These were BIG disappointments. I was so excited to find these in the drugstore but they just totally let me down. Chronicled before you is exactly how I swatched them: I ended up not swatching the fourth and final one because I just got so fed up with disappointment.
Milani Starry Pink
It started out okay. I actually kind of liked this peachy hot pink. And even though it swallowed the glitter a little bit, I was thrilled with the small and bar glitter. Very easy application for the first two coats... but less easy for coats three and four. And when I got up to four and still saw VNL, I decided to just stop: it was getting too thick, the sun was threatening to go back into hiding (so I didn't have time to wait for it all to dry before putting on another coat). I think this one would've been helped by being a bit more jelly.
Milani Gleaming Green
I sighed in relief when I started apply this. A bit more sheer but the shimmer was welcome. Even though shimmer has the potential to obscure cool-looking holo glitter, this sap green with an olive-y cast (and gold shimmer) definitely handled the holo glitter better than the semi-jelly Starry Pink polish. Three coats, still some VNL it definitely looked better (IMO). It was at least playful and sparkly. Starry Pink didn't have that much sparkle...
Video of Gleaming Green
Milani Sparkling Blue
Here we have an azure semi-jelly with holo small and bar glitter, similar to Starry Pink. I started applying it and knew before I put on the second coat that it was going to be like Starry Pink: in need of at least four thin coats... and I wouldn't be rid of VNL for all my trouble. So I stopped at two coats.
Video of Sparkling Blue
The glitter shows up great on the bottle. But it doesn't transfer quite as well to the nail!
When I saw that Flashy Orange was another semi-jelly that would turn out like Starry Pink and Sparkling Blue, I kinda just up and quit. (Like I said, the sun was going in and out and I had better polishes to swatch using these few precious daylight hours.) I always feel like I'm a failure as a polish blogger: shouldn't I be creating lemmings and not destroying them? ;) Not that my one opinion could single-handedly destroy intense lemmings but still...!
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8 comments:
Ooo, those are lovely!
I'd actually rather have a blogger who can help me kill off some of my lemmings. It helps me weed things out and be more picky with things I actually end up buying. Hopefully this means that I'll be happier with my purchases.
Thanks for doing such an awesome job with your descriptions of application and pictures and whatnot!
I really appreciate this kind of info, as well. I hate wasting money on polishes that look fun in the bottle but not so much on my nails. I mean, I think I'm a polish fanatic, not a polish hoarder, just buying every polish I can find regardless of quality. We're supposed to be a little bit selective!
I don't think you destroy lemming by being honest. And it's good to know the down sides of a polish. I think the Sparkling Blue looks amazing; I would pick this up anyway, if I could. :)
I had the same issues with these Flinty. I've been meaning to franken them a bit, just haven't gotten to it yet!
I still love Sparkling Blue :) I think I had a bit of an easier time with it, though. It only took me about 3 coats to get full coverage (though I have to admit that the third coat was on the thick side). The glitter was really disappointing at first, but when I put a top coat on it, it really dazzled.
Milani is such a "hit or miss" brand, for me. Sometimes they have really amazing polishes, and then sometimes they have really poor performers. Kinda wish they would charge less if they're going to be so inconsistent :/
These look nice. It sucks that the formula is not better. :(
@gildedangel: thanks!
@squeakdance, grace: thank you so much. I'm glad to know the effort I put into the blog actually helps some people be happier with their purchases. :)
@lacquermanic: hey, it showed up, like, half year late to my CVS. Who knows what kinds of schedules these stores are on anyway...
@adrienne: yeah, I thought of frankening them but I figured I'd rather have store credit. ;)
@Lori: I don't like taking chances on Milani polishes until, like, a dozen other people have reported a polish being decent. I totally agree: overpriced for the chance we take.
@Crystal: totally with you. They looked amazing in the bottle.
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