Revlon Wild Violets with Finger Paints Abstract Attraction

I first read about the Revlon Parfumerie Collection last autumn but had no luck finding it locally until just a few days ago. While I am a bit wary of scented polishes (remembering the Anna Sui debacle from a few months ago) I decided that some of the colors were pretty enough to warrant picking up and trying out. One of the colors I chose was Wild Violets, a deep blackened purple with subtle shimmer.

Wild Violets went on slightly streaky for the first coat but the second coat smoothed everything out. Sadly, the dry time is a little longer than I am accustomed to and I ended up with some smudging and dings because I am impatient and clumsy. These photos show 2 coats of Wild Violets over Nail Envy Sensitive and Peeling Formula and CND Stickey (I worry about staining with dark colors like this and generally double up on my base layers to try to prevent it).

 sunlight

Ottlight

I also swung past my neighborhood Sally's Beauty to see if they had the new Kaleidoscope collection by Finger Paints available. This collection features a set of 5 flakie topcoats in various pastel tones. I thought that the blue and purple version, Abstract Attraction, would look nice over Wild Violets.

Ottlight

Sadly I have to agree with other bloggers who say that these flakies are almost too subtle and quiet on the nail. I want to try them out on lighter colors and see how they do there but over the near black of Wild Violets I don't think they pack much of a punch. The eye sees more of the flakes in their pale colorless state than the reflective colored state and it leads to a dull, flat appearance. 

I even tried matteing the mani to make the flakies pop a little more but with only limited success. It isn't a particularly ugly manicure in my opinion, it just isn't what I had hoped. 

Ottlight, manicure as above topped with one coat NYC Matte Me Crazy topcoat

As far as the scent of Wild Violets is concerned, I was very happily surprised to find it both pleasant and mild. I could smell the fragrance  at times but it certainly wasn't omnipresent and overpowering. And I saw no staining upon removal, so yay! And there you have it. A nice, serviceable manicure but not one of my favorites. I like the Wild Violets a lot except for the dry time. Using a quick dry top coat like my beloved HK Girl might have helped but I generally only use that on my uppermost coat of polish so it wouldn't have helped with the undercoat. I suppose I will just have to be more patient next time!