Bloom swatches: Mena, Bonnie and Bianca

Thanks to the same lovely swapper (also a women's college alumna, which makes me happy -- there are so few of us these days as only 50-something women's colleges are left in the US, with tons more likely to go down the pipes with this economy) who let me swatch her Marquee Moon that I CP'ed for her, I am the proud owner of a couple of Bloom polishes. Well, pretty proud. I'm SO happy I got to try these out but I'm even happier that I'm no longer lemming the brand.

The one I wanted most was Mena, based on some amazing swatches I saw online. I'm wondering if this is what it feels like to get the non-holo version of MPJ (i.e. disappointment)? I thought it'd be a lot more eye-catching than this...

Bloom Mena

Three coats, no topcoat. The photos do wash out the holo effect a bit but it was pretty faint and scattered to begin with. Sigh. I guess I'll have to be happy with my $2 bottle of Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm or $3 bottle of CC Revvvolution (or $6 bottle of Mattese Revolution).

It's a little more pronounced in the bottle:

The video shows off the holo a lot better but as you can see, it's very scattered holo:

Bloom Bonnie

Three coats, looks far better IRL because the dark blue shimmer has a pink-purple duochrome to it. However, this effect is only really obvious in the bottle (again) and disappears a bit when it hits the nail. Weird! The closeup with flash shows it off well though.

Closeup of Bloom Bonnie

Admittedly, I got kind of impatient with it -- I was in a colorful mood -- so I layered Wet n Wild's Fantasy Makers Black Magic bar glitter on top.

Bloom Bonnie with WnW Fantasy Makers Black Magic on top

Two coats of Black Magic, a multi-colored small bar glitter polish. Wonder if I could get it almost opaque?

Closeup of Bloom Bonnie with WnW Fantasy Makers Black Magic on top

Sometimes it seems like sacrilege to layer cheapie polishes over expensive ones. But a polish is a polish is a polish. :)

But happily, one polish was as beautiful as its picture and bottle promised!

Bloom Bianca

Three coats, could've used four. Gorgeous bluish-teal with a green-gold duochromish shimmer. This is exactly what I wanted NYX Jungle to look like and you could probably get Jungle to look like this by layering it over a dark blue polish.

The polishes were all of great consistency: the formula was very easy to work with. I just wish the first two colors were a bit more showy. And that this brand was cheap and available in the US!