My prayers were answered when all this was handed over by the post man a few weeks ago, as I've gone on a mad nail varnish buying rampage lately. I'll admit, if I knew what was in the parcel at the time I may have jumped postie himself. The stud. *Max Factor have an entire new collection of gel shine lacquer nail varnishes out and they are really something to drool over. There are nine shades in the 'Modern Glamour Collection' and they are all inspired around the 50's to 90's fashion styles.
Autumn colours are always a little ifie for me, I'm more a lover of bights as I wear lots of blacks and peep purples so my nails always brighten me up. Naturally I am in love with the brighter colours in this collection and for some reason they seem to need less coats to be totally opaque then the darker ones. I've also noticed that the reds in this all look very samey - I know there will be massive nail varnish lovers out there screaming at me for that comment! But for me, they just didn't wow. Honestly bias opinion there. (Heh, contracting words that actually make sense. Love it!) The swatches below are all only one coat, just to show the difference that I'm going to talk individually about now.
Unfortunately when I recieved this lovely surprise there had been a little mix up and I had two of the same shades. I'm missing out on the brightest orange shade here, Vivid Vermillion. But no matter, the show must go on! 50s inspired my favourite true pin up red here, the brightest Patent Poppy. This is one I know I'll use a lot and two coats are needed for it. Its just so classy!
Next is the 70s Blues, Lacquered Violet and Glazed Cobalt that are inspired by the punk movement. When I first saw the shades side by side in the bottles I thought they were really similar and was disappointed until I tried them on. I'll admit, I'm a bigger fan of Glazed Cobalt as its a more.. Primary dark shade if you get me? I'm actually wearing it right now and it makes an outfit stand out, which I like. The Lacquered Violet has hues of purple in it and isn't as clear, you have to really look at it a second before you can decide what shade it is. Not one I think I'll reach for often, but both shades only need one coat. But sometimes I'll throw on two just to be on the safe side.
Moving on to the 80s Brights (woo!) with Twinkling Pink, Gleaming Teal and Vivid Vermillion. As I said earlier I haven't got Vivid Vermillion to show and tell, but the other two are up for much discussion. Twinkling Pink is a really lovely deep dusty pink that has just the startings of deeper tones in it, one I have used a lot over the past while along with an accent nail of Gleaming Teal or Glazed Cobalt. Speaking of, Gleaming Teal is a really lovely dark evergreen tree shade and its not normally a colour I would ever pick up. But this has converted me and I noticed myself looking at the darker greens in Boots now, bold girl that I am buying things! These colours are a little tricky and sometimes need two or three coats to get them totally opaque.
Lastly is the 90s Shades of Burgundy that are my least favourite shades. Sparkling Berry and Sheen Merlot honestly just look the same to me, I must be mad! Even when I try them on side by side I can barely tell the difference. I think I'll leave those two to more well trained eyes. They both need at least three coats before they are totally flawless. Despite being dark, I'm not kicking Radiant Ruby out of the bed for eating biscuits. It reminds me of a darker, but just as classy Patent Poppy pin up colour. Its not one I would wear often, but now that I'm trying out braver dark lip stick shades, I think this colour would go lovely and be handy to have on stand by, just in case! This one only needs two coats, but occasionally three if your being a bit fussy.
Overall I think that this is a nice collection, I personally wouldn't buy every shade but not all are to my taste. I think the colour pay off is great but some are annoying as more coats are needed then others. I'm not too sure where they are going with their 'gel shine lacquer' as they look like bog standard varnish on my nails, but that wouldn't put me off getting them. Also the gold topped bottles are eye catching and scream pretty to me, which means I'm going to go off and buy the last orange shade. I think it needs a home with me. You can get these in Boots for €8.99 or buy one get one half price. It would only be right to have a goo at them next time your passing a Max Factor stand!
Do you think you'd pick up any of these?
*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift. Please see my disclaimer here.
