Sally Hansen Gilded Lily

Sometimes I'll pick a polish up in the store a few times, but decide "it's too ___".  Expensive, bright, pink, whatever.  I'll write it off and put it down.  Then I'll see other people's swatches and just *need* it...and it will be GONE.  Sally Hansen Gilded Lily did this to me, but I tracked it down!  It's another Target exclusive, in a season that has seen so many great ones.  On my birthday I begged my partner to take me to Target on the way home from breakfast in the hope of finding Gilded Lily...and there it was!  Of course, now that I've found it I've even found a Target that had tons of them, but...isn't that what always happens?

Gilded Lily is one of seven Target exclusive shades in a collaborative collection from Sally Hansen and designer Prabal Gurung.  The other six are creams and some are very enticing, but...the budget. *sigh*  Gilded Lily was the must-have.

over Orly Glitz

It's got a clear base cram-packed with brassy-gold flecks and highlighted by occasional glints of reddish bronze.  This is one of the densest fleck finishes I've ever seen.  It goes on surprisingly smoothly.

over Orly Glitz

It is sequin-bright and unbelievably dazzling.  My roommate saw it and asked if I was supposed to be a lighthouse.  This is a polish people will notice from across the room.

over Orly Glitz

My nails are badly stained and too thin to buff often, so I layered it over anther brassy gold, Orly Glitz.  Gilded Lily is dense and not ideal for layering and could easily be worn on its own by most people.


I've seen Gilded Lily described as "unique" several times.  It is a stand-out shade, but it's not alone.  OPI Goldeneye from the new James Bond-inspired Skyfall collection seems to be an exact dupe (OPI and Sally Hansen are both owned by Coty), but I haven't seen a direct comparison yet.

I rummaged around in my collection and came out with L'Oreal Amazon's Flash, Wet n Wild The Gold & The Beautiful, and Sinful Colors All About You as possible dupes.  Amazon's Flash came to mind right away  the first time I saw Gilded Lily, but when I got it home I held them together and they are obviously different.  They even passed the 'guys who don't care' test, verified by my partner and our roommate...who couldn't care less about polish.  I still wanted to see how close they were on the nail.

I-Gilded Lily, M-Amazon's Flash, R-Gilded Lily, P-The Gold & The Beautiful

The Gold & The Beautiful and All About You are known dupes, so I only used one.  Amazon's Flash has smaller flecks and is so brassy you could almost call it metallic yellow instead.  Cousins, but not dupes.  The Gold & The Beautiful has nearly identical flecks, only a touch brassier, but is nowhere near as dense.  I used two coats each of Gilded Lily and Amazon's Flash...but a whopping SIX of The Gold & The Beautiful!!  SIX!!!


So the rundown... Gilded Lily is gorgeous.  Get it!  Radiant, glowing, dazzling...they're not strong enough words.  This will be a great shade for xmas and I already have a few ideas.  You *can* layer it, but the density will work against you.  If you like the look of Gilded Lily but wanted to layer it, either All About You or The Gold & The Beautiful would be a better choice.