Beauty Review Duo: Maybelline's Latest

Maybelline Salon Expert Nail Color
In a word? Amazing. I was attracted by the sleek rectangular packaging and seduced by the richness of Amped Aubergine, a limited-edition shade from their Rock N Black fall collection. It was a worthy choice.
* EASE- You can truly get away with one coat, if you're lazy or in a hurry, and still look fabulous.
* SHINE- The claims about "just-done shine" are true. A glossy top-coat seems magically built-in.
* REAL LIFE-PROOF- I'm not careful with my hands at all. My polish withstood a full week of typing, shopping, driving, cooking, chores and even catbox-scooping without cracking under pressure. And in all honesty, shreds of it were still hanging on at the end of two weeks, when I finally got around to re-doing them.
* IDIOT-PROOF- I'm the queen of sloppy at-home nail jobs. I always manage to smudge some on my cuticles and fingertips, and end up taking half of it off with polish remover when trying to correct my mistakes. The "nail-shaped" brush in this product is an innovation. The span of it's spread is just enough to reach the curves of the nail without running outside the lines. They call it "precision." I call it just the training wheels I needed.
* PRICE: About $4. So stock up. They have 28 classic shades, and a handful of limited edition seasonal shades.

***Maybelline may have hit a home run with the nails, but their new Superstay Silky Foundation is quite another story. (For your own free sample, click here.)
BAD PACKAGING- What you won't experience with the sample is the most annoying part of this product. The packaging warns you that you may need to push on the pump a few times before both the "foundation" and the "silky coverage extender" come out at the same time. It took me about 50 pumps, and with each one of those pumps I wasted more and more of whichever ingredient was coming out. I assume that ingredient will run out first, and leave me with a useless amount of the other. So don't imagine for one second you're getting a full, useable 1 oz. of the product.
INACCURATE COLOR- I am fair-skinned and always wear the lightest possible shade in any fondation, usually called "01" or "fair" or "ivory", etc. The lightest shade of this product is too tan for me, and looks more like a orangey bronzer on my face. After all those pumps, I can't even use it unless it's summer when my skin gets a little more color to it.
Maybelline put this product on the market soon after their EverFresh foundation, which served the same "stay-put all day" purpose, was phased out (though it still appears to be on the UK market). They ought to bring that one back and get rid of this dud.