails it was clear that I’d need to go thinner to get a better finish. While I’m very happy with the dry time of 3 thin coats of one polish compared to the usual routine of [base coat…dry…coat 1…coat 2…coat 3…dry…top coat…dry……….], I do miss the, shall we say, forgiveness that putting on a final top coat layer provides in somewhat smoothing out the polish finish a little.  Though, I achieved a mostly smoother finish with another thin coat of the CSM polish.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure claims 7 benefits in one bottle.

  • Base Coat
  • Strengthener
  • Growth Treatment
  • Color
  • Top Coat
  • Chip Resistant
  • Gel Shine Finish

So far I’m not seeing the “gel shine finish”, though it definitely looks like it has a top gloss coat on, shinier than regular polishes before a top coat for sure.  As for chip resistant, it’s been holding true for the last few days so that’s a plus!  I do really love the Flawless Finish Brush as well… I wish more polishes had a nice wide brush that stayed together a nicely as this one!  Including other Sally Hansen formulas, ahem Ms. Hansen!

All said & done, this is definitely going to be a nice go-to staple.  And it matches my logo – so what’s not to love?

Influenster Disclosure Badge

Disclosure: I received 3 bottles of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure complimentary from Influenster for testing and review purposes.  I am under no obligation to write a favorable review.  All the glowing words above are my own, because I really did enjoy using this formulation of polish!