Claims: Limited Edition Nail Polish | Sheer Glitter Polish | Worn Alone or As Topper | 5 Free | Cruelty Free / Vegan
Size: 0.41 oz. or 12 mL
Price: $8.50 (plus $4.95 shipping)
Purchase: KL Polish
About KL Polish
For those who don’t know, KL Polish is the nail polish brand that YouTuber KathleenLights created. Kathleen created KL polish back in the fall of 2016 and has steadily released collections and single polishes since then. As of now KL Polish has released six collections and five single polishes. Currently you can purchase the full sets of two of the collections, all of the polishes from the six collections, and three of the five single polishes. The way that KL Polish is doing their releases is that when the collection launches it now comes in a set with a themed box, this didn’t start until the 70’s Vibes Collection which was the Fall of 2017 collection, that is available for purchase until they run out of stock. From the launch of a collection, and once the set sells out, you can purchase any of the six polishes that come in a collection individually. The five singles polishes that have been released are Das Esspensive XXV, Mami Martha, Tuxedo Mask, Paper Snow, and now Das Esspensive XXVI. Tuxedo Mask and Paper Snow are a permanent part of the KL Polish line and are the black and white polishes the brand launched. Mami Martha was a limited pink polish that was released in October of 2017 for Breast Cancer Awareness. Mami Martha was named for Kathleen’s grandmother who passed away and suffered from Breast Cancer. Das Esspensive XXV was the limited edition polish released in January 2017 in celebration of Kathleen’s 25th birthday. It was announced in January of 2018, with the release of Das Esspensive XXVI, that this was going to become a yearly tradition with each Das Esspensive being slightly different than the others.
About Das Esspensive XXVI
KL Polish Das Esspensive XXVI is a five-free glitter polish that is sheer and NOT opaque. Das Esspensive XXVI can either be worn by itself, middle finger, or as a topper to other nail polishes. In the photo above I layered Das Esspensive XXVI over KL Polish Paper Snow (ring finger), KL Polish Tuxedo Mask (pinkie finger), and KL Polish Miss Honey (Thumb). Oh and the pointer finger is Das Esspensive XXV to show a comparison of the two. Das Esspensive XXV and Das Esspensive XXVI are two coats while the other swatches are of two coats of the base polish and two coats of Das Esspensive XXVI on top. I honestly think that you could possibly build Das Esspensive XXVI with a few more coats but I wouldn’t go in to ham with a glitter polish if I were you.
For the performance of Das Esspensive XXVI, the brush is the same as all other KL Polish polishes. In all honesty KL Polishes brush is one of my favorite to work with. I have an easier time applying polish to both my nails and others with their brushes than a lot of others. As a matter of fact, the first collection launched while I was still taking Cosmetology classes and for that post I took the polishes into class to do my nails since I didn’t have a lot of time. The other students and one of the professors tried the polish as well and raved about the brush, no kidding! You can tell from the brush that the formula for Das Esspensive XXVI is more clear and looser than that of Das Esspensive XXV. It is actually looser than just about all the other KL Polishes that I’ve tried at this point. Mind you I am still behind on reviewing the Lips & Tips and Winter 2017 collections.
Here is where I would probably normally talk about the ingredients and post the ingredients for the individual polish, however, KL Polish doesn’t list the ingredients for each polish. Instead they have a general ingredients list, that I will post below, and say that their polishes are currently all 5/7/9 free. What does this mean you ask? Well polishes that are listed as 5-free are free of camphor, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, and toluene. Polishes that are 7-free are free of the previous five ingredients PLUS ethyl tosylamide and xylene. Lastly polishes that are 9-free are free of the previous seven ingredients as well as parabens and acetone. If you’d like for me to do an in depth post about why these 5 to 9 ingredients should be avoided let me know in the comments below and I’ll start working on it! Anyway the general ingredients for the KL Polishes are:
KL Polish Ingredients:
BUTYL ACETATE, ETHYL ACETATE, NITROCELLULOSE, ADIPIC ACID / NEOPENTYL GLYCOL / TRIMELLITIC ANHYDRIDE COPOLYMER, ACETYL TRIBUTYL CITRATE, ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, STEARALKONIUM BENTONITE, ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, STYRENE/ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, SILICA, BENZOPHENONE-1, TRIMETHYLPENTANEDIYL DIBENZOATE, MICA (CI 77019), TIN OXIDE, YELLOW 5 LAKE (CI 19140), BLUE 1 LAKE (CI 42090), ALUMINUM POWDER (CI 77000), YELLOW 11 (CI 47000), ULTRAMARINES (CI 77007), BLACK 2 (CI 77266), BISMUTH OXYCHLORIDE (CI 77163), TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), RED IRON OXIDE (CI 77491), BLACK IRON OXIDE (CI 77499), FERRIC AMMONIUM FERROCYANIDE (CI 77510), RED 6 LAKE (CI 15850), RED 7 LAKE (CI 15850), RED 21 (CI 45380), RED 28 (CI 45410), RED 30 LAKE (CI 77360), RED 34 LAKE (CI 15880), VIOLET #2 (CI 60725), MANGANESE VIOLET (CI77742), SYNTHETIC FLUORHLOGOPITE, DIACETONE ALCOHOL, PHOSPHORIC ACID, ACETONE, BIS (GLYCIDOXYPHENYL) PROPANE / BISAMINOMETHYLNORBORNANE COPOLYMER, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, RED 22 ( CI 45380)
Final Thoughts on KL Polish Das Esspensive XXVI
Well my final thoughts for the KL Polish Das Esspensive XXVI are going to cement me NEVER receiving PR from KL Polish. In all honesty it’s a good polish and if you already had all the other polishes (raises hand), KL Polish was having another site wide sale, OR you were going to be picking up some other items I could see picking it up. However, at $8.50 PLUS $4.95 shipping, no KL Polish doesn’t offer free shipping when you hit a certain amount either, it’s just not worth it for how sheer this polish is. Add onto that the fact that KL Polish doesn’t participate in Ebates and it’s just not worth it in my opinion. As a collector of the line I am glad that I got it and I highly recommend others who are collecting the line to pick it up but for the casual buyer, try a glitter polish from Zoya instead.
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What pretty polishes! I would probably use those glitter polishes as toppers, and should really pick up at least one of them.
I would probably suggest the newer Das Esspensive XXVI if you’re wanting to use it primarily as a topper. One coat of Das Esspensive XXV is opaque on it’s own!
I am a glitter girl so those two pretties are right up my alley. And I also love the peach cream in the photo with the white and black polishes.
That is Miss Honey and it is seriously my favorite polish of all time at the moment, and I usually HATE those kind of shades on myself.
The new one looks good!
It’s growing on me the more that I wear it.
I didn’t know Kathleen Lights had polish – I live under a rock! Das Esspensive XXVI is very pretty, but you’re right – at that price, and with the shipping costs added, there are other glitter toppers that are better value for the money.
I’ve actually been hearing that a lot, that people didn’t know she had a polish line, so I don’t think it’s you living under a rock but more so they need to get better about having her push her own line of products lol.
I never heard of this line. I like your sincere no-holds barred opinion!
I don’t wear straight glitter like this even though I adore nail polish. While these look pretty I don’t know if I want them. Price doesn’t bother me much, shipping does though so they better be worth the cost of shipping!
I’m the same way, I’ll pay a good amount for a product but if I have to include $5+ for shipping as well it’s not worth it. I especially dislike it when companies don’t have a Free Shipping with THIS amount kind of a sale when most stores do.
I didn’t know Kathleen Lights had a nail polish range, but that is a really pretty topper.
Yeah she started the company back in the Fall of 2016. Actually one of the collections that she released was another collaboration with ColourPop and was themed after the different products that she had released with them over the years.
I love how shiny and pretty these colors are!
I do as well!
I feel like this type of polish is quite easy to find at a lower price point, so I agree with you and I don’t think I’d pick it up!
It’s nice that the polishes are 5/7/9 free. At the very least, 5-free should be the standard for all nail polish brands.
I agree with you 100%. With more and more polish brands starting to go 5-free there should be no reason why some are refusing to make the change.
Thanks for an honest review!
Thank you for such an honest review. I personally don’t mind paying more for quality polishes which will last me for years without dring and have a good pay off but these actually don’t sound so appealing or look too special. And I know how it feel to write honestly about a product that you could not like too much >.< and how companies take less than a second to kick you off the list :p
I love the look of it layered over the black shade!