I’m just going to say I have seriously mixed feelings about this nail polish. Katie sent Scandalous to me in her surprise May nail mail package. I was so excited to give it a try because I have definitely embraced the orange and coral nail, fashion and makeup trend for this season. I just can’t get enough of it!
Scandalous is a more subtle version of this season’s coral trend. It’s more like an orange sherbet creme jelly, if you will. I have no complaints about the color. It is lovely and different from the rest of my collection.
Now for the things I didn’t like; the formula. It is very thin, even for a jelly. I had no choice but to use 4 coats to get anything close to an opaque color. The worst thing about the formula though was the smell. It smelled SO STRONG it actually made my eyes water. This is the only Cult Nails polish I own, so I asked Katie if she had a similar experience with Toxic Seaweed. She said she didn’t remember there being a strong smell. So hopefully the terribly strong smell is just an anomaly.
My other complaint is the bottle. It looks nice but I loathe wide caps. It just makes it difficult to apply the polish.
Overall I am a bit disappointed in my first Cult Nails experience. For $10 a bottle I expect alot. That being said, I do love the color. I topped Scandalous with Julep Sarah after wearing it for a couple of days and love the result. Check out the swatches below the jump!
Alli
Katie
The Daily Varnish 
It looks great topped with Sarah 🙂
Why thank you!
I have a few Cult Nails polishes and none of them have much of a noticeable smell, even their top coat. OPI smells much stronger to my nose. I don’t have Scandalous so I can’t say anything about that polish specifically…
I barely even notice OPI or really the scent of any nail polish because I’m so used to it. But Scandalous was bad!
I’m glad to hear other Cult Nail polish doesn’t have a strong scent. Maybe I just had a strange bottle 🙂
I looove Scandalous. I did a manicure with it and then packed for a trip, I got no chips. Usually travel destroys my nails, but this mani lasted nearly a week.
Oh, lucky you! This chipped pretty quickly on me, sadly 😦
That’s a disappointment. I was really wanting this polish. But 4 coats is a bit much and that many coats tend to frustrate me. I have a few Cult Nail polishes and none of them have a noticeable odor. Maybe it was a fluke. It does look pretty though.
I’m really hoping the overwhelming smell was just a one off.
Aww, I’m sorry you had a bad experience. I personally love all the Cult Nails polishes I’ve bought and I’m pretty much addicted to their topcoat. I haven’t noticed a strong scent either, so maybe you should contact Maria and see if she can do anything about it.
It seems like the crazy strong smell of this polish may just be a fluke. Everyone else seems to have had a great experience with Cult Nails!