NotD: Smoke and flakies

Revlon Perplex. I've no idea how long I've had this polish for - months, definitely - and not touched it. I know it's a gorgeous polish but I never bothered swatching it because it's one of those polishes nearly everybody owns or knows about. Even if you don't own Perplex itself, you probably own a dupe from another brand.



For those who have no idea what I'm talking about: in 2010 Chanel released a polish called Paradoxical, and the beauty world went nuts. The polish was a deep, cool brown base with strong plummy shimmer - very unique, great formula, widely praised. It really wasn't very long before dupes started appearing. Barry M Dusky Mauve. Ulta3 Twilight Fever. Revlon Perplex. Rimmel Hot List. Sportsgirl Supernatural. Nails Inc 80 Fulham Road. Essence Princess Prunella. Some ladies even got to layering CND Amethyst Sparkle over Models Prefer Purple Gray!

Unfortunately for Chanel, some of these dupes were absolutely dead-on colour-wise, comparable formula-wise, and springing up from so many brands at so many different price points, Paradoxical lost its allure for all but the most hardcore Chanel fans.

I prefer bright polishes over dark ones, as a general rule, so I guess it's not surprising that Perplex sat untouched for so long. What prompted me to reach for it was an entirely different polish altogether - Hare Polish Bury the Hatchetfish.

swatch from Globe & Nail, official Femme Fatale Cosmetics swatch pic

I thought that blue-purple flakies in a brown base sounded lovely, but BTH was decidedly taupe in a lot of the swatches I'd seen. Then I remembered, hang on! I have Revlon Perplex and a bottle of Inglot blue-purple flakies!

The combined effect of the flakies and Perplex's shimmer made the base look almost purple at times. The effect was dark and glowy and really pretty. This manicure lasted 3 days before my right thumb got a giant chip :(and yes, I have changed the shape of my nails yet again. Let's see how long I stick with square!