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Each nail polish was tested for five days to monitor the wear and tear of the product.

Image of The List’s best nail polish for 2022

If the nail polish we picked was free of other ingredients, we noted that below.

Without further ado, here are The List Beauty Awards: nail polish edition!

The professional quality brand is a salon staple, often featuring trendy colors.

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This nail polish excelled in every category.

It’s the ideal brush for a three-stroke utility.

It’s also the most fool-proof out of all the nail polishes we tested.

Bottle of China Glaze in Little Green Invaders

It doesn’t flood the nail bed and is self-leveling.

It dries smooth and looks like a salon-quality manicure.

The scattered holo glitter especially shines in direct light.

Sinful Colors bottle of nail polish in Bath Goals

This holographic shade is a rare find in mainstream nail brands and makes for the perfect party manicure.

Other than some wearing around the tips, this nail polish wore well making it a true all-rounder!

China clay acts as a nail hardener and gives a glossy finish.

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel nail polish in Holla-gram

The brand’s nail polishes are vegan, cruelty-free, and 7-free.

Out of all the polishes we tested, China Glaze gave us the cleanest program.

Therefore, this polish ranked high for brush, formula, finish, and overall look.

Londontown Lakur nail polish in Cabana Boy

The flat brush provided a fool-proof app, and the formula was the perfect consistency.

While brushstrokes are inevitable for a frost polish, the product self-levels, so brushstrokes were minimal after drying.

But then things took a turn.

In 2014,Consumer Reportsnamed Sinful Colors a “CR Best Buy” for its longevity.

The brand’s latest collection,Essenchills, features shades with corresponding scents inspired by self-care rituals.

We tested Bath Goals ($1.99), a light-pink pearl shade with green iridescence.

It’s reminiscent ofOPI Bubble Bathbut with an added shimmery dimension like a unicorn taking a bubble bath!

Bath Goals smells like sweet, floral suds, so painting our nails became a pampering experience.

We rated it highly in formula and overall look.

The skinny brush made software difficult, but the formula was amazing.

The scent signals when your nails are dry, as you no longer smell the other chemicals.

The self-leveling formula doesn’t leave streaks, but the system left a few tiny bubbles.

Applying the top coat smoothed any bubbles and subdued the scent.

But this was due to force, rather than the quality of the product.

Unfortunately, our nails looked considerably dull after six days.

Regardless, this nail polish outperformed other more expensive polishes.

At its price, we highly recommend stocking up on Sinful Colors.

Regardless, we tested this nail polish in the shadeHolllaa-gramwith our base coat to remain consistent.

We rated it highly for its brush and wear.

The gorgeous shade is unique for a drugstore pick.

The Miracle Gel line comes with an easy-to-use flat and wide brush.

The formula, however, is runny and tends to flood the nail bed.

Two coats gave decent coverage, although a third coat would give increased opacity.

This nail polish outperformed all the others in its wear.

The other 6+ ingredients remain unclear.

The polish is also a “breathable” formula, but that may not be beneficial.

The marketing claims seemed misleading.

We testedCabana Boy($16), a creme cerulean color, which rated high in finish.

The brush was too wide, and it was stiffer compared to the others we tested.

This plus the thick formula made tool tougher.

The polish also tended to pool on the nail, but eventually self-leveled.

Dry-time took considerably longer than the other polishes, even after applying a quick-dry top coat.

After finally setting, it had a long-lasting gel-like shine, unlike the other polishes, and felt smooth.

Besides tip-wear, the shine and otherwise decent longevity make this formula worth the learning curve.

This polish contains 0.05 fl.

less product than the other polishes, despite being pricier.

Since nail polish lasts a while, this isn’t a major issue.