Caption Nail Polish with LacQ3 from Young Nails
By now many of you have probably heard of Caption Nail Polish from Young Nails. Caption is formulated with LacQ3 technology, which provides an “air cured, gel-like manicure”. LacQ3 combines a triple layer fusion of dual polymer technology, volcanic glass, shellac and plant-derived plasticizers that all work together to create a nail polish that lasts longer, dries faster and fortifies nails over time. I call this an extended-wear lacquer or a “hybrid polish” since it’s not your typical lacquer, but it’s not a gel either. It applies and removes like any other lacquer and doesn’t require a lamp or soak-off.
Caption was launched last year and I first heard about it at the 2014 CPNA trade show. I visited the Young Nails booth and received a demo, which was applied over top of my gel manicure. One coat of the Caption black polish completely covered my silver glitter gel polish! Needless to say, I was impressed! During the demo I was told that it only takes 8 minutes to dry to the point where it’s no longer dent-able (though I didn’t actually try to dent my nails), and it would last 5-7 days. They also had some really pretty effects toppers, but I was a bad blogger and didn’t take photos!
This year at the Young Nails CPNA booth, they were demonstrating their new stamping products and they used Caption polish to stamp with. Again, the demo was impressive! Since I received some samples of the Caption polish I decided to give it a try on my own to see how it wears, and whether I can stamp with it. The photo below was the result of my application.
I applied one coat of the Caption base and two coats of color. The bright red on my index finger is Turn It Up, and the silver metallic is Worth a Small Fortune. What you can’t see in these photos is that my thumb and pinky were also painted red, and had stamps. Since I don’t have any of the Young Nails stamping plates, I used an image from one of my new UberChic stamping plates called Out of Africa-01. Worth a Small Fortune worked beautifully for this application. All of the Caption polishes are thick and fast-drying, which is perfect for nail art stamping.
After stamping, I applied one coat of the top coat and let my nails air dry for about 8-10 minutes before going about my day. I’m so used to wearing gel polish that I actually forgot to be careful with my nails for a little while, but fortunately I didn’t have any incidents.
My nails looked the same for almost 2 days with minimal tip wear. After the third day I did have a bit of wear, which was more evident on my middle finger than the others.
After 5 days the wear was a little more noticeable, and I was ready to take the polish off. The wear wasn’t perfect, but I was happy that none of the polish chipped. Most lacquers chip on me within the first day or two.
Removal only took a couple minutes with some cotton and acetone, with no staining or issues.
One thing that I really like about the Caption polishes is the brush. The brush is flat and has rounded corners which makes it really easy to get into the curves of your nails without getting polish all over your skin. It also makes it easy to do a perfect 3-stroke application. My pinky nails are tiny and these brushes fit perfectly into the curve.
I only have a few Caption colors, but I swatched each so that you can see them better since my wear test photos didn’t have the best lighting.
Worth a Small Fortune is a gorgeous metallic silver. It has great one-coat coverage, but was just a touch sheer in spots so I applied a second coat for good measure.
Here’s the Deal is a deep red with a frosty finish. This is the type of polish that will show brush strokes and needs to be applied carefully from base to tip for a flawless finish. This color is also almost a one-coater. This is actually the color that I’m using for my State Board exam because I can get away with only painting one coat to save time. :)
Turn it Up! is a lovely bright red cream with some orange tones. I don’t normally wear reds, but I really like this color… it’s perfect for Summer! This color was less opaque than the other two, but still had great coverage with two coats.
Caption can be purchased on the Young Nails website, or at CaptionPolish.com (thanks for the link, Jenn!)
I also found Caption on Amazon.com :)
FYI Young nails does have a separate retail website for this product, captionpolish.com . It is geared toward non-professionals. I’ve also found that if I put one coat of Young Nails protein bond under the caption base coat, it extends the wear by a day or two. I got my protein bond from Youngnails.com, but I have seen it at Sally Beauty Supply.
Great! Thanks so much for the info! :)
I too like the huge array of toppers this line makes. The glitter is amazing. But… I don’t think the product lives up to it’s claims as it says the base is advertised as delivering strength and resilience to weak and brittle nails (my nails aren’t really either). It also states it will fortify and rejuvenate your natural nails. I posted don’t think it can with the short wear you get out of it and I have done 3 consecutive applications. My wear was exactly as you have pictures but I feel it left the uncovered area susceptible to damage doing everyday tasks, which resulted in me filing my nails down to remove a couple chips in my actual nail tip. The top coats boasts durability of gel, but their next line is more accurate when it says it stays chip free 2-3 longer than average polish. I can chip polish in a day or two which is what happened with caption though I guess we call it “wear”. With that being said it does live up to its claim of drying 3x faster than average polish. For the impatient one you will be impressed with the drying time. The removal process is a snap even with multiple coats of glitter toppers. Overall finish is excellent. I rarely stray but thought it would be a good in between for gel manicures and less timely. I’m on the fence as to whether to add additional colors or to pass it along to my polish junkie friend who also purchased it. Overall I would say it is a nice alternative to regular polish with exceptional fast dry time, appealing results, but not compareable to light cured gel at all. For $6 a bottle that is still a value for nail polish fanatics as it is similarly priced to to some regular polishes.
Oops one more comment. I was unable to do a successful touch up with this line, but it was fast and easy to just start from scratch.
If I use this line for stamping, can it be topped with a gel top coat for longer wear?
Yes