Revlon Whimsical (Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air dupe)

Before I get into the swatches, I want to make sure you understand that Revlon Whimsical is part of that new group of Revlon shades (and some re-releases) and that there are TWO of these new displays floating around. Whimsical is NOT part of the display that reader Chele was nice enough to share with us a few weeks ago:

image credit: Chele for Nouveau Cheap

The display above does NOT contain Whimsical but it DOES contain the new versions of Facets of Fuchsia and Perplex. To see details about this display, please click here for my original post.

Now, the display that contains Whimsical is turning up at Bed Bath & Beyond and looks like this:

image credit: Stephanie for Nouveau Cheap

I want to give a huge thanks to reader Stephanie for these pics of the SECOND new Revlon display. This display contains both the new versions of Facets of Fuchsia and Perplex AND Whimsical.

Stephanie was also kind enough to share pics of some of the other NEW Revlon shades in this display:

image credit: Stephanie for Nouveau Cheap

 

Left to right: Whimsical, Dreamer, Chic, Fashionista

image credit: Stephanie for Nouveau Cheap

 

Left to right: Dreamer, Chic, Fashionista

Stephanie said these new blues are even "dustier" in person. Ooh la ha!

And now, on to the swatches of Whimsical:

As most of you know, this is a dupe of the popular Deborah Lippmann shade Glitter in the Air. To see swatches of Glitter in the Air, check out Jess's post here. Since the Deborah Lippmann shade will set you back $18, Revlon Whimsical is a nice, low-cost alternative (I purchased Whimsical at Bed Bath & Beyond for $3.79).  Looking at the photo above, you can see that Whimsical contains small, medium and large hexagonal pink and blue glitter. This glitter is floating around in a sheer, milky, baby-blueish-gray base. To my eyes, this is practically an exact duplication of Glitter in the Air.

Forgive my cuticles in these swatches--the weather has been unkind to my hands lately. Anyway, in these pics, I applied two coats of Whimsical on my ring finger and index finger. On my pinky and middle fingers I applied one coat of white polish first, and then two coats of Whimsical:

The first thing I noticed after I applied two coats of Whimsical is that it looked more opaque to me after two coats than the "real thing". Looking at Jess's swatches after five coats (scroll to the bottom of her post), I think you'll see what I mean.

I honestly prefer Whimsical on its own after two coats vs. how it looks over a white creme polish. It almost has that "jelly sandwich" look to it that I simply adore. Well, it's actually more of a "milky jelly sandwich" if that makes sense.

In this next group of swatches, I applied one more coat of Whimsical on my ring finger and index finger (three coats total). I did NOT apply another coat on the fingers that have the white base underneath:

To me, a third coat lends more of a "milky" effect to the overall look. I LOVE it. However, this polish is not perfect. I do want to note that the base is a bit watery which, combined with the sparseness of the glitter, makes it a challenge to actually get the glitter onto your nails. I found myself having to constantly look at my brush to make sure at least a FEW glitter particles were on my brush (many times there were none at all) before I applied this polish to my nails. Also, getting the polish to go where you want it to go on your nails is a challenge as well, so be prepared for a bit of maneuvering. You can see in these pics that the glitter had a tendency to find its way to the center of my nails and it was a challenge to get the glitter to move over to the sides of my nails.

Here's a (bad) macro of Whimsical after three coats with no base color underneath:

Notice how the glitter is concentrated in the center region of my nail--I tried so hard to get it to move to the sides but I just couldn't do it.

FINAL VERDICT: In terms of opacity, I think this might be BETTER than the original! Two coats provides a wonderful, milky, blue-tinged base for all of that lovely pink and blue glitter. But just be aware that the base of this polish is thin and a little watery, which makes it challenging because the glitter is not dense. So you'll have to make sure you actually have glitter on your brush before you apply this polish to your nails, and once the glitter is on your nails, be prepared for some maneauvering in terms of glitter placement. You'll probably have to "coax" the glitter along with your brush to get it exactly where you want it. But for $3.79 versus $18, who's complaining?

Another huge thanks to readers Stephanie and Chele for making this post possible!

Do you own Revlon Whimsical and/or Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air? Thoughts?