The Best Nail Polish Pens in 2026: Sweenly, Polishey, NolyNails and Velynails Compared
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"Nail polish pen" has gone from a niche gadget to a real category, and four names come up in the searches: Sweenly, Polishey, NolyNails and Velynails. They share the felt tip and differ on everything else. This is a practical comparison on the criteria people ask about, with sources, and one honest caveat up front.
A note on fairness: Sweenly makes the Sweenly Nail Pen and Lip Pen, so read this as a comparison written by one of the two brands. Everything about the other product comes from its own website as of September 19, 2026; we have not tested it ourselves and we make no claims about its quality. Brand names belong to their respective owners, and Sweenly is not affiliated with them.
What a nail polish pen actually changes
Whatever the brand, the format does three things a bottle does not: the line stops where you stop (clean edges near the cuticle), there is no puddle to steer (so the non-dominant hand looks like the other one), and there is nothing to clean up afterwards. Everything else, drying, wear, removal, depends on the formula and the system around it. That is where the three differ.
Sweenly Nail Pen
- Format: felt-tip pen, 22 shades, $21.99 each. Pick any 5 for the Nail Pen Pack at 50% off ($10.99 a pen).
- Drying: air-dries like classic polish (a few minutes), no lamp required.
- Two ways to wear it: on its own, it wears like a nice classic polish for a few days. With the Long-Lasting Kit ($28.99: UV Top Coat + UV Lamp), the color is sealed under the lamp for longer wear and a gel-like shine.
- Formula: water-based, made without HEMA and without TPO, virtually no smell.
- Removal: the acetone-free Sweenly Remover ($10.99) on a cotton pad; with the top coat, a classic remover.
- Coverage: about 20 to 25 manicures per pen.
- Shipping: free in the US over $65; 3 to 7 business days after dispatch.
Best for: people who want to try one shade, want the option of a longer-lasting gel-like finish later, or want the lowest price per pen in a 5-shade pack.
Polisheyโข Nail Pen Set
According to polishey.com (September 19, 2026): sold as a set of 5 pens with a top coat and a base coat for $59.99 (listed at $80), five curated color sets or a build-your-own option across roughly 28 shades, water-based, "clean, 9-free & vegan", air-dry in about 20 seconds, no lamp, removal with any regular remover. Shipping address stated in London.
What reviewers say. On Trustpilot, Polishey has a 3.7/5 TrustScore from about 1,650 reviews (57% five-star, 25% one-star, as of September 19, 2026). The praise is about ease of application, fast drying and clean cuticles. The criticism that comes up most often is wear time: reviewers report chipping or peeling after a couple of days. That is the exact problem Sweenly built the Long-Lasting Kit for: brush the UV Top Coat over the color, 2 minutes under the lamp, and the manicure is sealed with a gel-like shine instead of wearing like an air-dry polish. Full summary: Polishey reviews.
Best for: people who want an air-dry set with base and top coat in one box. Full comparison: Sweenly vs. Polishey.
NolyNails
NolyNails describes its product as a marker-style nail polish with a felt tip, "no UV lamp" needed, with a "vegan and naturally derived formula", sold on nolynails.com and on Amazon. We could not load the brand's site to verify current pricing and shade count on September 19, 2026, so we are not quoting numbers we have not seen.
What reviewers say. On Trustpilot, the NolyNails profile (nolynails.it, unclaimed) shows a 1.2/5 TrustScore from 109 reviews, 98% of them one star, as of September 19, 2026. Reviewers mostly report delivery problems and disappointment with the product. We are not adding anything to that; read the reviews and decide for yourself. Full summary: NolyNails reviews.
Best for: hard to say without a reachable site; if you are considering it, start with the reviews.
Velynails
According to velynails.com (September 19, 2026), Velynails sells a pack of 5 felt-tip nail polish pens for โฌ29.99 (listed at โฌ49.99), in 20 numbered shades, air-dry with "no UV lamp", a "precision tip" and a "gentle formula". A base coat and top coat duo (โฌ14.99) and a remover (โฌ9.99) are sold separately. The site is in Spanish with English, German, French, Danish and Hungarian versions; the contact address given is in Bordeaux, France. Its Trustpilot profile had no reviews yet on September 19, 2026.
Best for: European shoppers who want a low-priced air-dry 5-pack and do not need a longer-wear option.
The comparison in one table
| Criterion | Sweenly | Polishey | NolyNails | Velynails |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sold as | Single pens ($21.99) or 5-pack ($54.95) | 5-pen set with base + top coat ($59.99) | Pens (pricing not verified) | 5-pack (โฌ29.99) |
| Shades | 22 | About 28 | Not verified | 20 |
| Drying | Air-dry, a few minutes; instant with the UV kit | Air-dry, about 20 s (brand claim) | Air-dry, no lamp (brand claim) | Air-dry, no lamp (brand claim) |
| Longer-wear option | Yes, UV Top Coat + Lamp ($28.99) | No | No | No |
| Formula | Water-based, no HEMA, no TPO | Water-based, "9-free & vegan" | "Vegan, naturally derived" | "Gentle formula" |
| Removal | Acetone-free Remover; classic remover with top coat | Any regular remover | Not verified | Own remover (โฌ9.99) |
| Reviews (September 19, 2026) | Post-purchase survey 4.6/5 | Trustpilot 3.7/5, ~1,650 reviews | Trustpilot 1.2/5, 109 reviews | No Trustpilot reviews yet |
Sources: each brand's own website on September 19, 2026. Prices change; check the sites.
Who is behind each brand
Before you type in a card number, it is worth knowing who you are buying from. This is what each site disclosed on September 19, 2026:
- Sweenly: operated by Synchronicite LLC, registered in Wyoming, with a postal address, a phone number and a support email published in the legal notice.
- Polishey: a support email and a shipping address in London on the product page. We did not find a company name on the site.
- NolyNails: we could not find out. The main site did not load, the Spanish site was behind a password, and the Trustpilot profile is unclaimed. No company name, address or registration number anywhere we looked.
- Velynails: the site's legal notice page is empty. The contact page gives a trade name, a street address in Bordeaux and an email, but no company name and no VAT or registration number.
A missing legal notice is not proof of anything, but for a company selling cosmetics in Europe it is a legal requirement, and it is the first thing to check when a brand only exists through ads.
How to choose
- Decide about wear first. If you want the option of a gel-like, longer-wearing finish, only Sweenly offers it among the four; the others are air-dry only, and wear time is the most frequent criticism in the air-dry reviews.
- Then decide how many shades you want on day one. One shade: Sweenly. Five shades with base and top coat: Polishey's set. Five shades at the lowest price per pen: Sweenly's pack.
- Then read the ingredient list, and the reviews. The formulas differ in what they exclude (if HEMA or TPO is your concern, check for it explicitly), and the Trustpilot records differ a lot more than the marketing does.
And whatever you pick: clean, dry nails, thin coats. The technique is the same for every pen.
