What is the Best Red Nail Polish at CVS? A Feasibility Study By: Maysaa Ambusaidi Cody Reynolds Haley Weddle
iii Table of Contents Introduction...1 Options...1 Report...1 Method...1 Options...2 Criteria...2 Calculating Price per Milliliter...2 Required Number of Coats...2 Drying Time...3 Durability...3 Results...4 Price per Milliliter...4 Number or Coats...5 Drying Time...6 Durability...6 Overall Test Results...7 Conclusion...8 Recommendation...10
1 Introduction When you walk into a store to purchase nail polish, there are an overwhelming number of options to choose from. Your first choice is what color you want, which can easily be decided just by looking at the nail polish. However, you must consider other factors when choosing nail polish that are not as readily available. We have put together a feasibility study to determine which nail polish is the best choice. Options We considered three options for the study: Milani Nail Lacquer (Red to Tango) Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color (Cherry Red) Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro (Stiletto Red) We narrowed our test to these three options by establishing certain standards. We set a price range that the nail polish must fall between, chose the color red, and chose the CVS on University Drive in Denton, Texas as the purchase location. We found that Milani, Sally Hansen, and Rimmel London were the only brands that fell in the standards of the study. Report We are aiming our report at women and girls who shop at the CVS on University Drive in Denton and are looking for red nail polish. Individuals who shop at other CVS locations with the same brands of nail polish may also find this study useful. In the following report, we explain our methods for testing the different nail polishes and step by step instructions for each test performed. Next we listed the results of our study along with charts and graphs of each brand performance. Then in the conclusion, we evaluated what the results meant with comparisons of the options based on the criteria. Finally, we gave our recommendation on which nail polish is the best choice based on our results of the research we performed. Method We designed our study to determine the best red nail polish in the $3.00 to $5.00 price range at the CVS on University Dr. in Denton, Texas. In the following section, we will give our options, criteria, and methods for testing the nail polish.
2 Options We narrowed the options of nail polish to test by setting three specifications: Color = red Location = CVS on University Dr. in Denton, Texas Price range = $3.00 to $5.00 We found that there are only three bottles that fit those specifications: Milani Nail Lacquer (Red to Tango) Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro (Stiletto Red) Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color (Cherry Red) Criteria We determined the criteria by selecting the features of nail polish that women find most important: Price per ml Required number of coats Drying time Durability Method for Calculating Price per Milliliter To calculate the price per ounce of each brand of nail polish, we followed these procedures: 1. Found the price charged by the CVS on University Dr. in Denton. 2. Determined the number of milliliters by locating the information on the outside of the bottle. 3. Calculated the price per milliliter by dividing the price by the number of milliliters. Method for Determining the Required Number of Coats To determine the required number of coats for each brand of nail polish, we followed these procedures: Preparing the Nail 1. Cleaned the unpolished nail with soap and water. 2. Dried the nail completely. Preparing the Polish 3. Shook the bottle to mix the polish. 4. Unscrewed the cap of the nail polish bottle.
3 5. Removed the brush from the bottle. 6. Wiped the excess paint on the edge of the bottle s opening. Painting the Nail 7. Applied even brush strokes to cover the nail in one coat of paint. 8. Returned the brush to the bottle. 9. Waited 180 seconds. 10. Repeated steps 5 through 9 until the nail was no longer visible under the polish. 11. Recorded the number of coats of polish required to cover the nail completely. Method for Determining the Amount of Time the Polish Takes to Dry To determine the amount of time the polish takes to dry, we followed these procedures: Preparing the Nail 1. Cleaned the unpolished nail with soap and water. 2. Dried the nail completely. Preparing the Polish 3. Shook the bottle to mix the polish. 4. Unscrewed the cap of the nail polish bottle. 5. Removed the brush from the bottle. 6. Wiped the excess paint on the edge of the bottle s opening. Painting the Nail 7. Applied even brush strokes to cover the nail in one coat of paint. 8. Returned the brush to the bottle. 9. Waited 180 seconds. 10. Repeated steps 5 through 8. Determining Drying Time 11. Started the timer. 12. Touched the painted nail with a clean dry cotton swab every 30 seconds until the nail was completely dry: the cotton swab no longer stuck to or nicked the polish. 13. Recorded the amount of time it took the nail to dry completely. Method for Determining the Durability of the Nail Polish To determine the durability of the nail polish, we followed these procedures: Preparing the Nail 1. Cleaned the unpolished nail with soap and water. 2. Dried the nail completely.
4 Preparing the Polish 3. Shook the bottle to mix the polish. 4. Unscrewed the cap of the nail polish bottle. 5. Removed the brush from the bottle. 6. Wiped the excess paint on the edge of the bottle s opening. Painting the Nail 7. Applied even brush strokes to cover the nail in one coat of paint. 8. Returned the brush to the bottle. 9. Waited 180 seconds. 10. Repeated steps 5 through 8. Testing the Durability 11. Waited 30 minutes. 12. Removed the cap of the nail polish remover. 13. Removed one cotton ball from the bag. 14. Placed the clean cotton ball firmly on the top of the nail polish remover bottle. 15. Tipped the nail polish remover bottle to wet the cotton ball. 16. With very little pressure, wiped the wetted cotton ball over the dry painted nail one time. 17. Waited 30 seconds. 18. Repeated steps 13 through 17 until the polish was completely removed from the nail. 19. Recorded the number of wipes of nail polish remover it took to remove the nail polish completely. Results Price per ml Results We designed the price per ml test to determine the price of each nail polish per ml of polish in the bottle. We collected the price, excluding tax, for each bottle of nail polish in our study from the CVS on University Dr. We set a standard price range of $3.00 to $5.00 that the nail polish had to fall between. The only three brands that fell in this range were: Milani, Rimmel London, and Sally Hansen. We also found the number of milliliters in each bottle of nail polish by locating the information on the outside of each bottle. To calculate the price per milliliter, we divided the price of the bottle of nail polish by the number of milliliters in the bottle. Milani was the most expensive polish at 34 cents per ml, the next was Rimmel London at 33 cents per ml, and the least expensive polish was Sally Hansen at 27 cents per ml (Figure 1).
5 cents per ml 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Price (per ml) Milani Rimmel Sally Hansen Milani Rimmel Sally Hansen Figure 1: Price per ml Number of Coats Results We designed the number of coats test to determine the number of coats each polish needed. We applied even coats of nail polish to the nail and counted the number of coats it took to cover the nail completely. Milani and Rimmel required 3 coats each, while Sally Hansen only required 2 coats (Figure 2). 3 Number of Coats number of coats 2 1 Milani Rimmel Sally Hansen 0 Milani Rimmel Sally Hansen Figure 2: Number of coats
6 Drying time Results We designed the drying time test to time how long each polish took to dry. We applied two even coats of nail polish to the nail and timed how long it took, in minutes, for the nail to dry completely. Rimmel London was the first to dry in 4 minutes, followed second by Sally Hansen in 5 minutes, and last by Milani in 7 minutes (Figure 3). >me (minutes) 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Drying Time (per minutes) Milani Rimmel Sally Hansen Milani Rimmel Sally Hansen Figure 3: Drying time Durability Results We designed the durability test to determine how strong each polish was when faced with nail polish remover. We applied two coats of each nail polish the nail and waited 30 minutes to let it dry completely. Then we lightly wiped the nail with cotton balls containing nail polish remover and counted the number or wipes it took for the nail polish to be removed. Rimmel was the most durable taking 7 wipes, followed by Sally Hansen taking 6 wipes, and finally Milani was least durable taking 5 wipes to remove the polish (Figure 4).
7 number of wipes 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Durability ( per wipes) Milani Rimmel Sally Hansen Milani Rimmel Sally Hansen Figure 4: Durability Overall Test Results We gathered the data from each test and compiled the test results, the 3 options, and the criteria in Figure 5. The options run horizontally across the top, and the criteria are listed vertically along the right side.
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9 Conclusion For each test, we ranked the different nail polishes with a number, 1 being the worst and 3 being the best. The test rankings are scored as follows: Price per ml Test: the polish with the lowest price per ml scored a 3, while the polish with the highest price per ml scored a 1 Number of Coats Test: the polish with the fewest number of coats scored a 3, while the polish with the highest number scored a 1 Drying Time Test: the polish with the shortest drying time scored a 3, while the polish with the longest drying time scored a 1 Durability Test: the polish that took the most wipes of polish remover scored a 3, while the polish that took the least scored a 1 The results of the scoring appear below in Figure 6. Rimmel and Sally Hansen tied with 10 points each. Sally Hansen was the cheapest per milliliter and required the lowest number or coats and Rimmel London was the most durable nail polish and had the shortest drying time. So both Sally Hansen and Rimmel London scored the best in two of the tests receiving a 3 for those tests, and placed in second in the other two tests and received a 2. Milani scored the worst in all categories, only earning a total score of 5.
10 Rimmel and Sally Hansen tied for best nail polish based solely on the results of our tests. Milani is easily the worst nail polish as it was the most expensive per milliliter, tied for the most number of coats, took the longest to dry, and was the least durable. Figure 6: Rated Results Recommendation Although Rimmel London and Sally Hansen tied as the best nail polish, we would recommend Rimmel London Stiletto Red as the number one choice. Both brands scored a 10, but each did best in different tests. We think that most women would find some of the criteria more important than others. We think that women don t care as much about the number of coats it takes because how long women take to paint their nails varies from woman to woman anyway. We also think women don t mind varying prices when the prices are in such a close range anyway. We think women value drying time because they don t want to have to wait around, literally, for the paint to dry. We also think women value durability because they want to touch up their polish less often. Rimmel London has the shortest drying time and is the most durable, so we recommend Rimmel London as the best red nail polish in the $3.00 to $5.00 price range at the CVS on University Dr. in Denton, Texas.
11 If you have any questions about our study, methods, or results, please contact us at (123) 456-7890. Maysaa Ambusaidi Cody Reynolds Haley Weddle
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