Sally Hansen Velvet Texture Swatches
Today I've got all eight of the new Velvet Texture colors from Sally Hansen as shared in my recent display post. These aren't limited edition, so I suppose I could have waited to buy them, but I did not wait. No surprise there. What is a bit different is that instead of just putting them in my huge swatching queue, I put them on my nails within a week of getting them—usually it's only polishes sent for review that get that sort of fast tracking.
The bottles in the top row kept falling over before I could snap a decent group shot, so I did a mashup of two quartet portraits instead. Top: Velour, Regal, Plush, Deluxe. Bottom: Velveteen, Lavish, Crushed, Lush.
Even with the intriguing promise on the display of a "luxe, velvety feel" was not enough to make me want to do eight full hand solid color swatches, so I paired them up. First came Lush, the taupe, and Velveteen, the black. I used two coats for all my swatches, letting the first dry longer than I usually do because that's what it said on the back of the bottle (which I read only after testing one on a thumbnail and finding the second coat dragging when I put it on too soon after the first coat).
when dry, these have a very subtle texture and semi-matte finish. The macro shots make the texture look more pronounced than it does in real life, at the typical distance one generally views people's hands from.
These didn't dry quite as fast as I was expecting based on their matte tendencies; they'd look fine but still be dentable longer than seemed reasonable to impatient me, and of course my usual quick dry topcoat is not an option because that would make the finish smooth and shiny and the whole point of these is to not be smooth or shiny. After getting a random dent, I made a bunch of deliberate ones to see how easy it was— very, as it turned out.
My next pair was Crushed, the berry pink, and Lavish, the deep wine. I aimed for thinner coats this time because I figured that would help with the dry time, but I feel like it mostly just made for a less even application. Probably I just need to get used to working with this finish.
This new line showed up first in my area at Meijer, but last night at Rite Aid I saw a full display of them. This held 16 bottles versus the 32 slots in the Meijer one. This could have done with some rearranged to match the color labels on the display, but I just don't have the time to fix everything, even though I want to.
I have to give Sally Hansen credit for giving us textures that aren't quite like any I've seen before. Compared to the solid textures in their Sugar Coat line, those from the SinfulColors Full Throttle collection, or the ones from Milani and China Glaze, these are much more delicate. The black especially does look like velvet, sort of swallowing up the light. I do wish they dried faster, but like I said, I'm impatient. It was also rather chilly in the space I was swatching in, so that probably didn't help with dry time. I learned from Nouveau Cheap's post about these that they retail for $5.69 at Meijer, which probably means they'll be at least 5.99 other places, as Meijer is usually a tad cheaper. I didn't know the price when I bought mine, and they weren't in the Meijer computer yet, so the floor manager that the cashier called came up with a price that I was 98% sure was too low but I paid it before they could change their minds. Surely they've gotten enough profit from me over the years that I don't need to feel guilty. Right? I am going to be so mad at myself if I get to the pearly gates decades from now and find this incident is on the list of reasons I'm not getting in.
*****
UPDATE 25-Nov-2014: colorclaws had a question in the comments about the brush, specifically whether it was the wide/flat one as in the Insta-Dri line. It's not; the brush in these looks like this:
And as for the dry time, I just want to reiterate my impatience and the cold conditions I was working in that day; your mileage will probably vary, so please don't avoid these just for that reason if you are otherwise intrigued.
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