Showing posts with label Beige. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beige. Show all posts

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Rimmel Lycra Pro: 385 Hot List



Today's polish is the very lovely Hot List, from Rimmel's Lycra Pro range. I'm sure you're all completely sick of hearing me bang on ad nauseum about Lycra Pro and how great they all are; awesome brush shape, great formula, long lasting and almost no chips, great pigmentation, blah blah etc etc. So I'll spare you the waffle and just say that this polish is no exception to the Lycra Pro rule; it goes on like a dream, dries quickly, looks great and lasts AGES.


This one is especially exciting, however, because it's an almost exact dupe for the hugely popular (and hugely expensive) Chanel Paradoxal. I don't have Paradoxal to make the comparison myself, but there's any number of swatches out there and they're very close; the shimmer is slightly different but considering Paradoxal is currently retailing for £20-£30 on ebay and Hot List costs less than £5, plus Paradoxal is notoriously chip-prone (Hot List has so far been on my nails - two coats over one of Nail Envy plus one of top coat - for 5 whole days without any chips OR tip wear), it's more than close enough for me.

Hot List is a bit of a chameleon polish; technically it's a greyed-out dusky mauve but in some lights it looks much closer to dark beige or taupe, like this:


But there's more! There's a gorgeous purple shimmer running through Hot List which I'd call a 'hidden' shimmer; it only comes out when the light hits it, like this:
  





Isn't it gorgeous? It's such a sophisticated, classy, grown-up colour, infinitely work safe, but not in the least bit boring.

Check out this shot of the bottle's base that really shows the purple shimmer. It's nowhere near this pronounced on the nail but it's so pretty!


You might have noticed that I shortened my nails again and am trying out a new, more squared shape; I'm not convinced it suits me (plus it feels so weird compared to my normal oval/pointy comfort zone!). What do you think looks best on me?

Sunday, 8 January 2012

Rimmel 60 Seconds : Euphoria

Another Rimmel for you today - this time one of their fast drying polishes, shade 510 'Euphoria'.

Euphoria is a beige shimmer with a pink flash. It comes with a smaller version of the wide, rounded brush Rimmel use in their Lycra Pro range and which I love so much - application is easy and fast, at least in terms of not messing up your cuticle line. However, as I applied this, I got serious deja vu - it's quite thick, prone to bubbling, and takes waaaay longer than the 60 seconds claimed before it's dry. In fact, every one of the same things I noticed about the last Rimmel 60 seconds polish I reviewed : Green With Envy.


I guess it's just the 60 second formula: it claims to be a one coater, when like Green With Envy, it isn't really. A second coat leaves you waiting ages for it to dry. However, I waited patiently and after two hours I decided it was safe to go to bed. 


Check out the sheet marks! Clearly this polish is one that needs a quick drying top coat (which I didn't use this time; my bad). Anyway, formula issues aside, this is still quite a pretty colour, especially in the sunlight:


Yes, I did say sunlight. Look, girls! The sun came out for the first time this year! I almost fainted. Then I ran around cheering. Then I grabbed my camera :)

I can't lie though. My overall reaction to this polish is 'Meh'. I overlooked Green With Envy's application issues because it was such a stunning colour and that made it worth persevering with, but this one, while pretty, doesn't really look that great against my skin tone so I probably won't wear it again. Someone with less olive skin would probably look great with this polish on, but I struggle a little with light pinky shades, you know?