Revlon 'Elusive'

 Today I have a quick swatch to share:

Revlon #736 'Elusive' is a matte black crelly polish with Emerald green hexagonal glitter particles of various sizes. I'm pretty sure that this polish is discontinued.

I think that this is one of those polishes that looks a million times better in the bottle than on the nail. I find myself wishing that the black base was a bit more translucent, so that the glitter particles would be able to make more of an impact. I also think it would be better with a glossy finish instead of the matte formula that was chosen - of course that is an easy fix with a bit of glossy top coat. 

Overall, it's an OK polish. The formula applied and dried well. The final look is edgy, and somewhat unique. It's just not really my cup of tea... I could see myself maybe wearing it again around halloween, or as a base for nail art, or perhaps if it worked well with a particular outfit - but all in all, it is not one of my favourites.

Revlon 'Romantique'

Today, I have a snapshot of a mani that I wore last week. I was feeling like doing something neutral, and demure, so I went with Revlon 'Romantique':

'Romantique' is warm powdery pink creme polish. For me, this type of shade is perfect for when I'm not in the mood for a lot of colour. It's absolutely beautiful, and makes for an elegant mani. As can be expected from most Revlon classic shades, the formula for this polish was great. It applies cleanly and smoothly, and dried quickly.

Revlon 'Red Affair'

Today I have another red mani to share. This bright, true red creme polish is by Revlon, and is called 'Red Affair':

I've really been fancying a lot of red polishes lately. This shade of red is such a fun pop of colour on the nail, while also being a timeless classic! This polish is relatively new to my collection, so I didn't have it at the time that I did my Revlon Red Polish Comparison, featuring the 10 Revlon red polishes that I owned at that point. 

For some reason, I can't find very much information on-line about this particular polish. Even on Revlon's website... I'm fairly certain that it is a newer addition to the 'Super Lustrous Nail Enamel' line. I think I first noticed it on a shop shelf around just over a year ago in either late 2019, or perhaps early 2020 - sometime prior to everything shutting down. I ended up buying it online in summer 2020.

All in all, I really like the polish. It's not the most unique shade in the world, but it has a very nice formula, and it's a lovely shade that gives an effortless 'put-together' look when worn.

Revlon 'Girly'

 

Today I have a quick swatch to share of a Revlon polish that I purchased years ago. It's called 'Girly', and it is a pink crelly loaded with purple, pink, and fuchsia hexagonal glitters. At the time of it's release, Revlon had made a bunch of crelly glitters like 'Whimsical' and 'Facets of Fuchsia', some of which were dupes of popular Deborah Lippmann polishes at the time. 'Girly' was one of the original creations in the release. The swatch picture above is two coats of the polish.

Metallic (Partial) Rainbow Skittles Mani

It's been a while since I got a chance to feature some new nail art on this blog. It's been difficult lately to find time to sit down and create a design and then execute it. As a result, I've been doing a lot of simple (one-polish) manicures. I decided to try to dip back into creativity, with one of the simplest forms of nail art - the skittles mani.  I wanted to do something bright and cheery, so I decided on the Metallic Rainbow Skittles mani photographed above.

Polishes Used

Orly 'Crawford's Wine'

Orly 'Flicker'

Revlon Brilliant Strength 'Hypnotize'

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear  'Emerald City'

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear  'Blue It'

I love how this mani turned out - it is so fun and colourful, that I'm inspired to do more! However, I think I may just stick with skittles manicures for the time being, because they are relatively quick and easy to accomplish. Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to throw in the odd manicure with other embellishments, and/or some stamping here and there... we'll see where this goes!

Revlon 'Whimsical'

Today, just in time for "Throwback Thursday", I have an oldie but goodie nail polish to share - Revlon's 'Whimsical'. There's quite an interesting history behind this polish. I think it came out sometime around late 2011 or early 2012.  It was a dupe for a really popular polish at the time by Deborah Lippman, called 'Glitter in the Air'. The Deborah Lippmann polish was named after and inspired by a song by the artist P!nk, which she famously performed at the 2010 Grammy Awards while doing aerial acrobatics. 

I remember being so excited to buy this polish back in the day. It looks so gorgeous in the bottle - the colours work so well together.  Also, there was a bit of a novelty factor, as crelly glitter polishes were not that common back then in mainstream brands. 

This particular bottle has held up well for how old it is (I'm not sure exactly when I bought it, and I think the polish was available for a few years after it was released). The base may have yellowed slightly, as I seem to recall it being more of a brighter sky blue, but it still looks essentially the same.

All in all, it was fun to pull this polish out of the collection and take a trip down memory lane!

Swatch: Revlon 'Facets of Fuchsia'

Another day, and another post from the archives! This one also fit into the 'Revlon Swatch Series' on-going project that I am working on. This polish is Revlon 'Facets of Fuchsia' (However, I think that at some point over the years the name was changed to 'Scandalous'). It is a black crelly polish with purple suspended glitters, and is said to be a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's 'Bad Romance' - a Lady Gaga inspired nail polish. 

These archived photos are from October 2011! This polish really brings back a lot of fond memories, as this was when I was just starting to rediscover my enthusiasm for nail polish and nail art!

Swatch: Revlon 'Blue Lagoon'

In my last post on Revlon's 'Tangerine', I mentioned some other polishes that were released in the same Summer 2011 'Summer Romantics' collection. 'Blue Lagoon', the subject of today's post, was one of those polishes. 

Blue Lagoon is as soft powder blue creme polish with a silver shimmer. It is quite beautiful, however, I was a little disappointed with the performance. Now of course, this is a 9 year old bottle of polish, so the problems may be due to age - but it is also a pastel, which is also another notoriously difficult formula work with. 

I found the polish to be a little patchy on application, which required more coats to get even coverage. However with more coats, dry-time increases, and consequently, the likelihood of dents and smudging also increases. I encountered all of the above! The swatch in the photo above is 4 coats, and the last was applied just before taking the picture, in order to smooth out the surface of the lacklustre manicure I was working with after 24 hours of dry/smudge time!

It looks pretty decent in the swatch photo (minus the cuticle overflow that I didn't want to risk ruining my still wet manicure to remove!), however within hours after that the manicure was smudged again, as the polish was still soft.

In summary: Older polishes can sometimes take longer to dry, but you can usually combat that by doing fewer coats. The problem here is that this pastel polish needed three or more (normally applied) coats to look good.  I suppose I could try again to see if I can get the polish to look good with one or two carefully applied coats, and then top coat to protect... I just don't know if I'm willing to try again right now after all of the frustration I had with this manicure!

Revlon 'Tangerine'

Today I have another Revlon swatch to share. I had actually resigned myself to move on from the Revlon swatch series that I had been doing for the last month or so. Even though I would love to continue with it until I've swatched all of my Revlon polishes, as someone who typically runs off of inspiration, I prefer being able to freely choose polishes to wear on a whim... This is also why my 'Project Polish' has somewhat stalled! I'm realizing that for longer projects, it would probably be better for me to have one or more of them on-going that I pop back into from time to time, as opposed to working continuously on them until they are done. Polish is supposed to be fun! I don't like feeling like I have to wear a particular polish if there's another one I'm feeling more at the moment! With this in mind I'll create a new label for the Revlon Swatch Series, so over time the collection of posts will get more and more complete.

So back to the task at hand - my swatch and review of Revlon's 'Tangerine'!  'Tangerine' is a gorgeous yellow-orange creme polish with a subtle golden shimmer. It's slightly on the sheer side, but not quite in crelly territory. It can be built up to full opacity in 3 coats, as I have done in most of the swatch pictures (I left my thumb at two coats, which can be seen in the label shot in the collage below). I'm also wearing a glossy top-coat in the main swatch pictures (no top coat on my thumb).

This polish is so fun, and summery. Even though it is a rather bright shade, it works so well with my skin tone that it feels more subdued, and almost neutral on me! It still pops, but in a really harmonious way...

The polish was released as part of Revlon's Summer 2011 'Summer Romantics' collection, along with a light blue polish 'Blue Lagoon', and a light yellow called 'Sunshine Sparkle'. I also have 'Blue Lagoon', but I don't want to put any more pictures in this post, so perhaps I'll do a swatch and review on that polish in the near future!

Revlon Red Polish Comparison

Today I have a mega-comparison post to share, featuring my Revlon red nail polishes. For now, this will probably be the last of the Revlon series of posts that I've been doing for the last little while.

Altogether I have 10 Revlon red polishes: 4 metallic/shimmers, and 6 cremes. Technically, one of the cremes, Revlon 'Valentine', is actually more of a crelly.  In the collage above, I have swatched each polish on a different nail. As you can see, there is a wide range of shades and finishes of red in the set of polishes from the brightest red creme (Revlon Red), to the vampiest, deep burgundy metallic (Divine).

There are two pairs of polishes that are very similar to each other. The first pair is 'Get Reddy', and 'Frankly Scarlet'. They are both mid-tone red shimmer polishes with gold shimmer particles, but 'Frankly Scarlet' has slightly warmer undertones, while 'Get Reddy' has slightly more blue-based undertones.  The next pair of similar shades is 'Bewitching' and 'Raven Red'. Both shades are deeper burgundy-reds, but 'Bewitching' which Revlon's website describes as a "glossy cranberry-red" has cooler undertones, while 'Raven Red', described as a "glossy red-burgundy" is slightly warmer. I will just quickly cite now that from this point on in the post, any descriptions in quotes are quoted directly from Revlon's website.

I've already done individual swatch posts on 'Cherries in the Snow', a "glossy red-pink"; 'Raven Red', and 'Valentine', a "glossy brown-red".  I have also used a lot of the other shades in nail art posts I made previously: 'Revlon Red', a "glossy strawberry-red" was used in my 'Red, Yellow, Green and Black Plaid Nails' post. 'Spidey Sense', a limited edition shade released in 2014 as part of Revlon's 'Electric Chrome Spiderman Collection' that was a cross-promotion with the movie 'The Amazing Spiderman 2', was used in my '60's Print Mani Version 2.0'. 'Frankly Scarlet' was used in my 'Autumn Leaves Mani using China Glaze Aut-umm I Need That'. 'Divine' a "glossy shimmering burgundy" was used in my 'Burgundy and Silver Halloween Manicure'. 'Bewitching' was used in 2 posts: The 'Christmas Splotch Test Mini Post', as well as my 'Christmas Skittles Mani'.

'Vixen', and 'Get Reddy' appear to be the only two shades that I haven't previously blogged about. 'Vixen' is a deep, vampy, burgundy creme polish which Revlon describes as a "glossy brown-plum", and 'Get Reddy', which was mentioned earlier in this post, was already described above. 

Overall I think this is a pretty great range - there's a red for pretty much every mood. Also, all of the polishes have pretty good formulas with excellent coverage, and a high-shine finish. My favourites are probably the red shimmer/metallic shades 'Frankly Scarlet', 'Get Reddy', and 'Spidey Sense', as I typically prefer wearing metallic reds over cremes. My least favourites are probably 'Divine' and 'Vixen' only because I tend to not like wearing dark colours on my nails.

I just did a quick check of Revlon's website, and it looks like 7 of these 10 shades are currently still on the market: all but 'Frankly Scarlet', 'Get Reddy', and 'Spidey Sense'. Hopefully this comparison post will be of assistance to anyone interested in any of these shades.

Red, Yellow, Green and Black Plaid Nails

Polishes Used

Revlon ‘Revlon Red’

Maybelline Color Show ‘Fierce N Tangy’

Revlon ‘Posh’

Bundle Monster ‘Straight Up Black’

Stamping Plate Used

ÜberChic Beauty 'Pretty in Plaid'

I'm really excited to share today's post, because I finally got a chance to do some nail art!!! Even better, I was able to use a couple Revlon polishes for this manicure, so it also continues the theme of the last 6 posts, where I've been rediscovering the polishes in my Revlon collection.

I used a 'buffalo check' plaid stamping image from the ÜberChic Beauty 'Pretty in Plaid' stamping plate. For the base colours, I used red, yellow, and green creme polishes, and I stamped the plaid image in black. Since I stamped the buffalo check image over a red, yellow, and green base, my nickname for this look is my 'Buffalo Soldier Check' manicure 😉.  Here are a few more shots of the manicure, and a nice shot of the base layer prior to stamping:

This manicure was so much fun to create! I really love the final look, and the striped base looked pretty cool as well!  I may have to create a mani with vertical stripes one day soon... Below, I have a collage with my bottle shots, as well as label shots showing the names and numbers of all of the polishes I used.

The polishes used were: Revlon 'Revlon Red', Maybelline Color Show 'Fierce n Tangy, Revlon 'Posh', and Bundle Monster 'Straight up Black', black stamping polish.

Revlon 'Coral Me Wild'

Today's post is a swatch of Revlon's 'Coral Me Wild'. This polish is a pink-leaning coral crelly, with a glossy finish. As opposed to 'Craving Coral', which I discussed in yesterday's post, this polish really does give me strong coral vibes when applied to the nail. It has that perfect balance of pink and orange that is requisite for the perfect shade of coral.

I really love this polish! It's fun, cheery, and summery - although I'm not one to limit summer shades to summer only!  In fact, I believe that sometimes you need a pop of summer on your nails in the middle of a harsh Canadian winter!  😉

Revlon's 'Craving Coral'

Today's swatch is Revlon shade 902 'Craving Coral'. It's a warm, orange-leaning coral jelly polish with a high-gloss finish. In the bottle, I see more of those pinky, creamy undertones that make the polish seem more coral. However on the nail, in most lighting conditions those undertones don't really translate, and the shade appears to me to be more of a red-orange jelly. It's still a beautiful shade that works well with my skin tone, but it just doesn't scream CORALLLLL!!!! to me! 😄

Revlon's 'Plum Seduction'

Today's post is another swatch from my Revlon Collection. This is shade 917 'Plum Seduction'. This polish is a bright plum crelly polish that dries to a wonderfully shiny finish. This manicure was so bright and fun - I truly enjoyed wearing it!

Revlon's 'Cherries in the Snow'

Continuing with swatches from my Revlon collection, today's swatch is of the iconic 'Cherries in the Snow'. This shade was originally released way back in 1953! It's a gorgeous pink-toned red creme nail polish, with a glossy finish.  

I find this polish to be a bit of a chameleon. Based on the lighting and angles, sometimes it looks more pink, and at others, it looks more red. You can see this even in the 2 pictures in this post. The picture above had more direct lighting, and the polish appears more pink. Meanwhile, in the picture below, when the lighting is concentrated more on the label as opposed to the nails, the polish appears more red.

Revlon 'Raven Red'

As promised, for today's post I am continuing with a Revlon swatch. From what I've gathered on-line, it seems that today's swatch, Revlon's 'Raven Red' may possibly be the oldest Revlon shade still available today.  Apparently, the shade debuted in 1945! If so, that would make 2020 the 75th anniversary of the shade! It truly boggles my mind that women around the world have been enjoying the exact same nail polish shade for 3 quarters of a century - I guess if it ain't broke, there's no need to fix it!

The polish is a warm-toned red creme, with a nice glossy finish. It is a classic, easy-to-wear colour that would suit a variety of skin tones. I purchased this polish fairly recently, so this is only the first time that I've worn it. Overall, I enjoyed wearing this shade, and I'm glad that it has joined my collection!

It's funny, but I don't really recall ever seeing this shade in stores, however, I did find it to be readily available with major on-line retailers. I suppose that the displays in the stores only stock a limited amount of shades due to space constraints.

Revlon 'Valentine'

Today I have a quick post featuring a hastily done swatch of Revlon 'Valentine'.  It's a gorgeous deep red polish with a slightly transparent finish.  I've had this bottle for years, and it has held up quite well! Recently I've been rediscovering the Revlon shades in my collection, inspired by some information that I came across on vintage nail polish and lipstick shades that are still available today.

Revlon was founded in 1932, so they have been making nail polish for almost 90 years! In a cosmetics landscape currently full of limited edition releases and hoopla surrounding 'the next new thing', sometimes it's nice to take a break from all of that. It's so wonderful to indulge in tried and true classics that are not only loved by thousands of women across the world, but have also been loved by thousands of women across the ages!

Over the next few posts, I'll be swatching some more of my Revlon shades...  Stay tuned!

Glitter Mani: 'Cherries in the Snow' and 'Flashing Lights'

Today I have a quick post to share. It's a simple glitter manicure using Revlon's 'Cherries in the Snow', and Claire's Cosmetics Splatter 'Flashing Lights'.  I've been struggling to find base polishes that would look good with this glitter topper from my 'Project Polish'.  I think that this red, white and blue combo worked out quite nicely! 

Truthfully, I am really over this glitter topper... I don't really enjoy glitter polishes as much as I used to, and this one in particular has a very limiting colourway, so there's not as many polishes that it can be used with. I'm really not sure if I'm going to be able to finish the entire bottle - this polish is most likely bound for the giveaway pile.

Throwback Thursday: Blue Shatter Mani with Red Base

For today's post, in the spirit of 'Throwback Thursday', I'm sharing a red and blue shatter manicure (Shattercure?!) featuring OPI's 'Blue Shatter', and Revlon's 'Cherries in the Snow'. The nostalgia game is strong with this one!  Blue shatter came out in OPI's Summer 2011 Shatter Collection, and 'Cherries in the Snow' nail polish was first introduced by Revlon in 1953! Enjoy the throwback vibes!

Nail Polish Empties!

Today, I have a couple empties to share! It's not very often that I actually have a completely empty bottle of polish to dispose of, let alone 2 of them! I'm strangely proud of this accomplishment. Just for laughs, I thought I'd add little badges to the picture to celebrate this amazing feat! Perhaps I'll even make this a tradition for any future emptied bottles!

The red polish on the left is called 'Cherry Brandy' by Covergirl from their 'Nail Slicks' line of polishes. Previously, it was one of the oldest polishes in my collection... I'm pretty sure it has to have been at least 12 to 15 years old!  I decided to try to use it up some time ago, and since then I have used it consistently as my pedicure colour, until it was gone.

The colour applied beautifully right up until I was nearing the bottom of the bottle, when it got quite thick. I added a little nail polish thinner, and it was as good as new, allowing me to squeeze an extra few pedicures out of the bottle. For the last pedicure, I had to dump all of the remaining polish onto a plastic baggy, and use the brush to apply it from there, as the brush didn't reach all of the way to the bottom of the bottle. I never really had to do that before, as it is truly quite rare that I finish an entire full size bottle of nail colour!

The other bottle is a Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat that I have been using underneath my manicures. There still is a tiny bit of product left in the bottom of the bottle, but after so much use, it is very thick, and since it is quick dry, it pulls and then dries into little wispy strands of polish that break off from the brush, and go flying! That final manicure's worth of polish is definitely not worth the trouble!