I paid a pretty penny for this brand. About 16 bucks each. Nothing to sneeze at, especially when a bottle of water in Thailand costs 25 cents. I have high hopes.
Victoria
(Index - 1 Coat, Middle - 4 coats, Ring - 1 coat over black)
High hopes dashed. Ugh this one f*cking sucks. What a terrible way to start. It's crazy sheer. And there's no impressive transformation when you layer it over black.
Look at how awesome it looks in the bottle! Swirly purple and gold! WHYYYYYY. Why aren't u awesome on the nail.
Merit
(3 coats)
After Victoria, I was pretty cynical. I'm annoyed about the pigmentation with this one -- I need good pigmentation for a $16 polish. 3 coats is pretty unacceptable.
As I was applying it, I said to myself that I preferred the franken that I posted a few days ago. It's not quite so red as this. But then once the 3rd coat went on, I looked. OoooooOohhh. The depth of this polish is so wonderful. And there are tiny gold flakies (which are glittering at you on my ring finger in the pic). OK so color win, but for $16 bucks I demand 2 coats only. It dries really fast on its own tho! Wowie.
Paula
(3 coats)
So the formula is better than Essie's MCA (vom) but not by much. It's a little chalky. Dries quite glossy. OMG this brand dries lightning fast without any help from top coat.
Lea
(2 coats)
I was saving the one I was most excited about for last. Thankfully it delivered. Love you, Lea. Purple base with pink shimmer. Hells ya. Dry time isn't as good, however.
I officially have too many purples with pink shimmer. Lea reminded me of both Claire's Magic and Illamasqua's Baptiste. I'm putting it out there in public, in writing. NO MORE OF THESE!
(Index - Baptiste, Middle - Magic, Ring - Lea)
In person, Magic is a less opaque dupe to Lea. I'm not mad tho, this is a color I'm happy to have a backup of.
