This summer is all about neons. The other day on the train, I spotted two girls who looked like they’d got dressed with the sole purpose of glowing under UV lights at a rave – fluorescent yellow vest top, fluorescent pink bandage mini skirt, it literally was like they’d coloured themselves in with highlighter pens!
For those seeking a slightly more subtle take on the trend, a pop of neon nail polish is your best bet. China Glaze, Essie, OPI, Orly and even Deborah Lippmann have all jumped on the bandwagon with neon collections hitting the shelves in time for summer. However, American Apparel got there first with their neon collection last year – and luckily, I have a prime make-up mule Nunu to supply me with such fluro goodness from across the seas!
I already showed you Neon Coral (LOVE); this time, it’s American Apparel’s Neon Orange. You’d typically expect neon orange to be more similar in colour to that of Neon Coral (errr… I can see this is going to get confusing!), but this was an awesomely unexpected take on the shade.
Not a hint of ugly harsh highlighter orange here; instead Neon Orange was more an electrified tangerine, shocking sienna or amplified mango. It was like someone put pastel orange on acid – there’s still a gorgeous sense of a soft mellow melon sunset… but with the volume turned right up!
Unfortunately, whilst American Apparel’s version of neon orange might be the colour of your dreams, it boasts the formula of your nightmares (and I already commented here on how the bottle isn’t too much fun either). Yellows do have a reputation for being difficult in the polish world, so perhaps the high yellow quotient of this lacquer (as opposed to it leaning more red like Neon Coral) had something to do with it? Either way, I’m not going to make excuses for this tantrum-throwing toddler of a polish – thick, gluey (better after a few drops of thinner but still difficult), streaky, uneven application, non self-levelling, taking ages to dry, bizarrely bumpy once dry… Seriously, think of everything you could hate about a polish and Neon Orange had it in spades!
Does the cool colour – pretty unique in my extensive stash – make up for it? I’ll leave you to decide based on the photos. I don’t advise you to click for close-ups because they are genuinely pretty foul… but dammit, the colour is grrrrrrreat (emphasis on the grrrr!). It looks awesome set against other yellow, orange or red tones and as you can see, near enough glows in the dark (sending my camera into spasms whilst doing so).
So the question with Neon Orange is – would you still think a beautiful girl is beautiful even if she was a bitch? Probably. But would you want actually want to hang out with her? Probably not! For that reason, it might be a while before Neon Orange makes it back onto my nails… but you’ve got to admit, the colour’s still pretty cool, isn’t it?!
Looks good with: other colours from the red family, not looking up close
Drying time: 10 mins
Coats required: 3
Chips: 3-5 days
American Apparel Neon Orange nail polish, released Spring 2011
Through The Looking Glass 
This colour looks very sick, I hope you wear some neons with it like the girls you saw outside!
Haha thanks! Hopefully I could do it a little more subtly than the girls I saw as head-to-toe highlighter pen isn’t really my style!
Make up mule reporting in here.
AA polishes are notoriously thick and gloopy, I usually have to add a crap ton of thinner to the bottle before I deem them usable. I haven’t tried their neon collection yet but their cream polishes are all right one they’ve been thinned out sufficiently.
Haha hi make-up mule! 😉 Eh… so Neon Coral was a fluke? Next batch of neons, I will start pouring thinner in – thanks for the tip! x
Oh My Dear! It looked good in the bottle – mango smoothie! But horrible cheap paint on your nails!