Sunday 28 April 2013

Nail of the Day ~ Moon Candy Orbit Review.

revlon moon candy nail duo orbit swatch swatches iridescent varnish polish top coat
Revlon Moon Candy in Orbit ~ £7.99

I had seen swatches for Revlon's new Moon Candy nail art duo collection and all of them looked gorgeous. Each consists of a dark opaque varnish and a 'flakie' style iridescent/duo-chrome top coat. When I found them in my locals Boots along with the fact I had a £2 off Revlon make up voucher I thought I would give them a go. Choosing was so difficult, I nearly got the plain black one but I decided I would try something slightly different. The names are all cool, astronomy related things which made me like it even more. I chose Orbit, a dark, slightly dusty eggplant purple base coat with a purple shifting to blue tinted topcoat.
revlon moon candy nail duo orbit swatch swatches iridescent varnish polish top coat comparison base coat

The first thing I expected to find was needing more than one layer of the base coat polish but surprisingly and impressively only one coat was required. It's a simple but pretty colour and the formula was nice and creamy.
When I applied the top coat two thoughts came to my head:
1. holy crap, this is gorgeous. The flakes/shards are so so pretty, almost holographic, they shift beautifully between petrol blue, bright purple, sapphire and turquoise, like dragonfly wings. There is nothing subtle about the colour change and I love it!
2. holy crap this is messy. For two reasons, firstly the flakes are all different sizes and shapes so there's no regularity to application but also because applying the top coat caused the bottom coat to smudge, so when I applied it some of my nail got exposed again, which was super annoying and made for a really un-neat finish. I also found that even after an extra layer of clear top coat the shards didn't lie flat on my nail and some of them went a bit funny, like stringy plastic and lost their colour. As well as the fact that removing it took forever.
revlon moon candy nail duo orbit swatch swatches iridescent varnish polish top coat

I have had a look at other swatches online and those didn't seem to have the spreading issue I did, having said that they were all nail blogs so the people who had done the swatches probably have experience with flakies. In my second attempt (the results of which are pictured) I 'places' the flakes as opposed to applying them like a normal nail polish, which did help a little but it was still pretty messy.
All in all the gorgeousness of the topcoat and the impressiveness of the base coat almost make up for their downfalls. Another thing to add is how quickly the varnish 'fractures' and chips. Have you tried any of the Moon Candy duos? Let me know what you thought of them!

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revlon moon candy nail duo orbit swatch swatches iridescent varnish polish top coat
revlon moon candy nail duo orbit swatch swatches iridescent varnish polish top coat

8 comments:

  1. This looks fantastic! As a general rule I never use double-sided cosmetics (lol) but I'm very tempted... :)

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    Replies
    1. Well, just be warned, it has it's downfalls!

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  2. I tried a couple of these and thought they looked really pretty. I agree, you do have to kind of "place" the flakies to get an even look!

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    Replies
    1. Ah, I'm glad I'm not the only who one struggled :)

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  3. Just purchased this tonight and I'm in love w/it. I think the green or blue looks better, but I'm a purple girl at heart. <3

    Flakes do need to be applied with some strategy and skill tho'.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, this is what I was torn between; thinking the blue looked gorgeous but liking the purple. Heh, glad you found the same issues with application :P strategy and skill indeed.

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  4. I just tried this for the first time and had the same experience you describe - I thought I had waited quite awhile for the bottom coat to dry but it still smudged a bit. Maybe I just need more practice applying flakies so I don't have to push them around as much for even coverage - I LOVE the base colour though and really hope to find it separately

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    Replies
    1. Just as a follow up - I asked for advice with this problem on Reddit and got a few good ideas, thought you might appreciate them as well:

      1) "You can try globbing the flaky polish onto one of those triangular cosmetic sponges. Then you can push the flakes around to get them to lay flat. And then dab them onto your nail.
      A few extra steps, but you don't get flakes sticking straight up."
      2) "Try doing a clear/top coat between the creme and flakie layers. I usually do this when I'm using a tricky glitter top coat to give myself a bit more time with work with the glitter."

      I haven't tried either yet but I they both sound like they could work - good luck!

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I really love to read what people have to say, so leave a comment, I'll definitely read it and always try to reply to questions!

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