Love it or Leave it: Textured Nail Polish

Photo credit: Zoya

This post is a bit of a departure from my normal posts. Usually I'm telling you about a product and whether I think it's worth buying. But today, I'm posing the question to you. You see, I've noticed that the whole textured nail polish trend isn't dying down. They're popping up everywhere. I'm pretty sure every nail polish line has released their own version from Sugar Coat to Pixie Dust to Gum Drops and whatever other creative names they come up with. 

When these first came out, I thought it would have the shelf life of the shatter polishes that were so popular at one time. I couldn't really get into those. They just looked like a chipped and sloppy manicure disaster to me. I just couldn't get past that notion long enough to jump on that trend. But the textured polishes have me a little curious, although slightly hesitant. Here's why:

• They seem to require that you skip the final step of a manicure: the top coat. It's time saving, sure. But the whole purpose of the top coat is to help protect your manicure (while giving it a shiny coat) so the idea of skipping this vital step leads me to believe these polishes might just result in an express trip to Chip City. 
• Not sure I'm crazy about the creme finish textured polishes. The texture looks less like sand and more like cottage cheese to me. The ones with glitter seem to have finer granules so it looks less like your nail polish expired and started growing lumpy cultures. I'm not sure if this varies depending on brand.
• I'm completely baffled by the feather effect. Maybe it's just the swatches I've seen, but some of them just look like long glitter (so why's that special?) and others look like the person had a muppet growing on her nails. 

Despite these reservations, I still find myself looking at the displays wondering if I should just give them a shot. So now that I've shared what's keeping me from buying. Perhaps you can help me out by either dispelling or confirming my reservations. Do the textured polishes chip easily? Does the fineness of the granules vary by brand? Do you prefer the creme or glitter finish when it comes to texture? Were you hesitant like me but then tried them and like them? If so, what sold you on it? Which brand's textured polish do you like most? Or are you skipping this trend altogether?

So far, the swatches I've seen that I like the most are for the Zoya Pixie Dust polishes. But since Zoya isn't as easy to find as other brands I want to feel more certain about making the purchase before I place an order online.

Help me out! Love it or leave it?