Elle Spring Shades

Today is Labor Day in the U.S., which traditionally marks the end of the summer season. Due to my involvement with a particular work project, I'm going to be taking my Labor Day holiday next week instead of being off today, so here I am posting. I've got the spring shades from Elle, which I didn't spot at Kohl's until summer (they were in my early August display post). These colors look summery to me, so I think we can consider them a spring/summer collection and thus I'm not really so late in posting them. Left to right: Crimson Sunset (warm red), Purple Twilight (medium blue-leaning purple), Fuchsia Fusion (cool toned deep pink), Orange Sunrise (bright yellow orange).



These went so nicely together that I swatched them Skittle-style. Crimson Sunset (top) and Orange Sunrise (bottom) were three coats; the other colors were two coats.



At first glance, these all look like cremes, but Crimson Sunset actually has a subtle shimmer. It's most visible in the bottle:



On the nail, even in direct light, which usually makes shimmer pop if it's going to, I couldn't really see much of it.



I couldn't resist having some fun with these colors; on each nail I added diagonal lines of dots with the three other shades, then slicked topcoat on. This worked out best when Orange Sunrise was the background, as that provided the most contrast, but overall it was still a fun look.







Putting these bottles into their temporary homes (boxes of similar colors and finishes slated for further sorting and nail wheel swatches), I noticed that Purple Twilight looked similar to Cover Girl XL Plumped-Up Plum so did a quick on the nail comparison. My verdict: they're dupes in color if not in formula (Elle is a touch thinner but just as pigmented). For the record, top to bottom it's Cover Girl, Elle, Cover Girl, Elle.



This is a decent seasonal collection where all the colors work with at least two of the others. I especially like that they included the bright yellow orange, which is a nice pop of an accent color.