Review & Swatches: Colores de Carol Love's Maiden Voyage Collection (and more)

Press Sample 

It's indie polish time again! Today I have a lovely collection to share with you (plus a few other goodies) which were sent to me for review by Carolina, owner of indie polish brand Colores de Carol.

All of the polishes featured in this post retail for $9 each on the Colores de Carol website, with the exception of Cherry Pie, which is currently on sale for $6. BUT, I also have an exclusive code for Nouveau Cheap readers to get 10% off your order (no minimum order required). Just enter NOUVEAU at checkout to receive your discount!

Colores de Carol Nail Polishes
(retail: $6 - $9 each)

First up, the Love's Maiden Voyage collection, inspired by the film Titanic:

Macro shot of Jack's Rose

Jack's Rose
(two coats, no top coat)

Jack's Rose is described as "a delicate nude off white crelly base loaded with rose gold micro flakes and a subtle violet shimmer in it." The shimmer is quite subtle but when the light catches this one, it is very pretty, delicate and feminine. Two coats for what you see above.

Macro shot of The Heart of the Ocean

The Heart of the Ocean

(two coats, no top coat)

The Heart Of the Ocean is described as "a vibrant jelly navy blue scattered holographic." This shade is obviously inspired by The Heart of the Ocean pendant from the movie, and it's such a deep, beautiful blue (my pics do not do it justice). Two coats for what you see above.

Macro shot of 1912

1912
(three coats, no top coat--room temperature)

The only thermal polish in the collection, 1912 is described as "a thermal medium gray shade loaded with small square holographic glitter. It changes from medium to light gray depending on the temperature." I LOVE that Carolina went with a thermal polish for this one, since it's inspired by the color of the Titanic itself.

If you have never used a thermal polish before, unlike traditional color-changing polishes that change color when exposed to sunlight, these polishes change color depending on the temperature. Here's an example:

It was hard to capture the full dark gray color (cold pic above) because it changes so quickly when the temperature drops suddenly. The change is obviously more gradual if you're just going from a cold outdoor environment to a warmer indoor environment--check out Carolina's video here for a better example.

Macro shot of Dinner at 8

Dinner at 8 over Milani Rapid Orchid

(one coat + two coats of top coat)

Dinner at 8 is described as "a clear base packed with large round silver holographic glitter, small brown glitter and bronze glitter." Oh my goodness, I love this one. To me, it looks like buried treasure on the nail! Even though the holo circles are large, they lay flatly on my nails as long as I don't place them too close to the sides of my nails. Also, I don't have to fish for the holo circles in the bottle for long--a few swirls with your brush should yield at least one or two every time.

Now for some other shades currently available on the Colores de Carol website:

Macro shot of Sweet Diamonds

Sweet Diamonds
(two coats + two coats of top coat)

Sweet Diamonds is described as "a clear base with micro holographic glitter in different colors." I cannot stress enough that my pics of this polish do not do it justice. This polish is STUNNING in person--so sparkly and colorful! It's like holographic bits of candy on the nail. I honestly didn't think I would fall so deeply in love with this one until I got it on my nail, and now I can't stop staring at it. Two coats is all you need for the coverage you see above. 

Macro shot of Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie
(two coats, no top coat)

Cherry Pie is described as a "holographic deep cherry red." I love scattered holos in general, and this is such a pretty one. The base is a jelly and a beautiful shade of scarlet.

Macro shot of Black Tie

Black Tie

(one coat over 1912 + two coats of top coat)

Black Tie is described as "a clear base packed with micro holographic black glitter, square silver holo, silver dots and black bows glitter." I love that there are actual black ties in this glitter topper. The nail on the far right was the first nail I painted, and I didn't really swirl the brush too much or try to fish for a bow. As you can see, there are no bows on that nail. So the for the middle nail above, I swirled the brush in the bottle once, and was able to get TWO bows, no problem. And then of course you can see on my pinky that I was able to get a bow on that nail as well. So in other words, it only takes a swirl in the bottle to get at least one bow.

Macro shot of Cocktail Dress

Cocktail Dress

(two coats + two coats of top coat)

Last but certainly not least, we have Cocktail Dress, which is described as "a white crelly base with magenta dots and squares, pink dots, square purple holo glitter, hex matte light pink and pink bows." This is the ultimate girly-girl polish! It is so sweet and adorable--just the perfect combination of circles, squares and, of course, pink bows! Just like with Black Tie, I didn't have to fish for long to get a bow or two on my brush. You should get at least one bow each time you swirl your brush in the bottle.

Additional thoughts...

Overall, I love every polish featured above, with no exceptions. The chunky glitter toppers are no better or worse to apply than your average chunky glitter topper--you'll need to dab the glitter onto your nail for placement as opposed to brushing the polish onto your nail. For all of the toppers, you won't have to fish for long to get the bigger glitter pieces onto your brush, and the clear base in these polishes is not too thick or goopy. Dry time for all of these polishes is normal to good, and the only issue I had with any of these polishes was getting a smoother surface on some of the glitter polishes. Just like with many glitter polishes I own, I find that a combination of one coat of Gelous + one coat of a quick-dry top coat make these glitter polishes smooth to the touch. If you just use a coat of regular top coat, glitter polishes of this nature do have a tendency to "eat" the top coat and they'll still be a bit bumpy to the touch. 

For all of the non-chunky-glitter-toppers, I needed two coats for good opacity, with the exception of 1912, which was sheer and required three coats.

If you can only get one or two of these, I would say go for Cocktail Dress and Sweet Diamonds. I don't think you'll be disappointed with any of the polishes above, but those are my two favorites!

All of the polishes in this collection retail for $9 each, which the exception of Cherry Pie, which is currently on sale for $6. But again, I have an exclusive code for Nouveau Cheap readers to get 10% off your order (no minimum order required). Just enter NOUVEAU at checkout to receive your discount.

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.Blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews. For more information, click here.