Olive and June Nail Polish System Review

Lately I've been on a kick with self-care and doing my nails. I had been getting into doing my nails at the salon before the shutdown, but since then I've had a hard time keeping them up.

I started using Color Street a few months ago after it was recommended to me from a few other Peloton moms, but just haven't been too happy with them. The polish didn't fit on my nails properly so looked like a bad paint job, and my nails got really damaged and brittle from it. My nails are usually really strong and grow like crazy (especially being pregnant) and this was the first time in my life they're cracking and peeling.

I decided to stop using Color Street and try to find something else. My instagram has been filled with beautiful ads for Olive and June and I instantly became interested. The polishes advertised easy at home manicures that were healthy for your nails - and the colors were just so gorgeous!

After doing some research and googling, I was happy to find that Target carried them in stores so I could try it out before committing to buying a whole manicure system. I've done a few manicures now and thought I'd share my experience - this post is not sponsored by Olive & June and is all my own thoughts and experiences.

What is Olive and June?

Before I get too far let's talk about what Olive and June is. Olive and June is a nail care company that was founded in California. They have 3 salons out there and started to sell their nail polishes and care lines online. The nail polish are vegan, cruelty-free and 7 free (free of harsh chemicals like formulated without Dibutyl phthalate (DBP), Toluene, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde resin, Camphor, Ethyl tosylamide, Xylene).

Olive and June are also known for the nail polish tool called the Poppy - a pink little topper that goes on top of their polish that they say helps making painting your own nails easier.

After seeing enough of their instagram ads and beautiful manicures, I was interested but hesitant to shell out $40 on a manicure set (or system as they call it) in case I didn't like it. I googled around and saw that Target carried them in store so I ended up going there to grab a few of their polishes.

Olive and June at Target

I was surprised when I got to Target to find the endcap almost empty - this stuff must be pretty popular! I got lucky and was able to grab everything I thought I needed:

• primer
• nail polish (I went with a light pink)
• cuticle serum
• dry drops

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While I was there I ended up splurging on a clean up brush and some of their polish remover since I know I'm messy with painting my own nails (I think my toddler could do a better job LOL). Olive and June recommends top coat but I already had an almost new bottle of OPI top coat from my Color Street mani, so I passed on theirs.

At this point I realized I was almost at the price of a kit and probably should have just ordered it to begin with (I really can't go into Target without spending more than I planned), but I was happy to at least be able to bring it home with me same day instead of waiting 6-8 days for shipping.

My First Manicure

That night I did my first manicure and was impressed with how it came out. It was messy and didn't look even close to the instagram pics, but not as messy as it normally was. The poppy did actually make it easier for me to paint my nails, especially on my right hand - I normally struggle with painting my dominant hand! I used the dry drops on top of the OPI coat and was happy that my nails felt pretty dry within 5 minutes.

The manicure ended up lasting about 5 days before some of my nails started to chip, which didn't surprise me too much. The chips happened where I kind of expected them to - the places my nails were super damaged and peeling.

My Second Manicure

I decided to paint my nails again the same way, but this time the chipping started after only 2 days. Frustrated, I went to a facebook group to ask around any tips and they recommended watching the bootcamp videos and investing in the top coat.

After binging a few of the videos (they have them all on their instagram channel), I went back to Target to pick up the top coat, another polish color (I went with white this time to mix things up), and picked up new nail files.

I went home that night and after A went to bed, decided to try mani #2 with the new white polish. I followed the bootcamp instructions exactly and even waited the whole 10 minutes in between 3 coats. The end result was beautiful, still messy around the edges, but the polish looked glossy and like my favorite dip nails.

Unfortunately it only lasted a day before chipping on one finger began again.

Olive and June Support

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen my stories showing my manicures. I tagged Olive & June in one of them (a finished pic of my manicure) and they sent me a DM asking how I liked it.

I was honest with them and told them I was a little disappointed with my nails not lasting and getting a little frustrated. I really want to love these polishes but they just don't seem to be working for me!

They were so sweet and asked me to walk them through my process. In the process of doing that, I realized the chipping nail was again one of my weak peeling nails. They recommended I try the strengthening polish to help rebuild my nails.

I'll be honest - I was a little hesitant to shell out even more money on these polishes. I've already spent quite a bit and so far the polish just doesn't seem to be living up to the hype for me.

Off to Facebook

I decided to do some research before I invested any more into these polishes (I really should've just bought a system at this point). I went on to Facebook and found a fan group and asked around.

It seemed like my experience was pretty common at the beginning, especially for those with damaged nails. The feedback from the group was the strengthener really helped them, as well as keeping their nails a little longer.

I decided to take a chance and order the nail strengthener. I'm hoping this will be the solution I need and my nails will return to normal. I'll update this post when it comes in and for now will just keep fixing

Updated Review

Since I originally wrote this I received my nail strengthener in the mail and that has helped out a lot! I use that instead of nail primer and my nail polish is generally lasting 3-5 days without chips. It's not as long as I'm used to with dip nail polishes, but my nails are definitely healthier and stronger since I've used them.

I've also started to really enjoy the process of doing my own nails and look forward to it each week. I love the colors Olive and June has to offer and I've been having fun mixing different colors together to create different ombres.

Conclusion

The Olive and June polishes are absolutely gorgeous, but there is definitely a learning curve involved. If you're serious about trying Olive and June I'd recommend just investing in the system through their site instead of buying everything separate from Target.

Also do yourself a favor and watch the bootcamp classes on instagram (they're under their IGTV). They're a little long, but you learn a lot of tips in them

I'm a little disappointed the polish hasn't worked out completely for me, but do really like how the polish looks (when it's not chipped LOL) and I'm actually starting to enjoy doing my own manicures. It's almost like a relaxing creative escape for me.

I also really like the Olive & June community and brand. The facebook groups I've found are extremely helpful and supportive, as well as I'm impressed with the support I received trying to troubleshoot my manis.

I'm hoping with the strengthener and practice I'll be able to get longer results, as well as fix my damaged nails. But for now I'll keep practicing since I've already invested so much into it and at least I'll have pretty nails for a few days. I'll update this post once I get a chance to try out the strengthener!

Have you tried Olive and June polish? What did you think?