Dazzle Dry Nail System Review

After 3.5 months of using Dazzle Dry nail polish I am excited to finally be getting a Dazzle Dry review written for you!  I am in love with this fast drying, long lasting, nontoxic nail polish! (and pssttt: here’s a Dazzle Dry coupon code for 20% off and here is one for free shipping over $50 you can use if you want to order some too!)

Prior to discovering Dazzle Dry a few months ago it had been over eight years since I’d painted my nails.  I keep my toenails painted pretty much year ’round but I hadn’t painted my fingernails since before having kids.  I just hated the dry time, I always seemed to mess them up before they were fully set, then they didn’t last long, and if I wore nail polish for two weeks in a row my nails got weak and started flaking.

But then….

I got my colors done back in the fall (see my review of that here) and now that I have more of a capsule wardrobe that’s all in a cohesive color palette I started to think about painting my nails to go along with my color palette.  I saw Dazzle Dry mentioned somewhere as being a good quality but low tox option and that piqued my interest – as you know if you’ve been around here long using nontoxic of low(ish) tox products as much as possible is very important to me.

I started doing some research and found out that Dazzle Dry is nontoxic as well as cruelty free, hypoallergenic, long lasting, quick drying, and made in the USA!  Dazzle Dry is formulated to not only not damage your nails but to actually help heal and strengthen your nails.  I was impressed with that info and was hoping that it would live up to those claims!

Spoiler alert: it did!

This post contains some affiliate links.  If you purchase a product through an affiliate link I make a small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you!

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Does Dazzle Dry really help heal/strengthen?

I can’t exactly answer this as I had very strong nails already and wasn’t trying to heal past damage, but I can say that after wearing this nail polish nonstop for 3.5 months (only taking a day or two off in between removing one set of polish and putting on another color but that’s it, no extended breaks) my nails are still very strong!  In the past I couldn’t wear nail polish more than two weeks in a row or my nails would get really weak.

(If you’re coming in to Dazzle Dry with already weak/damaged nails you might want to try their Mend product that is designed to help heal your nails)

Is it quick drying?

It is for sure quick drying!  This has been the most impressive part of the whole Dazzle Dry system.  Dazzle Dry claims that your nails are full dry five minutes after finishing a manicure and they are not kidding!  There have been multiple times where I’ve needed to run and pick up a baby who woke up or hop in the shower or do some other task literally the minute my five minutes of dry time is up and every time there has been no damage at all to my nails.  They are hard as rocks and I’m able to get back into whatever I need to be doing without having to baby them.  It is AMAZING!

That was what I hated most about painting my nails in the past – it didn’t matter how careful I was and how long I tried to let them dry I still ended up with dents and dings and chips.  Even if I waited to paint them until right before bed I’d end up waking up with sheet creases in my nails the next morning.  So annoying!  And not a problem at all any more thanks to Dazzle Dry.

Is it long lasting?

For the most part, yes.  The website says up to two weeks and I have not made it that long but I’m still able to wear Dazzle Dry much longer than I could other nail polishes so it is long lasting for me, even if it’s not a full two weeks.  Part of why I haven’t made it two weeks is because my nails grow fast and about 10 days into my manicure I’m ready to trim my nails back down (I keep them short and don’t like the feeling of long nails) plus the grow out at the cuticle looks weird to me.  So even if the polish would stay on for a month (like gel at the salon would), I’d want to take it off anyway because of my nails growing out.

I also do tend to get some wear on the tips by that point.  Not big chips like I’ve experienced with other polishes but just like the paint has worn off on the ends.  People with longer nails combat this by “capping” the nail (polishing the end of the nail, not just the top) but my nails are so short I can’t really cap them without painting all over my skin so I haven’t found the perfect solution.  The wear is not super obvious though and I still think they look pretty good up until I remove them.

Here’s an example of growth and tip wear after 10ish days

Is it hard to remove?

Speaking of removing the nail polish…you can remove Dazzle Dry polish with just regular nail polish remover.  I use a low-acetone remover and it comes off super easily.  One time I accidentally got a gel pedicure on my toes and while it looked amazing for sooooooo long, it was a nightmare to get the gel off my nails.  Since Dazzle Dry gives a similar gel look I was afraid it would be hard to remove too but thankfully that has not been the case.

What Dazzle Dry products do I need?

Dazzle Dry is a system of steps so don’t just go buy the polish and think you’re going to get good results.  You need to get the whole system.

The system includes:

• Nail prep (you rub this on your nails before starting)
• base coat
• top coat
• Revive (a product that is used as needed if your nail polish starts to get gummy or stringy which can happen becuase of the quick drying formulation, the Revive helps you, well, revive it so you can use up the whole bottle)

The four step system that does not include any nail polish is $72.  You can also purchase the system with one color of your choice for $85.  If you want to try it out first, you can buy a mini kit (all the same stuff, just in smaller bottles) for $38.  I was skeptical that this would work or that I would continue to want to paint my nails so I started with the mini kit.  The mini kit is designed to be enough for about 5 applications but I actually got 10 manis and 3 pedicures out of it before I ran out of base coat, so it was absolutely enough for me to try out and decide I loved it.

In addition to the system, I also chose to buy a bottle of Transform.  Transform is a ridge filler that is optional but is what gives Dazzle Dry that really smooth, thick, gel-like look, which I wanted, so I got a bottle of that too.

So to get started you have to get the kit (either the full size or the mini) and I also recommend getting the Transform too.

My first order was the mini kit, a bottle of Transform, and a few additional polish colors so I could have a variety to play around with.

What’s the application process?

This video gives a very detailed explanation of the application process and I highly recommend watching it before doing your first manicure.

A simplistic overview is this:

• Wash hands and nails with soap
• Wipe nails with nail prep and a cotton round
• Base coat (twice)
• Transform
• Base coat again
• Color (2 coats)
• Top coat

How long does a manicure take?

Start to finish I’d say a Dazzle Dry manicure takes me 15-20 minutes.

After the first base coat you wait until it’s dry before you start the second base coat, but because it dries so fast the first finger I did in round one is usually dry by the time I’m finishing up my last finger of round one.  Sometimes I’ll wait 30 seconds to a minute just to be sure, but usually as soon as I finish the last finger of my second hand I go right back to the first hand again and start over with the base coat again.

Then Transform as soon as the second base coat is done.  Now, after the Transform step you are supposed to wait 5 minutes so that adds a bit of time.

Once that 5 minutes is up I do base, color, color, top coat, waiting in between just long enough for them to dry (which again, is usually done by the time I finish the 2nd hand).

Wait 5 minutes after the top coat layer and that’s it, you’re done!

So, 15-20 minutes including the drying time for the Transform and top coat.  If you don’t use Transform then it’ll probably just take you 10-15 minutes from start to finish.

I definitely need to work on my nail photography skills ;) but here are some examples of Dazzle Dry manis I’ve done

Row 1: left, Mythic Teal; right, Anticipation
Row 2: left, Fast Track Cherry, right, Flair
Row 3: left, Heartbreaker, right, an ombre mani with Joan’s Armor, Anticipation, Panache, Heartbreaker, and At First Blush (darkest to lightest)

You can see what Dazzle Dry polishes match up with my Cool Summer/True Summer color palette here

Final thoughts on my Dazzle Dry review

I absolutely recommend Dazzle Dry!! I love it!

No, it’s not an exact gel nail replacement but that wasn’t really what I was looking for. I wanted something that was quick drying, long lasting, nontoxic, easy to use, easy on my nails, and looks good and it checks all those boxes so I’m very happy.

If you’re wanting to revamp your at home manicure game then you should give Dazzle Dry a try!

Dazzle Dry Coupon Code

Make sure you grab your 20% off coupon code to use when you get ready to purchase your Dazzle Dry nail system!

Or, use this coupon to get free shipping on orders over $50

Check out the video review I did here:

(all of these products were purchased by me and I was not paid to write this review – I just love this nail polish and wanted to share plus pass on the coupon since we all love a good savings!)