Barielle Me Couture Collection

Sample provided for review

Barielle has released two collections for Fall 2014, Jetsetter and Me Couture. Today I have all six of the Me Couture shades to share: Vintage Gown, Taupe Notch, Berry Posh, Soho at Night, Moda Bleu, and Boho Chic.



I started with Vintage Gown, a rosy brown, and gave it an accent nail of Boho Chic, a dark blue-leaning green. I used two coats of each, though they were quite pigmented and very nearly one coaters. Boho Chic is a creme, while Vintage Gown has a barely there shimmer.



Here's the shimmer showing in the bottle of Boho Chic; I had to put this right under the lamp to get it to pop even this much.



In direct low light that generally brings out shimmer, Boho Chic barely showed that side of itself. Direct sun might have been different, but my nails are so rarely in direct sun.



To spice up this pair, I added dots of the opposite color.



I added bling to the next two right from the start. Here's Taupe Notch, a brown-leaning grey creme, and Berry Posh, a deep pink creme, with black stones added. I am not entirely comfortable with embellishments that stick up as far as these stones do, but I can't deny they add some flair, so I'm taking baby steps to push my nail art boundaries. I used two coats of each of these cremes.



I decided I might like the stones more if they weren't the only thing sitting on top of the Barielle base colors, so I added dots of the opposite color alongside the stones.



I did like the stones plus dots better, but couldn't leave well enough alone and added more dots, including some black ones to match the stones.



The festival of dots and stones looked somewhat better when I smoothed topcoat over it, but still I think I should have stopped after the first set of dots.



I alternated the last two cremes, Soho at Night, a dark purple, and Moda Bleu, a dark blue. Each was two coats; my swatch below has no topcoat.



I added dots of a different kind to these cremes: round sequins (I think these are too big to be considered glequins, even; they're definitely way too big to be called glitter). These were quite cheap and the finish on them showed it, though they were still plenty shiny and interesting to look at on my nails.



They even exhibited some color changing tendencies as I moved my hand around to shift the reflective surfaces.



What they did not exhibit was the ability to stand up to topcoat; I slicked some on and the color started sliding off the sequins, plus they still stuck up more than I'd like, so I'm calling these a fail. I've found some great stuff at dollar stores over the years, but these aren't in that category.



The polishes in this collection have the creamy, well behaved formula I've come to expect from Barielle. I'd swatched Soho at Night previously, as part of the Barielle New York Style box set and had the same opinion then. I would like to see Barielle do some flecked shimmers, and if they could come out with some cousins of Elle's Spells, the fabulous flakie from Winter 2010, I'd be so happy.

Follow the Barielle Facebook page to see more swatches and hear about specials like the one they have going on now for 20% off plus free shipping for purchases from the Barielle website (ends October 11th, see FB for the code).


The polishes shown in this entry were provided free for review purposes. The content of the entry was not dictated by the provider.