Thursday, November 20, 2014

Sally Hansen Velvet Texture Swatches

Today I've got all eight of the new Velvet Texture colors from Sally Hansen as shared in my recent display post. These aren't limited edition, so I suppose I could have waited to buy them, but I did not wait. No surprise there. What is a bit different is that instead of just putting them in my huge swatching queue, I put them on my nails within a week of getting them—usually it's only polishes sent for review that get that sort of fast tracking.

The bottles in the top row kept falling over before I could snap a decent group shot, so I did a mashup of two quartet portraits instead. Top: Velour, Regal, Plush, Deluxe. Bottom: Velveteen, Lavish, Crushed, Lush.



Even with the intriguing promise on the display of a "luxe, velvety feel" was not enough to make me want to do eight full hand solid color swatches, so I paired them up. First came Lush, the taupe, and Velveteen, the black. I used two coats for all my swatches, letting the first dry longer than I usually do because that's what it said on the back of the bottle (which I read only after testing one on a thumbnail and finding the second coat dragging when I put it on too soon after the first coat).



when dry, these have a very subtle texture and semi-matte finish. The macro shots make the texture look more pronounced than it does in real life, at the typical distance one generally views people's hands from.





These didn't dry quite as fast as I was expecting based on their matte tendencies; they'd look fine but still be dentable longer than seemed reasonable to impatient me, and of course my usual quick dry topcoat is not an option because that would make the finish smooth and shiny and the whole point of these is to not be smooth or shiny. After getting a random dent, I made a bunch of deliberate ones to see how easy it was— very, as it turned out.



My next pair was Crushed, the berry pink, and Lavish, the deep wine. I aimed for thinner coats this time because I figured that would help with the dry time, but I feel like it mostly just made for a less even application. Probably I just need to get used to working with this finish.





Plush, the turquoise, got matched with Velour, the lilac.





The last pairing was Regal, the blue, and Deluxe, the nearly black navy.





This new line showed up first in my area at Meijer, but last night at Rite Aid I saw a full display of them. This held 16 bottles versus the 32 slots in the Meijer one. This could have done with some rearranged to match the color labels on the display, but I just don't have the time to fix everything, even though I want to.



I have to give Sally Hansen credit for giving us textures that aren't quite like any I've seen before. Compared to the solid textures in their Sugar Coat line, those from the SinfulColors Full Throttle collection, or the ones from Milani and China Glaze, these are much more delicate. The black especially does look like velvet, sort of swallowing up the light. I do wish they dried faster, but like I said, I'm impatient. It was also rather chilly in the space I was swatching in, so that probably didn't help with dry time. I learned from Nouveau Cheap's post about these that they retail for $5.69 at Meijer, which probably means they'll be at least 5.99 other places, as Meijer is usually a tad cheaper. I didn't know the price when I bought mine, and they weren't in the Meijer computer yet, so the floor manager that the cashier called came up with a price that I was 98% sure was too low but I paid it before they could change their minds. Surely they've gotten enough profit from me over the years that I don't need to feel guilty. Right? I am going to be so mad at myself if I get to the pearly gates decades from now and find this incident is on the list of reasons I'm not getting in.

*****

UPDATE 25-Nov-2014: colorclaws had a question in the comments about the brush, specifically whether it was the wide/flat one as in the Insta-Dri line. It's not; the brush in these looks like this:



And as for the dry time, I just want to reiterate my impatience and the cold conditions I was working in that day; your mileage will probably vary, so please don't avoid these just for that reason if you are otherwise intrigued.


22 comments:

  1. Wow I actually really like the finish on these. I don't know about the dry time as I would probably ruin them but I do like the finish. I went to CVS today to check for displays and they took a whole double sided shelf and filled it with candy. CANDY! I fear any new displays will not be seen until after Christmas since the rest of the shelving is filled with gift sets.

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  2. The texture here is interesting, different than most of textures I've seen.

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  3. I'm not sure I like the finish of these (it reminds me a bit of lava when it's melted down) but I sure am loving the colours! Especially the pink, wine and royal blue :)

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  4. I saw a few of these in a sidebar display at CVS a few days ago. I didn't look to see whether they were supposed to be there (had actual labeled slots) or had just been put there by an employee trying to make some sense of the holiday chaos. Either way I didn't make much of a mental note about them, obviously. Now I'll have to go give them a second look. Maybe I'll get the taupe.

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  5. different but very interesting texture- I quite like it and will be happy to try some of them :)

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  6. I actually love the look of these! Boo on the dry time though!

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  7. Wow, thanks for showing us these. They really are cool, but the slow dry time is a no bueno for a polish you can't top coat.

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  8. Thx for swatching so fast; I think I'll need them all!

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  9. Overall they are a bit too dusty for my liking - but you wear shades like that so well!
    My favorites are Crushed and Lavish!

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  10. And here was I thinking that textured polishes had had their day.... clearly not as these look great

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  11. Such an unusual texture! My favorite sand polishes have different dry time too - in some cases it's upsetting...
    What about the brush - is it thick and flat as it is in Triple Shine?

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    1. colorclaws, the brush is what I think of as "normal". It's not the wide flat Triple Shine/Complete Salon one. I took a quick pic you can see here:

      http://aniploish.com/images/2014/11/shvelvetbrush.jpg

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  12. Wow I like it!!!!
    would you like to follow each other? let me know...I always follow back.
    Besos, desde España, Marcela♥

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  13. Thanks for swatching these! I don't really know how I feel about them - or understand how they are meant to be "velvet"? When I think of velvet, I think of Juicy tracksuits and crushed velour pants/dresses.

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    1. florence, I think the "velvet" connection is in how the light reacts to it, getting absorbed versus bouncing back--also maybe that it's interesting to look at and also to touch.

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  14. Shame they took so long to fully dry. :/ Love the colors and texture!!

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  15. nice color, love the finish... but don't have the patience for slow drying polishes :/

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  16. Oh wow I really like the finish on these textured polishes :-)

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  17. I snagged all 8 of these up too! I really like the feel of the finish on these. And your analogy to them swallowing up the light is pretty spot-on. It's full color saturation with no reflection - I love that. Very happy to have them in my collection.

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  18. I'm obviously late to the party. I just tried this product and now I'm searching for tips out there. I had an issue with the product drying. Because of how it looks it's hard to tell if it's dry. Another issue I had was that every day the polish chipped. I don't know why! And you can't do top coat to save it cause then it's not mat or "velvet". So every day I fix a few nails. Chips again. Also extremely hard to remove with nail polish remover! And by extremely hard I'd say nigh impossible! I soaked my fingers in remover and STILL couldn't get most of the polish off. I eventually used sand paper and just went over my nails in another color to cover up the remnants. They are very pretty and could be awesome if SH could maybe tweek their formula while keeping the color and texture I'd totally get more of this but for now I wouldn't tell anyone to get it cause it takes forever to dry, chips like crazy, and then won't come off! Good luck! Thanks for showing all the swatches.

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  19. I know this is an older post, but I just tried this polish out. I like it but the texture is just barely there and not really much of a texture at all. It looks like a satin matter finish instead. I am wearing Plush which is the turquoise one and topped it with a Jordana glitter topper called Cosmic which is turquoise, silver, and maybe green bits in a clear base. It looks fantastic together and the base polish stayed matte!!! Yes, this is pretty as the base is matte and satiny and the little glitter bits catch the light and reflect it back. I had to share. It was an accidental combo that is beautiful.

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  20. Horrible! Great colors but really hard to remove. Can't believe it. Chips like crazy but won't come off easily.

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Thank you for reading and commenting! I greatly appreciate knowing I'm not just talking to myself here. :) I'm moderating most comments now due to the spate of spammers who claim to be looking for sexy times.