Red nail polish in a holiday collection? How original! Ok, maybe not, but there’s just something I
can’t resist about shimmering red fingertips when the air is crisp and ripe
with holiday cheer. I’m a sucker for any shade of red this time of year, but I
fell especially captive to the nail polishes released in Dior’s 2011 Les Rouges
Or holiday collection: Apparat and Merveille. The former, a lovely ruby red, reminded me too much of
Sephora by OPI’s What’s Your Pointsetta. I couldn't think of any dupes for the latter,
so it came home with me.
In the bottle, Merveille ($22 for 0.33 fl. oz.) is a fire
engine red with shimmery gold veining. I find the color to be much more multifaceted in the bottle than when worn. On the nails, there is a subtle shimmer only when the light strikes it. When not near a good light source, Merveille seems
more like a cream with a slight metallic sheen– still pretty cool looking, though. The
color is cherry red on me, but it might lean more orange on individuals with
warmer skin tones.
All too often, I encounter nail polishes with thin consistencies
that streak and require multiple layers, but Merveille was different. The formula
was fluid and applied easily on the nails. The polish was opaque in
one coat (yaaaay), but I prefer it with two. In terms of wear, I got a solid week with only minor tip wear
– not uncommon for Dior. The polish chipped on the end of the 7th
day after I had been scrubbing some stubbornly dirty pans. Had I worn rubber gloves, I imagine I would have gotten a few extra
days out of my manicure.
Overall verdict: This is a beautiful, well-performing
polish. It’s not the most unique shade, so you may want to save your money and
get a dupe. However, in terms of quality, it’s worth the price.
That is SUCH a gorgeous color!
ReplyDelete