Revlon Selects - Nails

So I'm finally feeling well enough to attempt a review post. I've unfortunatly come down with a cold and laryngitis to go along with that cold, so all I'll be doing for now are nails.

Several weeks ago Revlon Canada offered the chance to Canadians to take part in their Revlon Selects program. They would send out a package of new products in hopes to get people's opinions/reviews about them. All you had to do was fill out a form on their Facebook page and hope for the best. I was chosen as 1 of 500 lucky ladies across Canada to receive a package.

While this package contained 5 items, I'll be review 3 of the items in this post as it doesn't require picture of my pale, stuffy-nosed, glossy-eyed face (hate colds..)

First up is the Revlon Diamond Collection File "One side shapes the nail and the other side sparkles for salon-quality results at home"

The side that shapes works well, just like your average nail file. The side that sparkles, well, I'm still trying to figure out what it's supposed to do. I've tried using it on the edge of my nail and on the top of my nail and noticed nothing different. It's like they dipped in it glue then dipped it in glitter. The glitter stays on very very well (haven't seen one fall off yet) so they may have put a coating on top of it. But if that coating's supposed to do something, it's not. It is very girly and pretty to look at. Might be good for a young girl who likes sparkles and is kinda into doing her nails. For the serious nail buff (pun intended), this isn't for them. 

Second up is the Revlon Nail Art Expressionist "Create detail with a skinny nail art brush"

Received the colour 360 -Vincent Van Gold. At first, I loved the purple and gold combination (reminds me of Mardi Gras).

The purple is somewhat sheer and requires at least 2 coats. It has a standard brush. As it dried, I realized that I didn't care much for that colour on my nails. Oh well. Live & Learn.

The gold side has a very long, thin brush - reminds me a little of a brush that pinstripers would use. Luckily, only one coat is really required.  Both colours dried fairly quickly.

So while the colour combination isn't bad, and the two-in-one concept is great, trying to create nail art isn't easy. While I lack some creativity, I tried to create something easy. This was successful while using my dominant hand to paint. Not so much with the other. (you can see the successful nail below)

Worn for about 2.5 days, no base or topcoat. I think the only reason why my one nail chipped was because I had actually caught my nail on something and my actual nail ended up ripping a bit. The quality of the polish is there, however due to probably only really being able to use the colour with the full brush, I probably would not buy. (for the record, I don't have time to paint cute pictures on toes)

Next is the Revlon Nail Art Moon Candy " Add eye-catching 3D effects for nails that are out of this world"

Received the colour 280 - Orbit. I was super excited to try this colour as I have a flakie polish that's more orange/gold and been wanting to try something different. When I seen the flat purple in the bottle, I was a little less excited. Not gonna lie, I actually thought it was a very ugly colour.

The purple only required 1 coat and was actually gorgeous! A nice flat dark purple that has the slightest blue undertones to it. This dried quickly as well.

One coat of the dark purple in Orbit, 2 coats of the lighter purple in Vincent Van Gold

Once I was confident it was fully dry, I applied the clear coat flakies. While I agree with others that it is a bit of a pain as you don't always get the flakes evenly ( or sometimes only 1 on an entire nail!), I've learned that part of the trick is to use the side of the brush that has the most amount of flakes. And 2 coats are needed. Remember, you don't want your ENTIRE nail to be flaked. The flakies have a beautiful blue/purple/teal colour to them and almost seem to glow in dim light. Super in love with this colour!

While it's not smooth, apply a thick topcoat (or maybe 2 layers), and you should be good.  As I wanted to test the product on it's own, I didn't use a base or topcoat. I was able to get about 2.5 days wear out of them. Then while running a quick errand, I somehow managed a nice big chip!

Hard to capture the beautiful effect of the flakies

2.5 days later (barely any keyboarding during this time)

This one I'd buy and I'm looking forward for the Moon Candy line to come out in 2013 (Revlon has said on their Facebook page that it's a permanent line!) Here are all 10 Moon Candy colours.

photo: revlon.com

photo: revlon.com

I'm most excited for Satellite and Supernova.. and maybe even Eclipse and Universe... Ah! I'll be honest.. I may need to have them all!  Which one are you looking forward to?

I am however, curious about storage. Once they're down to halfway, what happens to the brush that's on top?

*hugz*

-Sam

*these products were sent to me for review. Opinions are honest and my own.