Thursday, October 23, 2014

Bonita Colors - Colorful Palette, The Artist Collection: Swatches, Review & Nail Art


Hello, all! I have a fun fall collection to share today. Bonita Colors has released their Colorful Palette, The Artists collection and I'm really impressed with the shades and overall look of this collection. The love the inspiration behind each polish and it makes the historian and art lover in me squeal in delight. This 8 polish collection is comprised of 4 polishes that dry to an almost creme finish, whereas the other half dries to a satin finish and shows much more shimmer.

Let's take a look at the swatches (and nail art!) and you can decide how you like them! 
Florence
Florence is a lovely nude shimmer creme with a similar formula to Ballet Rehearsal further down. It was on the thicker side, but definitely easier to work with than some of the other polishes in the first half of this collection. This is a great palette cleanser and I'll be curious to see how much this polish makes it's way into my nail art in the future. This is opaque in 2 coats the shimmer is very subtle so it will be versatile.
Dali's Memory
A light turquoise shimmer, Dali's Memory is one of the shades that makes this fall collection seem so unique to me. On it's own, it's a lovely shade, but I'm in love with how this color looks in the midst of the other polishes in this collection. Unfortunately, the formula on this one is a bit odd. I think it is supposed to have an almost matte finish to it, but it is pretty thick to apply and might be tricky to work with. If you do grab this one, be patient and I'd recommend a top coat with this one. I will say though, it was very opaque and shown is 2 coats for good measure.
Ballet Rehearsal
A bright pastel pink shimmer, Ballet Rehearsal is right up my alley in regards to shades of pink. I love that Bonita was able to create such a "fall" feeling collection that also includes such a bright and charming shade. The formula on this was MUCH better than Dali's Memory, though it was still on the thicker side and struggled to level itself out. Shown is 3 coats with top coat.
The Kiss
The Kiss is a light coral shimmer that unfortunately has a pretty finicky formula. Like Dali's Memory, it is a super thick and non self-level polish and it was a bit of a struggle to apply. Prior to the top coat, the polish looked a bit textured (which I don't think was intentional)...but once I applied the top coat, to the eye, it all looked smooth. However, my camera managed to pick up what looks like some texture on the middle finger so this might need a thick top coat. Shown is 3 coats with top coat. I should mention to that my top coat seemed to change the color of this shade slightly. 
Monet's Garden
Monet's Garden is such a lovely dusty rose shimmer! It's so elegant and feminine and I'm quite a fan of this pink shade. The subtle way the shimmer shows through really makes this unique. I thought that the formula on these last 4 polishes was much better and I only needed 2 coats.
Da Vinci Code
A dark tan shimmer, Da Vinci Code is actually one of my favorites! It's quite a lovely shade of brown-ish tan and I think it would work nicely with many skin tones...however, I wasn't quite able to get the color looking right on this one (not sure if it's top coat interaction again) but the shade shown on in the bottle is closer to real life.The formula on this was a breeze with it self-leveling and only needing 2 coats.
Rembrandt's Muse
Ahh I love this one! Rembrandt's Muse is a deep burgundy shimmer with a much better formula than some of the polishes in this collection. There is almost a purple shimmer in this which creates a really lovely affect. It almost has a metallic finish in some lighting and it dried to a satin finish. Shown is 2 coats with top coat. 
Starry Night
Presumably inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night painting, this is a STUNNING deep blue-teal with some holographic shimmer mixed in. This is seriously a stunner. The formula on this was great and I was almost able to get away with just one coat, though shown is 2 with top coat. This and Rembrandt's Muse are probably the most unique shades of the collection. 

I also wanted to do some fall inspired nail art with some of the polishes in this collection. I remembered this AMAZING tribal print that Eva over on Coewless did a few weeks back and I really wanted to give it a try myself in a different color palette (though I'm positive there is nothing better than what she did!). I used a base of Florence, and Rembrandt's Muse, Da Vinci Code and the Kiss for this look.
Overall, I really like this collection color wise! I love that it's not your typical 'fall' collection, yet still feels great for this time of year. I especially love that the collection is inspired by some of my favorite artists. The formula on some of these fell flat and will require a bit more work to get them applied well, but on the whole they are nice. One of my brushes was cut at a wonky angle, but for the price you're paying for these, I can't complain too much. 
You can purchase Bonita Polishes directly from the Bonita website for $3.99/bottle, or head to your local Rite Aid to grab these if you can't wait! Be sure to follow Bonita on their social media sites to stay up to date with promotions and collections!
@bonitacolors on Instagram
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What do you think of this collection? Any favorites? 

Happy Polishing! :)