I don’t know if indie brands or making my own polish ruined me, but Mooncat has lost a lot of its magic in my experience.
I ordered 13 polishes with the intention of this being my last order until the next sale and got everything I was interested in. A couple of the ones I was the most excited about turned out suuuuper underwhelming.
Has anyone ever returned polish just for not liking it before? I’ve never returned polish and feel kinda bad doing so, but I know I won’t wear some of these. Would it be excessive to return 3 out of 13?
The ones that I found disappointing were:
Ribbit Ribbit – really just looks like a cream. I thought the subtle shimmer would be similar to Poems of a Harvest Moon, but it was much less. It also dried somewhat matte, like a satin finish and even with a glossy top coat doesn’t look amazing.
Momo Yuyake – I LOVE peach and coral tones and was crazy excited for this one but it just looks PINK. It looks like a pink drugstore polish…it lacks the intensity of the swatch photos and the peachy shift doesn’t really show up at all
Pearl Clutcher – As a maker, the marketing for this hyped me up when their narrative was like, “WE’VE FINALLY MASTERED THE PERFECT PEAL POLISH!!” I thought there must be some secret sauce or something haha. Well…it is literally one pigment (I bought mine through Glitter Unique) and I actually already owned it 😆
To balance it out, I got some that I really love as well including: momento mori, sabertooth (it wasn’t thick at all so, they must have addressed the formula issues), fake halo, River Styx and poems for a harvest moon.
What are your favorites from Mooncat and which ones left you feeling meh?
by mamegoma_explorer
28 Comments
What’s the Pearl Clutcher pigment? 👀
If the swatch images were misleading, I wouldn’t feel badly about returning them. They’re very expensive, and you took a chance based on the evidence they provided, and it didn’t live up to your expectations.
I only really buy polishes with special effects from Mooncat, like thermals and magnetics. Everything else seems easy to dupe. Nocturne is my favorite polish of all time.
i opted to get pearl clutcher instead of sabertooth bc i had seen complaints about the thickness and now im regretting my choice 🙂🙂
Contact customer service and get your money back, specifically for Ribbit Ribbit and the “coral”. Specifically cite misleading swatches. Maybe if enough people actually do so, they’ll stop doctoring their swatches.
Welcome to the Mooncat experience lmao their swatch photos are almost always inaccurate, I trust the crappy Reddit photos over their swatches any day
Is that Ribbit Ribbit in the first picture? The blue is really absent, even compared to other swatches I’ve seen. I would definitely try to return it for that price… fyi there is a dupe from Cracked called “Ready to Stumble” if you want to try again for that lovely green/blue combo!
As a preface, I like mooncat. But it’s too expensive to keep if it’s not what you expected. Return! 3 of 10 is not a lot.
I also dipped my toe into making my own polish and the magic is gone a bit. However I do appreciate the artistry more, especially from one-person indies. But I’m excited to learn more about it myself and I’m building my glitter unique wishlist for hopefully a Black Friday sale! (I also have to learn how to NOT get flakes everywhere when I open the bag…haha).
I’m happy with my current mooncat collection but I am keeping an eye on the rewards so I can use my points one day! I do like their nail oil because I like the scent-free formula and their brushes so I’ll pick up some more next time there’s a reward I want. But in terms of polish I’ve been underwhelmed by their collections this year.
I returned Lord Vader. It was soooo brown when the pictures looked dark red and description says “LORD VADER is a red magnetic lacquer filled with red shimmer that reveals a silver magnetic stripe or silver magnetic velvet effect.”
Would you rather them sit of a shelf and never get used or would you rather have your money back so you can buy a polish you like? Returning 3 isn’t excessive. There is no need to feel bad about making a return. It’s good for companies to have accurate data for what is working and what isn’t. You are helping them by being an honest customer.
I only buy after seeing video or checking multiple pictures of it on lacquergram app or something. That goes for all polishes. I’ve been burned too many times.
Send them back. It’s ok. Especially with Pearl Clutcher, the marketing on that was OTT – I almost bought it and then backed out… I decided I liked the idea of it more than I would wear it.
Also, I had the same issue with Ribbit Ribbit – there’s dupes with the blue glow, I wish I would have sent it back so I could try this instead: https://www.emilydemolly.com/collections/best-sellers/products/leave-a-light-on
Anyhow, it’s ok!!! You tried! And part of the high cost of MC is the option to send it return. You’ve been a loyal customer, it’s ok to pull that lever, you e already paid for it.
Don’t be scared half of us on the Mooncat sub are pissed off generally, lol. I’m honestly not too versed outside of Mooncat (and kind of specifically not digging too deep into other brands because the last thing I need is another obsession), but I’ve had mixed results. I will say, they’ve been great about correcting the issues I’ve had. I’ve done research into other swatches and asked on groups before buying just about everything because so many of their polishes (and I imagine others, just the nature of polish that isn’t creme, which I’m not into anyway) are really hard to gauge just based on their swatches. I complained about 404 because I can barely get the magnetic to cat eye when I’ve honestly mastered a crisp line with their older formulas. They refunded me right away. I’d reach out and see what they can do depending on what solution you’re looking for.
My favorites: La Petite Mort, Millenia, Galaxy, Maelstrom, Ghosts of Hecate. I apparently like those complex blues which was a surprise to me. But I love pretty much every opaly polish. I specifically avoided Pearl Clutcher because I heard that it’s just silver in person. I’m glad I didn’t just impulsively buy it!
it always seems to happen once brands start pouring money into advertising. 🙁
returned 3 mooncats from orders earlier this year and only kept sabertooth. don’t feel bad, it’s their job to make you happy with your order!
I really appreciate your honest reviews and realistic swatches! This is always what I’m looking for before buying.
I’ve only purchased from mooncat once, but they are a mix of hits and misses imo. Mermaid bait is the main one I think is worth the price. Ive found a renewed love for it and would even repurchase. Maelstrom and pomegranate seeds (same metallic flaky jellies) are also super pretty and have great depth, though I learned I prefer non-metallic flakies lol.
Velvet rose (now dc’d) is nice and fairly unique in shade, but I think a non-magnetic would have been better for me – for example ILNP has a winter metallics collection that would have been close enough for me.
Firewall is a nice chrome that basically reads gunmetal/silver, I don’t think there’s too much shift and I don’t wear it often so it’s in the “meh” category for the price. I assume there’s a cheaper dupe/similar enough option out there.
My only big disappointment is Lovebomb – I knew the swatches of it were probably misleading going in, but it does still suck lol. The bottle itself looks 100x better than the polish, which is just blah. You don’t get any shift. I didn’t realize returns are possible, I probably should have lol. I have a pink magnetic topper (dc’d cracked petals on the surface) and putting that over a brown drugstore creme is literally all I wanted from lovebomb. So much cheaper too lol
You may have talked me out of Pearl Clutcher 🤣🤣
That being said, I feel like I’ve tried a lot of Mooncat polishes using rewards & I’ve been MEH or I’ve disliked more polishes than I’ve liked.
Some of my personal faves are FOTM & Witchhazel. A surprising like from me is Heart of Stone, and I’m on the fence w Storm Warning & Devil’s Ivy, both of which had v subtle magnetic particles.
I never trust the swatches on site or on their social media, I look up swatches from people on IG!
Surprised by your thoughts on Ribbit Ribbit it’s literally my FAV MC polish purchase this year. If you want the shimmer to really pop it needs three coats, but two will give you more of a sheer crelly effect.
I used it on my Halloween Skittles here with a topper, switching back and forth between layers to build a “crelly sandwich” and it worked perfectly IMO. I got such cool depth.
https://preview.redd.it/6clpp77dl3yf1.jpeg?width=2203&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc47010f99b13f72a1c00a012b99fc8c92363057
I think the Mooncat sub would likely welcome your gripes with any shades you don’t vibe with tbh lol feel like I see plenty of people talk about being disappointed or polishes not living up to whatever advertising hype the company went with. Personally, I trust no brand swatches anymore and definitely do a lot of research typically before purchasing.
I sometimes get a weird slump when a package arrives (end of anticipation?) but a day later I feel more balanced about the things I chose. But you as a maker might have gone past the phase of being impressed by certain things because you know how the sausage is made.
Fwiw, the MC sub is more receptive to a range of opinions lately. Or it seems that way. I think people are coming out of that weird peak covid brand worship era.
Never feel bad about a return. It’s better you get your money back than 1) the polishes go unused 2) you get that sad, unsettled feeling whenever you see the polishes unused in your collection
Polish should be fun. If it’s not fun, it’s gotta go.
This must be user error, Mooncat only makes priceless beauty juices that sparkle and shine like gifts from the gods
/s (just tryna replicate the experience of posting anything but exorbitant praise in the MC sub)
I wonder if you got a bad batch for Ribbit Ribbit but mine is very similar to Harvest Moon in that the blue shows up, which customer service can address, but if you don’t like it, def return it!
Oh, no! I love Momo Yuyake so much, but I seem to be in the minority. Lol. It shifts peach for me so much I was afraid I’d hate it, but no, it won’t me over. I sit in front of multiple monitors all day and my nails are so distracting with the peach to pink shimmers, that I took a video and sent it to my friends. Maybe it just needs the bright light of a couple huge monitors.
Mooncat does have great customer service. The best I have ever come across with any product. If you feel like you have a bad batch of something, send them some photos and often times, they’ll replace it.
But I get ya— Mooncat is quickly losing its magic for me. The sub is even worse. Facebook group is great tho!
Mooncat’s Ribbit Ribbit looks EXACTLY like LA Colors Fanatic. I’m so glad I bought the LA Colors for $2 first lol
Cute mani.
I have seen people get pretty good advice in that sub if they didn’t like something or it didn’t seem as pretty in person, someone will tell them “oh you have to do three coats instead of two” or “put it over a black base!” Or top coat suggestions. I’ve never seen anyone be unkind over there? Maybe I’m being naive though