Revlon Transforming Effects Swatches

Given my love of layering, there was no way I was going to resist the Revlon Transforming Effects topcoats for long, even though, like yesterday's Sally Hansen Velvet Texture colors, they're not limited edition. (I did manage to resist the base colors on the other side of the display, for now at least.) Top: Pink Glaze, Matte Pearl Glaze, Gold Glaze. Bottom: Nude Graffiti, Holographic Pearls, Golden Confetti, Cosmic Flakies.



Gold Glaze has a transparent base packed with gold microflakie/microglitter shimmer particles.



Golden Confetti has gold and holo metallic string glitter in a clear base.



I combined these two golden toppers into one mani over a base of Sally Hansen On the Mango (from the fall limited edition Complete Salon Manicure collection, as are all the base colors I'll use in this post). Top to bottom (over two coats of On the Mango): one coat of Gold Glaze, two coats of Gold Glaze, one coat of Gold Glaze plus one coat of Golden Confetti, two coats of Golden Confetti. The last two nails have topcoat as well, as the bar glitter needed a little smoothing (not much, but some).





Here are the golds glowing/sparking in low direct light:



Nude Graffiti has white, pink, and light peach matte glitter in a clear base. The glitter pieces are mostly hexes ranging from tiny to large with some bar glitter as well.



I wanted to see Nude Graffiti over both a dark and a light, so put Sally Hansen Rupee Red on three of my nails with Himalaya as an accent. On my index and pinky, I did one coat of Nude Graffiti plus clear topcoat; on my middle and ring fingers I did two of Nude Graffiti only so you can see how it is not particularly bumpy alone.





Cosmic Flakies has iridescent shredded mylar flakes in a translucent base.



I used Sally Hansen Ever Green as a base under Cosmic Flakies. On my index finger, I did one coat of Gold Glaze plus one coat of Cosmic Flakies; on the rest of my nails, I did two coats of Cosmic Flakies alone. I did not add topcoat because I was pleasantly surprised at how little these shreds stuck up. The warm green base seemed to bring out the gold and green faces of the shreds; I'm going to need to try it over a purple or pink next time to see what happens (sorry I didn't think to do that for this post, but I was just so excited to try the rest of this line).





Pink Glaze is the same finish as Gold Glaze, but with purpley-pink shimmer in it instead of gold. I did one coat of it over Sally Hansen Rhododendron and Cute-ture (the accent nail).





When I finally get my stash back into storing it by brand, I am going to have to give serious thought to putting the Sally Hansen Complete Salon and Revlon in the same drawer—just look how nicely the bottles fit next to each other:



Holographic Pearls has a clear base packed with silver holo microglitter.



To see how strong Holographic Pearls was over a range of values, I did a Skittles base with Sally Hansen In the Flesh, Cute-ture, Rhododendron, and Rupee Red, then added one coat of the Holographic Pearls. The rainbow colors spark even in indirect light, so that's a win as far as I'm concerned.



In direct low light, more colorful sparkles appeared:





I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Matte Pearl Glaze; what I could see through the frosted glass looked similar to a regular matte topcoat, just a touch more milky. I put down a base of Sally Hansen Dark Knight, an almost black navy blue, then did the regular Revlon Matte Top Coat on my index finger and the Matte Pearl Glaze on my other digits. The Matte Pearl Glaze was definitely matte; I'm not as sure about the pearl part. I guess I was imagining a matte version of Runway Pearl, which had a very fine pink shimmer in it; this has more of a microflakie look to it—still pretty, no doubt, just I wouldn't look at it and think "pearl".







Overall, I say yay to Revlon for these. There's a good variety of finishes, and they're reasonably priced (under $5 at most chains). Matte Pearl Glaze is the standout here; I can't think of anything quite like it in my stash.