Revlon Gel Envy nail polish

Hi lovelies,

Did you have a lovely weekend?  I hope so.  I am going to try out a new publishing schedule.  Let me know what you think?

The lovely folks over at Revlon sent me a beautiful package with 6 of the new Colourstay Gel Envy range nail polishes and the Diamond top coat.  The Gel envy range is a 2 step system where you don’t need a base coat as the colour polish is a base and colour in one.  I am quite pedantic about base coat in general so I was a little nervous but I can say that not wearing a base coat with the Gel Envy polishes was no problem at all.  I had no issues with staining or troublesome application and it didn’t seem to have any effect on wear time either.  That’s certainly a plus in my eyes.  The Diamond Top Coat is said to add superior strength and I will tell you about my wear test a little later.  I can say that it is a beautifully shiny topcoat and it dries relatively fast.  Not as fast as some of my more popular topcoats but definitely faster than your average topcoat.  Ok, let me show you the colours I have.

Revlon – Casino lights

This is 2 coats with the Diamond Top Coat.  It’s a beautiful summery yellow creme.  It’s a bright pastel shade with a good formula and great opacity.  I didn’t find it streaky or patchy at all.

Revlon – Sure Thing

This is 2 coats with the Diamond Top Coat. I am quite picky about whites and this one really impressed me.  Great formula, great opacity.  This is a pure white that isn’t streaky or difficult to work with.  Definitely a favourite for me.

Revlon – In the money

This is 2 coats with the Diamond Top Coat.  In the money is a lime green creme that is also very spring / summery.  This one was a little on the thinner side formula wise.  It wasn’t problematic, just an adjustment.  Once I got the hang of it I had no issues at all.  Great opacity so it only required 2 coats.

Revlon – Hot hand

This is 2 coats with the Diamond Top Coat.  With my ‘my camera hates pink’ curse in full force with this one it is a little off.  This is more of a bubblegum pink.  Really good formula and opacity made it a treat to apply.  It’s also pink so it shouldn’t be a surprise that is one of my favourite favourites 🙂

Revlon – Hold ’em

This is 2 coats with the Diamond Top Coat.  It is a mauvy brownish creme.  It has great opacity but I had a slight issue with the formula.  I tried it twice and even though it applied beautifully it seemed to dry with a bit of a lumpy look to it.  It’s a beautiful colour though and I would love to wear this often in autumn / winter.

 

Revlon – Checkmate

This is 2 coats with the Diamond Top Coat. Beautiful formula and opacity and my absolute favourite.  It’s a light nude creme  that is just to so gorgeous.  It applies like a dream and of course, I decided to use this one for the wear test.  If I am going to wear a polish for a few days it helps that it is such a gorgeous one.

Longevity has never really been a high priority for me as I change my polish so often but I can definitely see how there is a huge appeal for polishes that will last the whole working week. I applied Checkmate on Monday morning and my intention was to wear it as long as it took to see how it held up.  I had done hair washing, dog washing, hair colouring and all the usual chores like cleaning and cooking etc.  It’s no secret that I am not gentle on my nails and I didn’t want to do anything differently for this wear test.  By Thursday afternoon I was sure I would have some very visible wear  and with pressure and boredom looming I just couldn’t wait any more.  This is what it looked like just before I removed it on Thursday night.

If you don’t mind the slightly pink tinge around the edges (due to the hair colouring), you might be inclined to think it’s newly applied.  If you look closely you can see there is very slight tipwear and possibly not quite as shiny.  It isn’t as noticeable in real life because I was actively looking at comparisons I did notice it.  After 4 full days of wear I was really impressed.  I wish I could’ve worn it longer but 4 days is very long for me and not many polishes last unscathed for 4 days.  I should mention I did not add any more layers of topcoat in these 4 days.  Usually I would recommend a ‘top up’ of topcoat every second ay or so to keep it fresh and shiny.

I am really impressed with the colour and opacity of these polishes.  They are beautifully vibrant and when you add the Diamond Top Coat they really are long lasting too.  I am especially impressed with the white as it hard to find such an opaque and pure white that applies well.

You can follow Revlon on Facebook and twitter and you can find the Gel Envy nail polishes at Dischem, Clicks or your closest Revlon stockist for R110 each (approx)  Thank you so much Revlon for these beautiful polishes.  If you want a longer lasting polish definitely check these out.

Thanks for reading,