My mom would totally flip out if she read this, but it’s the honest to gawd truth: when bottles of nail polish are too tight for me to open with my hands, I wrench them open with my teeth. I chomp down on the caps pirate style, arrgh! — gnarling and twisting until they come lose.
So nasty, I know! Besides the damage cap biting can do to teeth, it leaves bite marks all over the cap, which I’ll forget about when I lend a polish to friends. Usually a text or email will follow along the lines of, “Did a small animal get a hold of the bottle??” or “Did you use your teeth to open it? GROSS!”
Thanks to Spa Ritual Lacquer ($9), my cap-biting days are over.
The smart folks at eco-friendly Spa Ritual have a simple solution that works wonders — a rubbery, non-slip cap that’s a cinch to open.
Unlike regular slippery smooth nail polish caps, Spa Ritual’s rubberized cap is ridged and easy to grip.
The cap on a bottle of nail polish may seem like a silly detail, but I can’t tell you how many times my lotioned hands have struggled to open a bottle of polish.
As for the polish itself, it delivers fabulous pigmentation and shine. I tried three shades from Spa Rituals’ spring collection: Delight (a creamy, pale greenish blue), Marvel (a shimmery lavender) and Treasure (a shimmery golden orange).
Each applies smoothly with minimal streaking. I’m still testing for wear time — I got so excited about these that I couldn’t wait to post a review, LOL! I’ll follow up in a few days with info on wear time and durability.
My favorite of the three shades: Treasure (the shimmery golden orange). Girls, I cannot stop staring at my fingers when I’m wearing Treasure. It’s like having a slice of sunshine on my fingertips! 🙂
Not only are Spa Ritual Lacquers pretty, they’re eco-friendly, too, with vegan ingredients, and they’re free of synthetic dyes, toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate (chemicals commonly found in other nail polishes).
Spa Ritual Lacquer Nail Polish
Price: $9
Use: A super shiny nail polish with a fabulous easy-to-grip cap
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
There is one thing I’d change about these polishes: I wish they were more readily available. They’re carried at specialty shops (I used the location finder on the Spa Ritual site) and spas, but I’d love to see them at drugstores as well.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
YadiQ says
OMG many of my polish bottles are rocking the same animal chewed look
i do have issues opening my polish bottles all the time!
i am in love with an orange from Zoya called annie it reminds me of a papaya
it would look awesome on your skin ( i tried it on my sis who is the same exact color as you !)
Vampy Varnish says
My only issue with the Spa Ritual caps (and same with Carolyn New York) is when they have that gummy texture, cat hair sticks all over them LOL!
Vampy Varnish´s last blog post..Precision Color FX for Spring 2009
Jinnzor says
SpaRitual polishes are lovely. I too wish they were easier to get a hold off!
Jinnzor´s last blog post..NOTD: Nubar Lemon Drop Dazzle + Fauxnad K05
Tracy Sartoris says
I agree about the cat hair sticking!!!
I have a few bottles of Orly polish and they have the grippy caps also – I love it.
Bj says
Oh karen you are wonderful! ughh the epic battle between me and the polish bottles! So frustrating when you’re trying to pamper and you exfoliate, lotion, then time for polish and argh the top wont open! These colors look great too, loving the purple!
Wendy says
Whow! Treasure is amazing, what a wonderfull color! At the moment Im to pale for that kind of colors, but during summer it would be lovely!!
Stephie says
Ahaha. I am totally on the train for people who can’t open things. Only my Orly base coat has a rubberized handle and I swear it is a godsend 😛 I have to admit I’ve been guily of trying to open other things w/ my teeth…even a water bottle. The old crystal geyser packaging would get my every time. I blame it on my very soft hands but my friends just call it ‘weak sauce’ 😛
You are so lucky El Hub stops snoring after you wake him. I usually just get up and make something for us to eat (domestic, I know 😛 )
And btw, I’m an Aries.
tanya says
Brilliant! As the daughter of dentists, chewing ice and using your teeth to open things ranks right up there with…well, suffice to say, it’s a big ol’ No NO. Glad to know, I’m not the only one who gnaws on those things 🙂
tanya´s last blog post..neiman march picks…
Karen B says
Wow, love the blue shade. And the price is great too 🙂
Tatiana says
GENIOUS! Why didn’t I think of that? I like Marvel a lot.
Kristen says
Love the gold shade!!! I should try to get ahold of some of these, Im often left trying to open nail polish bottles with my mouth… 🙂
joanne says
Here’s a tip that I learned from mi mama. To save your teeth from nail polish bottles, my mom (who is a retired dental hygienist) used to wrap cheap rubber bands around the bottle tops to make them easier to open.
Hope this works for you too!
Tiffany says
Too funny about using your teeth! I went to paint my toenails yesterday with a new (never opened) OPI polish and I could not get it open no matter how hard I tried! My hubby is out of town (my go-to guy for opening things I cannot), so I had to settle on another color. I felt to pitiful!
Anastasia says
Love that robin egg blue shade – what a good idea with the cap too. Thanks Karen!
Briana says
ooh I love the Marvel and Treasure colors!
LOL, most of my nailpolish bottles also have telltale bite marks on them, they really are tough to open with lotion on!
Briana´s last blog post..Freeeeeezing!
DoDe says
I love rubber caps on polishes. I have never tried sparitual. But Orly’s and MAC caps are pretty good too. If only OPI had rubber caps. I love their “pro wide brush”. Thanks for the info Karen
Faye says
Using your *teeth* to open a nail polish bottle? Who on earth would do something like that?
*Looks away and whistles innocently*
Kate says
Oh, if you have problems opening nail polishes, try wrapping a rubber band around the cap. Then put your hand on the rubber band and twist. I use that trick all the time, even with stubborn jar top!
Catherine says
Oh those are totally gorgeous! I want the blue and orange ones…
Kailey says
I got one of these in a gift basket a few weeks ago and love it too! The red is perfect for my party dresses. The only thing is, they chip A LOT. Maybe the life of an equestrian is to much for nail polishes to handle 🙁
SMarie says
I have soooo been there. My teeth actualyl hurt just thinking about all the times I have used my chompers to get those lids open!!! I was actualyl laughing out loud reading your post because I seriously thought I was the only one in the world who would do such a thing! Glad to know I am not alone!!!
Joanne Marie says
I think Sally Hansen nail polish comes with the same rubbery rigid top.
I really like that delight color. I would like to get my hands on that, but I wonder where you can buy them.
AJ@Citra Spa says
Wow! I super love these nail polish colors from the Spa Rituals’ spring collection: Delight (a creamy, pale greenish blue), Marvel (a shimmery lavender) and Treasure (a shimmery golden orange). Will try to look for those and paint some on my nails! 🙂