Tag: Avon

Avon — Midnight Plum & Warm Black (Midnight Hues) Swatch & Review

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These two vampy cremes are from Avon’s 2007 winter collection, Midnight Hues.

Midnight Plum is a deep, blackened plum creme. With two coats, it is just a smidge lighter and warmer than OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark, but with three coats, it is close to black. Unfortunately, while I prefer its colour with two coats, I like its coverage with three coats (a problem with most vampy cremes). Rating: 3.5/5.

Warm Black is slightly misnamed, in my opinion. It actually has a strong blue undertone, which seems to indicate that it’s cool-toned rather than warm-toned. In any case, with two to three coats, it basically just looks black, anyway. Only worth it if you don’t already have a black creme in your arsenal. Rating: 3.5/5.

Avon — Fall 2007: Paisley, Herringbone & Tweed (NailWear) Swatch & Review

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Avon’s new fall collection contains three new nail colours: Paisley, Herringbone and Tweed. The names themselves make me want to pull out the fall gear! Boots, wool skirts, sweaters and scarves! Ahh, it is fall once again: my favourite season of all.

Paisley is probably the most appealing colour of the three. It’s a rich plum-burgundy with plenty of shimmer, including a little touch of gold. The finish is almost frosty, but the polish still applies beautifully, with none of those annoying frost polish brush marks. It is fully opaque with two coats, but I prefer it with three for maximum depth of colour. Rating: 4.5/5.

Herringbone is not a good colour on me. I have bravely posted the photo, anyway 😉 because it is still an interesting colour and there will be skintones out there that can pull this one off with aplomb. It’s a pale, putty-ish shade with taupe and beige tones. There is plenty of very fine, silver shimmer that gives this polish a satin finish. Since the polish is semi-opaque, you can easilu wear it as a sheer with one or two coats, or pile on a third for just about full opacity (which is what I did, to hide my stained nails, hee!). Rating: 3/5.

Finally, and I personally saved the best for last, is Tweed, Avon’s version of the ever-popular blackened red creme. Like all of the best vampy cremes I’ve tried, Tweed is a three-coater. Not a problem, especially since each coat applies very evenly. Regarding depth, Tweed lies somewhere in between Essie Wicked (darker) and Revlon Vixen (lighter). I find it to be much prettier than Revlon Vixen, because it doesn’t have that slightly muddy tone Vixen has on me. Compared with Wicked, Tweed is lighter and displays a more interesting balance of tones. Tweed’s definitely a blackened blood red, but it also has tones of burgundy, brown and plum.

Another thing I absolutely love about Tweed is that it is glossy as all get out! And that’s without a top coat, folks. Sigh…I can’t ask for more. This is a lovely polish! Knowing Avon, it’ll be discontinued soon, so I’ll probably pick up another extra…or two…Rating: 5/5. Yeppers.

And that’s it for now. I promise I will have a set of non-Avon polish coming up. There’s been a lot of Avon, hasn’t there?! (I swear I do not sell the stuff!)

Avon — Cynthia Rowley’s 2007 Collection

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Jillian Dempsey (of Delux Beauty) collaborated with Avon to release a colour collection earlier in the year. Now, fashion designer Cynthia Rowley is doing the same. The new collection includes the four nail colours. They’re mostly girly, spring-y colours.

Peony Pink is a sheer baby pink with very subtle fuchsia shimmer. It’s completely the wrong kind of colour for a warm, yellow-toned person like myself, but if you are neutral to cool, this is a cute one. I have a feeling I’ve seen something very similar to this, but of course I can’t think of it at the moment. Rating: 3.5/5.

Very Violet is another cool-toned shade. It’s a vibrant pink-violet creme that’s very fun and sweet, but beware if you have a golden skintone! Rating: 3.5/5.

Rose Petals is more of a neutral to warm shade of slightly mauve-toned rose. It’s hard to find interesting midtone cremes, and while I wouldn’t call this shade interesting, it’s certainly quite easy to wear. It’s subtle and subdued: a nice conservative option. Rating: 3.5/5.

Plum Orchid is, hands down, my favourite of the bunch! It’s a deep and luscious maroon-burgundy shimmer. It should be neutral enough for both cool and warm tones to wear. Rating: 4.5/5.

Overall, I like Avon’s nail polishes very much. They apply well, are reasonably well-pigmented, and wear well with good base and top coats. I certainly recommend these if you like any of the colours! These Cynthia Rowley polishes are limited edition, and come in the cutest boxes, too: