Dare To Wear Back To Basics Collection

So I ordered this collection of polishes after seeing Lextard's swatches on her blog.  Seriously, when I need lemmings, I just check out her blog.  I have a nail crush on her.  I got these from Ebay for around $30 (USD) after shipping.  Not a bad deal, I think.  I really like all of them except I had some trouble with the white one, which I'll explain later.  For now, here are my swatches!

First up, this is True Red.  Seriously, this one's a perfect cherry red creme.  I used two coats for this swatch, but I could have gotten away with one if I'd been a little more careful.

This is Yellow Twist.  I don't usually wear yellow polish, but I do know about how difficult they normally are.  This yellow isn't difficult to work with at all.  I only needed two coats and I will definitely use this one as my perfect rainbow yellow from now on.  Great formula.

Enchanted Forest is a deep, mossy green.  I was under the impression that this was a jelly and I have no idea where I picked that up.  I might be confusing it with Nars Zulu.  This is definitely a very pigmented creme and I only needed two coats for this swatch.  Still, it's a great color and I'm glad I have this set.

Ocean View is a medium blue creme.  It's super pigmented as well and I only needed two coats.  It's been a while since I swatched these, but I wrote "perfect" in my notes when I swatched this one.  It's seriously perfect.

Powerful Black.  I needed two coats here, but the formula is super creamy and pigmented.  When I reach for a black creme for layering, I usually go with Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, but I just might reach for this one next time.  Sure, I needed one more coat, but it's super glossy and nearly perfect to work with.  Very nice, indeed.

And lastly, this is Rue St. Vincent.  Unfortunately, I think my bottle sucks.  The formula is chunky and watery at the same time.  I carefully applied three coats for this swatch, but I would definitely not wear this one as a manicure when there are much nicer white polishes out there (Sally Hansen White On, for instance).  I swatched this one first and was a bit disappointed so I'm glad the rest made me change my mind.  Since this was the only one with a horrible formula, I'm thinking that it's just a fluke.

Overall, I really like these.  The kit came with a clear top coat as well.  I'm pretty sure it's not fast drying, but I'm going to try it out with Seche Vite to see if that'll stop the shrinkage I get with Seche Vite.  All these swatches are without top coat (most of mine are) and you can see how glossy they are.  I am very glad I ordered these.

UPDATE:  I tried the Dare To Wear top coat underneath Seche Vite and it ended up wrinkling.  :o(

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