Hey there! Kokie Cosmetics is a brand that was started in 2015 by the founder and CEO of Sinful Colors, before Sinful was bought by Revlon. I've only heard about it in the past few months. I'm not sure if that means they only officially launched recently or if they've just started become a social media presence recently. Either way, my first impressions of the brand are favourable. There are two separate lines of polish, the first being a RapidGel line (don't worry, it's not actually gel) that is composed of creme polishes that are meant to give you 7 day wear (more on this below) when combined with the top coat and the second being a traditional polish line. The traditional line has a monstrously huge selection already so the 8 I've swatched is just a taste of what is available. Keep reading for a whole bunch of swatch photos, a bit of nail art AND a couple other nail products that Kokie has available.
The RapidGel line of polish is meant to give you long lasting shine and wear - up to 7 days. It isn't gel polish at all so don't let that scare you off. It's a two part system of polish and top coat. Since it isn't a cured polish, there's no need for a soak off removal. Regular removal works just fine. Each of the RapidGel polishes I've swatched here have a coat of the top coat. I did appreciate how quickly the top coat dried but it didn't offer that gel look that you might be looking for. There was none of the fullness that traditional gel offers, though I'm willing to trade that in order to not have to file and soak my polish off. The RapidGel polishes all appear to have a creme finish and they're pretty opaque, some being one-coaters, so some can work for stamping too.
Light blue creme
2 coats
Impeccable formula
Black creme
2 coats
Dark teal creme
1 coat
This color can stain so double up on base coat
Bright coral, right between pink and orange
2 coats
Rich cherry red
2 coats but 1 can suffice
Bright pink creme
3 coats but 2 should be fine. Sheerest of the ones I tried.
Dark eggplant purple
2 coats but one might be okay
RapidGel Wear test
I wore Cruise On over Nailtiques Formula 3. I applied this on Sunday and wore until Wednesday when a big chunk chipped off. Those days involved some plumbing work so I definitely didn't treat my nails like jewels. Other than that piece, you can see that there's barely tip wear on either hand. I don't really think most people would be able to get 7 days of wear out of this but I suppose anything is possible with the right body chemistry.
There are 109 regular nail polish shades available on Kokie Cosmetics' website which is pretty impressive in my opinion. And I made note to say that I really must commend them on trying unusual finishes. It's not just cremes available. There's plenty of shimmers, glitters and duochromes as well. Again, for these swatches, I used 1 coat of the RapidGel top coat unless otherwise specified. For most of these I'm showing a regular swatch photo and a macro photo to show the fun finishes in more detail.
Gold shimmer with blue hex glitters of two sizes
3 coats plus HK Girl top coat
Apply with a light hand otherwise glitters drag towards the tip
Gold/green/blue duochrome polish
3 coats
Can see green and blue in bottle but doesn’t translate strongly to the nail. The shift might be more prominent if layered over black.
Teal base with strong green shimmer
2 coats
Polishes similar to this are known to stain so double up on base coat
Greyish purple shimmer base with gold flecks
3 coats
Fairly sheer but builds up nicely with second coat
Gold shimmer with light pink hex glitter
3 coats but 2 would suffice in real life
Like Crown Jewel, apply lightly so glitter doesn't drag
Dupe for A England She Walks In Beauty
Nail Art
For fun, I did a bit of nail art with some of the polishes, both the RapidGel and the regular polish. For the first one I did a drip marble with some of the RapidGel shades. I love how it looked BUT it turns out the Kokie top coat can smear nail art if you're not careful.
Next I did a quick glitter gradient with Sparkler Send Off over Heavenly. So easy with a make up sponge and so quick!
For the next two I wanted to see if any of the RapidGel colors would stamp. First I tried Enamoured and Heartbreaker stamped with Winstonia W403 over Onyx. I don't think they'd show up over darker colors but they do stamp really well!
For my last bit of nail art I stamped with Voodoo over Euphoia with Winstonia W408. As you can see, even thick lines stamp great.
The cuticle oil comes in an easy twist up pen. It is more of a gel than your typical liquid oil but a lot of the ingredient are common in both. Jojoba oil is listed first (which we know is the best oil for cuticles) then almond, soybean and shea butter. Since it's more of a gel, it sits nicely on the skin. I rubbed it in and immediately took the photo in the lower right and it didn't leave my fingers greasy at all. It also has a nice light scent that reminded me of apple pie.
Lastly, Kokie Cosmetics also has a nail polish corrector pen. Honestly I'm still not 100% sure how this works but it does work. It has a solid angled tip that seems to be soaked in nail polish remover (the ingredients are acetone, water, glycerin, polysorbate 20 and panthenol). There's an additional two tips in the other end for when the first one gets dirty. It did work well but I don't know how long it will last since acetone evaporates.
Wowzers, that was a long post! Thank you for making it to the end! Overall, I think Kokie Cosmetics is a great new brand. I definitely feel we should keep our eyes peeled for them in traditional brick and mortar stores so we can browse they're huge selection. Personally I do prefer the RapidGel formulas since I always love a good creme (even if I never wear a polish for a full week) but the regular polishes are definitely worth their price as well.
$7/RapidGel
$6/polish
$5/cuticle oil
$5/corrector pen
Available at Kokie Cosmetics
Also available at select Bed Bath & Beyond and Harmon stores
'Til next time...
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