8 things to know about thermal nail polish

Recently, I decided to try out a thermal nail polish from Femme Fatale, which I found on Live Love Polish. I had seen these floating around on their site for months now and have seen rave reviews for select brands. So because I am nail-sponging impaired and can't do an ombre nail or French tip to save my life, I decided this was my chance to have a professional-looking two-toned home manicure. 

As you can see from the GIFs above of me dunking my hands into different temperatures of water, these polishes change colors based on the temperature of your nail. This particular polish turns a pale pink when warm and fuchsia when cold. Meaning most of the time, I'm walking around with pale nails with fuchsia tips, but other times, they can go one color fully depending on how bundled up I am or what the weather's like outside.

But being that this product is so difficult to come by and can be on the pricier side of the nail polish spectrum, I decided to share with you my findings based on my personal experience with this product and rumors I've heard online about it. With this information, you'll be better equipped to make the decision of whether or not you'd like a bottle of this to add to your polish collection.

Dawn of the Day is discontinued since the release of this article, but you can still find thermal polishes at Femme Fatale.

1. You must purchase a trusted brand

I cannot guarantee fabulous results from brands like Sally Hansen or OPI, which don't specialize in thermal nail polish and tend to come up with their own version of every trend, becoming more of a jack of all trades than a master of anything. Illimité and Femme Fatale are going to be the indie world's most trusted brands of thermal polish with Lacquer Lust and Cirque joining the rounds these days. Most of the time, these indie brands can be found on my favorite site, Livelovepolish.com. I like indie brands because they're not constantly trying to pump out new products for the sake of it like larger nail polish companies, and in my opinion truly get a chance to hone their skills and formulas successfully. Yes it means you pay more and sometimes have to be on a waitlist for a product, but in my opinion it's well worth it.

Illimité

Lacquer Lust

FEMME FATALE

CIRQUE

2. Make sure you like all of the potential thermal looks before purchasing

Thermal nail polishes are going to change color based on both your body temperature and the elements around you.

If you are wearing the purple and sea foam polish seen below, the colder your nail is, the more purple it will become and the warmer your nail is, the more sea foam green it will become. And while this ombre effect is beautiful, it won't necessarily stay like that all day. If your hands get chilly, half the nail could turn purple. And if you're out in the wind or cold rain, your whole nail will probably turn purple. Then at night when you're toasty and snuggled up in bed, you may look down to see your whole nail is suddenly completely sea foam. 

So be sure you like all possible colors on your nails before purchasing. You wouldn't want to have buyer's remorse for not thinking of all the possibilities.

 

3. You can use them with a base coat and top coat

Many nail products don't work properly with a base and/or top coat. I personally stay away from those overly-sensitive products as I use a base coat and top coat to properly protect my nails from damage and my polish from wear. So that doesn't fly with me.

Luckily, these thermal polishes work lovely with even the thickest base and top coats. So go about your regiment as normally.

4. You can use multiple coats of polish for full opacity

Adding multiple coats of thermal polish does not affect its color-changing properties at all. Another weight off our shoulders if you ask me.

5. The color it is when first applied isn't the color it will be once dried

When I first received Femme Fatale's "Dawn of the Day" in the mailI was expecting the bottle to contain a polish that was a light lavender or purply fuschia color, or both, as those were the colors advertised to me in the ads. I was disappointed to find that the polish in the bottle and on my nails upon first application was a dark pink in between the two colors.

But once it dried, the polish ended up being the colors I was expecting. And funny enough, when I removed it with acetone it once again became that dark pink color from before. Any scientists out there want to let me in on these magical properties?

6. You have to be patient following application

Because my patience is always extremely thin, immediately after applying the nail polish, I started placing my hands near hot air and cold water to test out its color-shifting abilities. Of course nothing happened because like everything else in life, good things take time.

Give your polish about an hour after your top coat fully dries to start seeing its thermal properties come to life. In the meantime, it'll dry in that in-between color I talked about in point 5. From there, you will randomly look down at your nails and see your tips are a different color than the bed of your nails. Let the magic begin.

7. The color-changing properties don't last forever

I'm not talking about the polish once it's applied to your nails. I'm talking about the polish in the bottle. Unfortunately, none of the companies that manufacture these polishes can promise results past one year of the polish sitting in a drawer or on a shelf. So use it as often as possible! And like every nail polish in general, be sure not to store it in too cold or too warm of a spot in your house, or in direct spotlight. This will increase the lifespan of the polish substantially.

8. They are beautiful and worth the money

Like I said before, I cannot speak to the quality of every thermal polish on the market. But I can safely say Femme Fatale's polish did not let me down. And after hearing glowing review after glowing review about Illimité as well, they are proven to be manufacturers of products worth investing in.

Femme Fatale's formula was self-leveling and wonderful. It made me feel like a professional nail artist with how well it glided on. And the effect of the thermal color-change is mesmerizing as days go by. I loved looking down at my nails every day and seeing how cold or warm my hands were. And of course washing your hands in cold water or diving into a warm shower or bath is a ton of fun with these.

I definitely recommend them for anyone like me who understand the struggle in creating gradient nail art or French tips. I hope this has been helpful in your decision making. Until next time!